Words: Marianne Phillips (she/her)
Chappell Roan took to Instagram, turned off comments, and exclaimed ‘Women don’t owe you shit’ – speaking not only for herself and her female peers, but for all women. Though founded on 10 years working in the industry, the queer American pop artist’s seemingly swift rise to fame has led her to become the centre of a conversation on consent and boundaries between artist and fans. Roan declared the importance of having a personal life, clarifying her demands as founded in fear and not in a lack of gratitude. A symptom of our current online culture affords people both huge success but demands unsolicited intimacy in return. The assumption that a desire for boundaries may be mutually exclusive to gratitude and thus deserving of an explanation, is an extension of a problem in which artists are at the mercy of fans. In a world in which both the meal and the cook is devoured, at what point will feeding fans be satiated?
‘You flourish if you don’t protect yourself…we have all seen this,’ she explained in 2023 in conversation with Tom Power; proof of her acute awareness of the potential manipulation of female boundaries in the industry. However Roan is not patient zero: Britney Spears’ boundaries and privacy were also unrelentingly violated at the cost of her mental health, her image, and ultimately her career. Her psychological breakdown only afforded more demand from the public to scrutinise and consume. Roan’s inheritance of Spears’ role as “the pop star” has begun, and with this role she has changed the script for artists who can now address fans without apology. The Pink Pony Club singer writes in the caption of her Instagram post that she is ‘not afraid of the consequences for demanding respect’. This is a rectification of history’s passive dialogue between fans and artists in which the fame-makers held all power over the famed.
At the intersection of being both queer and female, Roan stands equipt in her suit of armour; performed in real time fighting against being treated poorly, the pop star was recently filmed shouting back at an aggressive paparazzi whilst walking the red carpet at the MTV VMA’s. The scene mimicked the everyday realities for women and queer people who experience harassment, unwanted attention, and catcalling when simply walking in the street. These parallels broaden the discussion Roan is trying to have which extends into the lives of fans themselves. While her desire for boundaries is firm, the discourse Roan has with her fanbase is not only full of clear imperatives: just moments after walking off the red carpet she was quick to acknowledge having felt ‘very heard’ in response to her Instagram post. It is clear that her words have spread further than just her fanbase to those of her famous peers. English pop star Lily Allen mentioned on her podcast how inspired she was by Roan’s statement and how her husband, the Stranger Things actor David Harbour, has recently been approached by fans with more respect and less expectation.
At the end of the day Chappell Roan is a character – a crafted drag queen persona. So when the cherub makeup is wiped clean and the sequin costume is retired, so is Roan. Her success is derived from personal lyrics about navigating queer life and relationships, allowing fans to feel seen and simultaneously fooling them into believing that they know her as much as they feel known by her. At times Roan re-affirms this: closing her acceptance speech at the MTV VMA’s she announced, ‘To all the queer kids in the midwest…I am you’. The distinction between the artist and the art itself becomes confusing to fans, especially in today’s culture where personalities are more desirable to consumers than art itself. Through drag, Roan has made the person being consumed part of the art she creates. Her evolving tour wardrobe means she is never fixed and always a shifting character: she can go from nun to mediaeval sword fighter depending on the day.
When outcasts are brought into the limelight they not only become a symbol of their work but a symbol for a community. They fall into the endlessly weighted category of representation, required to be the voice for others – a role assumed appropriate by fans and the wider public but not necessarily chosen by the artist themselves. Some embrace this role, whilst others like Roan start talking about boundaries and audience entitlement. Unafraid to use her voice for what she stands for, Roan has been impressive in her clarity of opinion when it comes to the upcoming U.S. election. Her decision not to endorse Kamala Harris came as a surprise to many, creating a surge of upset amongst her online followers. However, as Dazed journalist Serena Smith points out, these people are ‘misogynists’ rather than fans. Roan took to TikTok to clarify her scepticism about some of the left’s policies, particularly with regards to trans rights and the Palestinian genocide. These concerns are far from surprising to anyone who truly follows Roan and is engaged with what her artistry stands for. Despite revealing that she will ultimately be voting for Harris, her words created room for a more nuanced political conversation and as the star herself says, ‘you are not going to make me feel bad about it’.
When capitalist culture infiltrates the fandom mind-set and leads people to believe that all is up for consumption, where not only art but even the artists themselves can be devoured, the relationship between the famed and the fame-makers becomes dangerous. Artists’ personal boundaries become weaponized by fans as retribution for success, and the insatiable desire to consume overtakes. Chappell Roan is re-imagining this relationship by empowering artists and listeners alike to create clear boundaries, regardless of what people say you owe them. To anyone who tries to get in her way, to you I say, good luck babe!
