Why Pink Is In A League Of Her Own

Last year Pink, stylized as P!nk, won the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, and while I thought back at that moment, her moving speech and how much she deserved it, I was shocked to find out that some people felt she didn’t deserve it.

What.

Ok.

So.

I’m about to get a little personal here for the sake of anecdotal expression.

Growing up, my sister, who is only a year younger, and I didn’t get along so well. As we got older we started to understand each other through common ground. We were very different in terms of the people who we spent our time with, the shows we enjoyed watching and the music we listened to. Our parents were really into music. No fancy music producers or anything but we were introduced to a lot of 60’s, 70’s and 80’s music at an early age. We were both named after songs, actually. When Selena died, we all sat in the bedroom watching the news as my dad recorded it on a VHS tape because it was a pivotal moment in music history.

Moving on to high school my sister and I didn’t really talk. Her taste in music was more Nirvana, Incubus and System of a Down while mine was The Veronicas, Britney Spears and Madonna.

There was a breakthrough in our communication and while I can’t exactly pinpoint it, music was a helping factor.
Specifically Pink.
We bonded over our shared love for Pink and then we decided to watch “Family Portrait” together, with older minds, to reminisce, to dissect.

I believe there are a lot of people like us who watched/listened to “Family Portrait” and felt like it accurately spoke on our feelings as kids and who we ultimately became as adults. While our parents never divorced, there was a lot of arguing. We talked about what most of those arguments were about and managed to make some breakthroughs in our own relationship as sisters.

It made me sad to see Pink ridiculed for incorporating acrobatics into her live performances.
It’s astonishing to see how well she can sing live amidst dangerous aerial performances. Aside from that, she also writes or cowrites her music.

It made me even sadder to read Slate’s article on why it was baffling for Pink to have received that award. The article started with:

“Quick: Name your favorite music video by Pink. (Don’t say “Lady Marmalade.”)

Oh, you don’t really have one. That’s OK. Do you have a favorite moment from a Pink music video? Favorite outfit? (Again, “Lady Marmalade” doesn’t count.)

Wait—you’re wondering, ‘Who is Pink, again?’”

Although this article was written almost a year ago, I still felt compelled to write this because during the era of Pop sensations, that I remember VERY well, Pink was REAL. I was a huge fan of the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Christina Aguilera, the Spice Girls (HUGE fan), you name it. Pink flew under the radar because her look and music weren’t selling sex. She was and still is a tough woman who uses music to communicate her vulnerabilities. Her appearance alone is still important to this day because we don’t see many women with ‘tomboy’-ish looks paired with no-bullshit attitudes dominating the charts, much less the media.

Remember when she proposed to her now husband, Carey Hart?

She was out here breaking gender roles and traditions without even trying to make a statement. She was just being herself.

Remember when she stood up for herself despite backlash?

“Pink recalled the first conversation about the superstar collaboration where Aguilera reportedly walked in with label executive, Ron Fair, in her Behind the Music segment on VH1:

‘Ron Fair walked in. He didn’t say hi to any of us and said, ‘What’s the high part? What’s the most singing part? Christina’s going to take that part.’ And I stood up, and I said ‘Hi. How are you? So nice of you to introduce yourself. I’m Pink. She will not be taking that part. I think that’s what the fucking meeting’s about.’”

Many people take this as her throwing shade at Christina Aguilera but the truth is that if you’ve worked hard to have what you have in your career, you would stand up for your work too.

That’s how it seems to have been with Pink all her life. A constant defiance to the unfortunately normal act of the minimisation of her work.

So for this reason I have to backtrack to articles like those written on Slate because Pink has done more than her fair share of influencing and inspiring. She doesn’t compete, she dominates. She’s been a total badass all her life.

Favorite Pink music video? I’ll have to go with “Family Portrait” for reasons stated above.

Favorite moment from a Pink music video? “Family Portrait”’s portrayal of her adult self and younger self.

Favorite outfit? She’s Pink! No outfit could ever overpower her entire persona. Her pink hair and boy-ish clothes made her Look. Aside from her change in hair color, she’s remained consistent.

Never once have I wondered who Pink is.