Fifth Harmony is in the middle of their New Order moment. Then-Joy Division lost their lead singer, Ian Curtis, and went on to become the best band of the 1980s. Of course, Ian Curtis was lost to suicide and ex-Harmonizer Camila Cabello just decided to go solo. And Joy Division was already a seminal band in their own right. And also it was considered outré to obliquely reference Nazi culture in a band name. You couldn't, like, get elected President. But these are minor quibbles.
Lauren Jauregui is doing her part to place the band front and center in the fight to maintain women's rights in the face of our current administration. Speaking with Nylon, Jauregui laid out how she feels that Fifth Harmony is empowering for women.
"Some of our songs are empowering, but I feel like more so than our music, it’s who we are," she tells the magazine. "We’re four women who are completely different ethnicities, completely different body types, completely different walks of life and opinions, and you can see that when you watch an interview, when you meet us. We have an energy about us that’s so unique and so intense, and it’s because of how much power we have in us as individuals, being confident, harnessing that power, and wanting to share that with other women. I feel like a lot of women hang on to our message, and it empowers them."
The singer also has some thoughts about how to improve feminism.
"I think the whole stigma of the word feminism is such a problem," Jauregui tells the magazine. "The only reason that anyone has an aversion to it is because it includes the word 'fem,' even though it’s an all-inclusive term. I think that aversion in general is the reason why we need [feminism]. If the word 'feminism' bothers you, there’s a reason why it bothers you, and only because it involves women. The issue at the end of the day that feminism fights for is equality, men and women alike. Because men also have their own stigmas that they have to follow, and stereotypes they have to follow that are detrimental to their mental health. That’s something that happens to all of us, something we’re all experiencing. By harnessing that freedom, we’re saying, 'no, I want to embrace this term because it means that I get to be free.'"
It's a simple but important message coming from someone that speaks so directly to young women. Of course, nobody is saying you should put down Audre Lorde and just focus on your 5H fandom, but hearing an entertainer push such a simple, positive message is nothing but a good thing. Read the rest of her interview here.
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