Such a superb review my man. You got me interested in checking this out.

Album Rating: 3.5

"I'm late to this discussion around toxic masculinity and whatnot, but for me (as a white, American male) it was integral to notice what I internalize in the broader societal conversation around whiteness or maleness. Anger is almost always a secondary emotion, so when I'm upset by some accusation of "toxic" masculinity (which usually isn't directed at only me), what is it that I'm actually angry about?



I discovered I was internalizing a lot of the language, i.e. I am toxic, I am a problem, I am dangerous, instead of listening to the stories of women and people of color. So then I'm feeling this shame, which I don't like, and I get angry. I still sometimes get angry. But I'm better able to listen well and acknowledge hurt and even recognize some of my own patterns that are dismissive or, God forbid, deeply hurtful.



And as always, it's probably important not to establish any straw people in this debate, on either side. People are not simply their arguments. They are amalgamations of their experiences, beliefs, hurts, joys, and all of it. That means it's complicated. "



Not really. You're not responsible for the sins of others and those who try to force guilt are themselves guilty of the same.



He who is without sin may cast the first stone.

Ugh x1000

"Political is one thing, but these songs are so lyrically on-the-nose topical and predictable that it reads like a Huffpost piece. By the time I got to Boys I was rolling my eyes at almost every line. "

I feel this completely

Album Rating: 3.5

You know there was a time when the Huffington Post was the cutting edge of unbiased, award winning, in-depth journalism.



Same with Al Jazeera. Now both are just Democratic Party mouth pieces.

how to prove you don't read al jazeera 101

I mean id guess the average Al Jazeera reader is a fair bit more liberal than say WSJ or BBC readers but idk what that would say about the organisation's fundamental political values

Album Rating: 4.0

yep definitely just "topical" when a woman sings about her experiences with sexual assault and harrassment. Soooo annoying.



Maybe consider that maybe those are things that most women have some experience with. They don't just happen in articles

that's 1 good point LOL / aljizzera+ = left, in an attempt to get clicks from the youth market, al jazzera english is as close as you're going to get to neutrality outside of agencies like reuters and ap, with a bent based on the context of the situation at the time, aj arabic = "10 reasons why the kurds deserved to be butchered" and advertisements for zimbabwean slaves so it's a broad church of an organisation. can't go wrong with the engl version tho

Album Rating: 3.5

Depends if we're counting AJ+, I suppose. Also, music! (I like this album a lot - Mosquito is one of the sweetest songs I've heard perhaps ever.)

Album Rating: 4.0

I wanna bring you cake back home from work but you’re allergic

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Stella: "men who rape and abuse are awful"

People: "wtf stop being so political"



???????

Album Rating: 4.0

i really don't want to meet the person who would listen to this and actively get mad about it.

Album Rating: 3.5

I'm not even mad about it lol It's a great album.



There's nothing "groundbreaking" about saying rape is bad. Everybody knows rape is bad and being Captain Obvious about it just comes off as obnoxious.

Album Rating: 3.5

you'd think it goes without saying but no.

Album Rating: 3.5

The biggest problem with the current attitude towards rape is that these people seem to think that rapists are not aware what they're doing is rape. That's just what they say to avoid jail time, all Rapists know exactly what they're doing is wrong. They just don't give a fuck.

Album Rating: 4.0

Important album, important review, just great all around and I could see myself bumping this up.

I think an interesting aspect of this album is the subversion of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. This brand of singer-songwriter pop is often associated with a Zoey Deschanel-like character; a character that’s quirky, but “real”, and that men often glom onto, hence their rise in popularity. Great artists like Haley Heynderickx and Kacey Musgraves are writing love songs men can see themselves as topics of, but also songs that tackle much more difficult topics. But they’re often described as “cute” or something else derivative, when that’s not how we would describe Sufjan, as an example.

Stella Donnelly has that same style, but her blunt lyrics are harder to confront. Donnelly explains the difficult situations she and countless other women have gone through at the hands of some men, and maybe the same men that would listen to this style of music. It’s not as “fun” to listen to anymore, not as “cute” when it’s direct and uncomfortable. That dissonance is what makes this album so brilliant, in my opinion.

Album Rating: 3.5

she's really really cute, so that's kinda contradictory.

Album Rating: 4.0

Haha well I guess I mean describing the music as cute. Because there’s no debating that’s Sufjan looks adorable.

Album Rating: 3.5

"But they’re often described as “cute” or something else derivative, when that’s not how we would describe Sufjan, as an example."

I kind of understand this -- but all three examples brought up are cute. Not their music (all the time), of course, but their personalities, without a doubt. In fact, in those few seconds I've decided that that's wrong (in the case of these specific examples) -- a lot of Haley's music is very, very cute. The wail at the end of 'I Need to Start a Garden' is one of the most endearing things I've ever heard, and the best thing about the album itself was the way she cut through her sadness with the humour of it all. I think a better counterpart to someone like Sufjan when he's not covering Hotline Bling is someone along the lines of Julien Baker (when she's not dancing goofily to Half Waif) -- I'd be hard-pressed to find someone who thinks the music of Julien Baker is "cute" without an air of deliberate condescension.

I don't know. I think I agree with the point in general. I think to use these examples would be to boil them down too much, though. There's something far more there than mere sadness. I might be extrapolating more from what you said than what was intended, however.

Album Rating: 4.0

Oh yeah, I totally agree, and should have clarified that there’s nothing wrong with cute. That’s why I brought it up, because I think this album is undeniably cute, but then deals with lyrical themes that aren’t as cute. And I don’t think cute is ever used condescendingly intentionally, which is good, but also part of the issue - It’s more subconscious. It would be like if the first word people consistently used to describe hip hop was “hood”. Maybe not necessarily incorrect, but not giving enough credit to the music, and some unfortunate subtext. Donnelly (and Haley) are undeniably cute, but I can’t help but think one of the main reasons we use that word is because they’re women (and that’s not directed at you or anyone in this thread, just an observation). So Donnelly sounds cute, but then also makes us confront the other issues that she has dealt with as a women in her life that are not nearly as cute. And I could totally be pulling this meaning out of my ass, for the record lol