Say it with me: public figures are not public property. The people of the internet are missing Chappell Roan's point entirely.
This week’s pop culture news reads: woman asks to not be touched without consent, stalked, or harassed. That sounds fair enough, right? Wrong. The internet’s reaction was one of anger, disbelief, and haphazard attempts at enacting a cancellation. I say this sincerely, are we okay?
If you are unfamiliar with Chappell Roan, she’s the musician of the moment with a penchant for producing some of the catchiest, instantly viral pop songs of the last several years. She’s an icon, a legend, and has been building up to being the moment since she started posting covers on YouTube ten long years ago.
Earlier this month, Chappell took to TikTok to air some grievances. “I don’t care that abuse, harassment and stalking are ‘normal’ things to do to people who are famous, or a little famous. I don’t care that this crazy type of behaviour comes along with the career field I’ve chosen. It doesn’t make it okay, it doesn’t mean I want it, it doesn’t mean that I like it,” she says. “I’m allowed to say no to creepy behaviour.”
@chappellroan? original sound – chappell roan
The immediate response was one of incredulity. How very dare a young pop princess not be grateful for every little drop of attention she gets, regardless of how offputting, endangering, or icky it may be for her? Isn’t this exactly what she wanted when she first started sharing her art with the world? Why, pray tell, would a singer want to produce music if not to be accosted by her fans when she least expects it?
Providing further clarification on her Instagram. “I turned off comments because I’m not looking for anyone’s response. This isn’t a group conversation,” Roan wrote in the caption. “I’m not afraid of the consequences for demanding respect. Just to let you know, every woman is feeling or has felt similar to what I’m experiencing. This isn’t a new situation.”
“I chose this career path because I love music and art and honouring my inner child, I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it,” she wrote in the post itself. “When I’m on stage, when I’m performing, when I’m in drag, when I’m at a work event, when I’m doing press… I am at work. Any other circumstance, I am not in work mode. I am clocked out.”
We like to think that celebrities have it easy, that they don’t know The Struggle of us mere mortals, but personally, I’m grateful for the veil of anonymity when I’m *hypothetically* a little too tipsy in the local. In this weird dystopian world we’re living in, it’s become a privilege to be able to walk down the street with a resting b*tch face without being clocked by paparazzi or accosted by TikTokkers in pursuit of a viral moment. At least us plebs can put our out of office on.
Autonomy is where it’s at, actually. When Chappell opts to be seen, then we can look at her. What we’re not going to do is send a nice singer into hiding because she’s afraid to leave the house. We’re not going to do to Chappell Roan what was done to Britney Spears. We’re going to listen to her when she sets a clear boundary, and we’re not going to make her feel guilty about it.
“I am specifically talking about predatory behaviour (disguised as “superfan” behaviour) that has become normalised because of the way women who are well-known have been treated in the past.” Chappell’s post continues. “I embrace the success of the project, the love I feel, and the gratitude I have. What I do not accept are creepy people, being touched, and being followed.”
Whether they’re an A- or Z-list celebrity, it really doesn’t matter, parasocial relationships are rife thanks to our close personal friend, social media. TikTok and Instagram lure us right into the inner sanctum of influencers and celebrities, making us think we know them on a much deeper level. But, spoiler, we don’t.
This entitlement from fans has been put on blast time and time again, but it’s still not sinking in. Mega fans were quick to turn on Doja Cat when an account on Threads asked her to share that she loved her fans back in 2023, to which she responded, “I don’t though cuz I don’t even know y’all.” She lost over 180,000 Instagram followers in a month.
It is not the woman’s duty to suck it up and take it; it is the harasser’s duty to be a decent person, leave her alone, and respect that she can wear whatever she wants and still deserve peace in this world.
“My theory is that if someone has never met me in real life, then, subconsciously, I’m not real to them,” Doja told Harper’s Bazaar at the time. “So when people become engaged with someone they don’t even know on the internet, they kind of take ownership over that person. They think that person belongs to them in some sense.”
Let’s call a spade a spade: the internet’s reaction to Chappell asking for space has been nothing short of victim blaming. She addresses exactly that in her post: “This situation is similar to the idea that if a woman wears a short skirt and gets harassed or catcalled, she shouldn’t have worn the short skirt in the first place. It is not the woman’s duty to suck it up and take it; it is the harasser’s duty to be a decent person, leave her alone, and respect that she can wear whatever she wants and still deserve peace in this world.”
“I want to love my life, be outside, giggle with my friends, go to the movie theatre, feel safe, and do all the things every single person deserves to do,” her post concludes. “I feel more love than I ever have in my life. I feel the most unsafe I have ever felt in my life.”
Boil it down to the simple facts and you’ll see it’s a consent issue, so I really am scratching my head as to why there’s any semblance of backlash?
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