God may or may not be a woman, but Ariana Grande sure deserves to be praised like one after seeing the music video for her newest single “God Is a Woman.” There have definitely been both positive and negative opinions on the religious aspect of the video and lyrics, but as someone who loves artists who push boundaries (I’m talking about you, Madonna and Lady Gaga), I absolutely adore the imagery and feminism that’s displayed. Let’s take a look at the four most impactful moments from the “God Is a Woman” music video and talk about how they’re changing the game for women in every aspect of society:
Ariana being unphased as men throw hurtful words at her
Ariana is seen mimicking the famous sculpture “The Thinker” in this part of the music video. While the sculpture depicts a man sitting on a pedestal, Ariana plays a female version of “The Thinker,” and the men are throwing words at her while she stays composed and almost stone-like. This scene is important because women face numerous standards they are expected to live up to, and seeing so many words bounce off of an unphased Ariana is powerful and inspiring.
Ariana depicting God in “The Creation of Adam”
Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably seen the extremely popular and beautiful painting “The Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo at least once. The painting shows God creating the first man, Adam. Ariana puts her own spin on the classic artwork by taking the place of God and showing the creation of the first woman instead. This may be controversial to some, but it’s cool to see a painting that was created hundreds of years ago during a time when women had little place in society remodeled for today. Seeing this scene in the music video made me feel proud to be a woman in this generation, where we can do anything—even represent God.
Pregnant Ariana looking stunning (not surprisingly)
Ariana shows the beauty of a growing belly in less than one second as she becomes pregnant almost instantly in the music video. Women have the greatest gift: the ability to literally create life in our own bodies. I love that Ariana shows pregnancy in the video since childbearing is something completely unique to women. After seeing Ariana pregnant, we should all admire our bodies for being able to go through such a beautiful experience. (Maybe not as glamorously as her, but still.)
Ariana shattering the glass ceiling
As women, shattering the glass ceiling is an expression we all know way too well. Women have a harder time advancing in almost every job compared to men. The most powerful part in the music video is when Ariana swings her gavel and strikes the glass ceiling above her head, causing the glass to come tumbling down everywhere. We love a strong queen.
Women everywhere can now thank Ariana for reinventing music videos. Okay, not really. But you have to admit that this video has some darn good imagery all throughout it. And while we may never know if God is, in fact, a woman, one thing we can all agree on is that this music video makes all of us proud to be one.