You’re Such a Diva

“What’s a diva?”
“A what?”
“A diva.”
“Velvita?”
“No. A diva.”
“A diva?! You know like a diva. A princess boujee diva.”

***

I don’t think I’ve ever been called a diva. But that’s probably because I’ve been called dramatic. And I am VERY dramatic. My drink isn’t great. It’s amazingly fantastic. When I’m upset I’m not sad. I’m ruined. So when I start to embellish a bit, dramatic is everyone’s go-to word. And while I fully embrace the term, it is only because I understand that sometimes I can be really dramatic. Some women though are labled as being dramatic when in fact what they’re doing is something relatively different.

The other day I found myself wandering the internet. You know, clicking on link after link until you get somewhere completely unrelated to where you were originally, and I somehow stumbled upon videos of famous women being divas. Now, diva, can refer to a famous opera singer, a famous pop singer, or a “self-important person who is temperamental and difficult to please” (according to Google). Yet, while all the ladies featured could be classified as famous pop singers, the videos I watched were referring to the last definition. 

When I first viewed the videos I was hoping for drama. Like a famous pop star mouthing off on another pop star or someone talking about their ex relationships. I was secretly hoping to watch a pop star version of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. BUT, none of that happened. Instead, female artists were labeled as divas whenever they spoke their minds. Female geniuse, Beyoncé, was called a diva because she talked about demanding perfection and how particular she is when it comes to her craft. 

The same goes for the other women featured in these top 10 diva moment, videos. Recently the issue of speaking out has been a topic of debate for many people in the U.S. are women and millennials just snowflakes complaining about things they’re unhappy about. When I see videos of Tomi Lahren blasting the women’s march, I can’t help but think back to those videos of famous pop singers being called divas for demanding too much. But all they’re asking for is respect.

When Nicki Minaj stood on stage reminding her audience that she wrote her own raps, she wasn’t being a diva. She was demanding respect from the male dominated field she was breaking into–the rap industry.

When Lady Gaga called out a news reporter when he asked her why her music was too sexual, she wasn’t being a diva, she was reminding a professional that she wasn’t going to put up with sexist questions.

When Ariana Grande said that boys can like unicorns too on live radio, she wasn’t being a diva. She was being transcendent.

The point I’m trying to get at is that women are more often than not, viewed as tyrannical monsters that can’t be pleased and are unrealistic in their demands not because they’re divas but because they’re women. Nicki Minaj said it best when she said that a man can walk into a room and order people around and be a boss, while a woman can do the exact same thing and be called a bitch.

While some people may argue that this rhetoric means nothing and that people should just get over it, conversations that suggest women are demanding too much when they ask for respect and basic civil liberties aren’t just insulting, they undermine everything women have fought for and continue to fight for.