Olivia Rodrigo Wants Us To Scream Through The Pain

In the opener of GUTS, “All-American Bitch,” Rodrigo bemoans the inherent dichotomies and unattainable standards that young women are subjected to in America and the Western world. She speaks on the hyper-sexualization of young girls, particularly women of color, and the pressures that they experience to uphold many contradicting values “all the time.” Awareness of the prevalence of the objectification of young women has skyrocketed since the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements of 2017 and women are more aware than ever of how political our bodies and existence are. Gen Z has been fighting against sexualization for much of our conscious lives and despite society being made more aware of its issues with the objectification of women, not much has changed, with the Barbie movie even joking that the world is still doing patriarchy very well.