Chappell Roan Is Right

The femininomenon's election takes aren't exactly poetry, but they're not wrong.

This is Clusterhuck, my newsletter about faith, culture and a flourishing future for all! I’m glad you’re here. I can only do this through the support of my readers, and I’m grateful for every one I’ve got. If you’d like to join, just click here. You’ll get a free seven-day trial, including access to all the archives. 

---

I’m not crazy about Chappell Roan’s music. This take is a little unpopular (or, as my sister called it, “homophobic”) but I think Roan can handle it. To hear her talk, she wouldn’t mind having fewer fans anyway, so I’m happy to oblige. One reason the rise of Chappell Roan has been so interesting is that its speed has outpaced her publicity team’s ability to scale their work accordingly, meaning Roan has often found herself navigating the perils of celebrity without many of usual tricks young pop stars have been afforded in the post-Britney milieu. This is especially dicey in an election year. 

While Roan’s newly minted pop star colleagues like Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo have largely (although not entirely) chosen to sit this one out, Roan has tumbled into the heart of a full-blown political discourse. People can’t stop talking about this 26-year-old’s politics and criticizing her for what’s being called “both-siderism.” And while I, as a non-fan, don’t really care how Roan or any pop star votes in the 2024 election, I’ve found the conversation around her comments interesting. She’s not a seasoned communicator, nor does she have much in the way of instinctual savvy. But all told, I think she’s being pretty reasonable.