When Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake broke up, something happened that might remind you of Shakira’s new song with Bizarrap. Twenty years ago Justin’s song with which he won the Grammy for Best Male Pop Performance, cry me a river It came to become iconic. Not only did her lyrics reference Spears, there were also images of her in her music video that reminded us of her and the breakup song was music history.
Twenty years later Shakira did the same with the BZRP session and her song made more than clear references to her relationship with Gerard Piqué. The lyrics were direct and the song accumulates more than 122 million reproductions (the fastest song in Spanish to achieve it). Such has been the success and the debate that it has generated that even the brands have taken advantage of the pull it has had to take advantage of the controversy created.
@bizarrap! 100M in @Youtube Already? They tell me that it is the fastest song in Spanish to achieve that? I need someone to pinch me to see if it’s true. pic.twitter.com/ZT6xc3XOUN
— Shakira (@shakira) January 15, 2023
We might think that Justin Timberlake and Shakira are the same, only with a difference: the Colombian singer good part of society branded her as a bad mother, spiteful and even lack of sorority for writing a song that reflected his way of thinking and his breakup.
When the woman is the scorned (and judged) in the breakup
Obviously this is not the first time this has happened. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard Taylor Swift judged for expressing everything she thinks through her music and her work. Or Miley Cyrus. Or really any woman who is analyzed with a magnifying glass for her actions as a man would not be judged.
It is said of Piqué that “he took the song with humor” because he arrived with a Twingo and assured that Casio had given them watches and they had an agreement with him. Outside is the infidelity with which he was his wife, which says nothing about that.
Hopefully Shakira releasing a song every week with very rare phrases to watch Piqué do everything he says. “You chose an albino zebra in a cowboy costume over me” and stuff like that. https://t.co/5whv6ctOQP
— Siberet (@SiberetSiberet) January 15, 2023
hahahahahahahaha @3gerardpique He consulted well with his marketing department hahahahaha pic.twitter.com/sXEyOZEIVm
— Alx1830 (@Alx1830) January 13, 2023
And be careful, we will not judge that Piqué has fallen in love with another person, something that could happen to anyone, but that we analyze the debate that seems to arise around a woman and that very rarely arises around a man.
Instead of Shakira, it has been said that she did not think of her children when writing this song (or I congratulate you who sang with Raw Alejandro, or Monotony with Ozuna), who is a textbook spiteful, who has not over the breakup, that she takes advantage of the situation to earn money, that she should think about Clara Chía, that what she is doing is not very feminist. She even judged her look for the video clip, the pink bra with which she appears singing.
“Shakira did not think about her children”
Children: pic.twitter.com/loGqNofnuK
— The Fake Post (@elfakepost) January 12, 2023
She is judged for expressing her feelings and thoughts with her work. She has been writing songs about her life and her experiences for years, but when it comes to these things, the singer’s talent is not valued and what she does is put aside. She’s just a scorned woman who hasn’t turned the page. Instead Gerard Piqué does what he does and everyone laughs.
not that we are team Shakira or team Pique. We do not judge why the relationship has broken, what have been the reasons for the breakup, the end of love or the relationship itself. We wonder why Shakira is judged to be spiteful, but Gerard Piqué laughs at his thanks and the truth is that she sounds like patriarchy, a reflection that we have already been able to see on Twitter.
In less than a month, the following have been criticized:
-Laura Escanes for her new relationship
-Aitana for asking not to be harassed by the press
-Tamara Falcó for getting back with her ex
-Shakira for releasing a song about Piqué
Let’s see if what you like is criticizing women whatever they do with their lives— Mara Mariño (@Duquesa2labios) January 12, 2023
Perhaps controversies like this, songs with so many reproductions, situations experienced by people as high-profile as Shakira and Piqué, allow us to rethink how we see relationships and how we judge men and women differently.
While we make that reflection, luckily we have wonderful beings like Shakira (who continues to add great moments like the witch mannequin that has lived this weekend) that put voice and lyrics to situations that anyone could experience.
It will not be the first time that a famous woman has been tried in a breakup. And not just famous. I myself have seen myself judged by living in a situation very similar to that of Shakira. I put you in context. You have a partner who falls in love with someone else. He lies to you, he cheats on you, he leaves you and still, you are spiteful if you open your mouth. Many will hear resentment. Neither pain nor pride. You are the dump You can’t speak without being judged for it and when you listen to Shakira’s songs you think: “Say it queen. Say it loud because this is just my situation and I don’t think I could find a better representative.”
There have always been spite songs. In fact, for creators and creators, it serves to heal and turn the page, something that Shakira herself has assured on her Instagram account. And the singer says much more and makes a feminist statement that represents us. “I want to embrace the millions of women who rise up against those who make us feel insignificant. Women who defend what they feel and think, and raise their hands when they disagree, even if others raise their eyebrows […]. Not as society orders us to, but in the way that occurs to us, the one that helps us get ahead for our children, our parents and for those who need us and hope in us.”
Luckily life is fun and the storm that is now over Spain is called Gerard. It seems coincidental but I call it poetic justiceand the resounding success that is accompanying Shakira, too.
Photos | g3online (Photographer Sergio R. Moreno), G3online_nl (Photographer Enrique Palomares)
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