Amy Winehouse, Stripped Bare
She stands in a street, clad only in jeans and pink bra. Perhaps you’d know her from the tattoos, but the trademark beehive and thick eyeliner are gone, rendering her bare and practically unrecognizable.
She was certainly recognized though, as the picture was shown all over the world.
It’s an incredibly difficult photo to look at, but if you do, you see there’s bewildered desperation in the eyes, but something in the open, upright stance, as she’s facing and – loaded language in this context, I know – exposing herself to the photographers documenting her downfall, remains defiant. Like on her chart-topping record, Amy Winehouse is still saying no, no, no.
I used to say that Winehouse’s “Rehab” was a actually a metaphor for a woman rebelling against patriarchal control. It was only half a joke. To me that song still rings true as a woman’s determination not to let anyone else – men, social institutions – tell her what’s best for her in a time of crisis. The story is not entirely different from Victorian narratives of women who were deemed “hysterical” or “mad” and locked away to be kept from making trouble.
Now, there seems to be little doubt that Winehouse has serious drug abuse issues. But watching her tribulations unfold in a constant sensationalized manner, practically in real time, is like some sort of fun-house mirror version of the experiences of many twenty-something women. If all the messy details of our personal lives, fashion choices, and mistakes were writ large in the public sphere, we probably wouldn’t come out looking so perfect and in control either.
I hope Winehouse gets better. I want to see her making more music, happy and strong and beautifully dressed and giving a big old finger to the press who have reveled in her tribulations. Because, while I sadly can’t get my hair to do anything close to her look and I certainly don’t face the severity of problems that she does, Amy Winehouse is my sister.
She has a litany of voices – including Keith Richards, of all people – telling her what’s best for her, passing judgment on almost every aspect of her life. Not all of these actions may be badly intentioned, and it would appear that if Winehouse is indeed to conquer her demons, she will certainly need help and perhaps institutionalization.
Nevertheless, there’s something about this chorus of voices telling this young woman what’s she’s doing wrong and how she should lead her life, and the attitude of condescension disguised as genuine concern, that again draws a parallel to ordinary young women struggling to make their way in the world.
You don’t have to be a pop sensation with a drug problem and a mass media following to have your life dissected, your mistakes analyzed, and to have other people offer unsolicited advice and opinions on how you should live and work and everything you’re doing wrong.
If you’re an editorial assistant, a graduate student, or an investment banker, if you’re any kind of young woman starting out in the world, finding your place and voice, your confidence will frequently be shot by a chorus of voices – often, but certainly not exclusively, male – calling you names, telling you what you should do, and undermining and denigrating your skills and abilities. It’s enough to make any girl go a little crazy now and then.
It’s because of this kinship, because I have a sense – not that I know what it feels like – but that I’ve experienced my own, normal gal version of her situation, that I hope Amy can show the world that her tears will dry on their own.
Tags: Amy Winehouse, Coming Of Age, Media, Substance Abuse, Women
March 11th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I hope England gives up their seemingly endless quest for a nostalgia driven 21st century soul singer. Amy, Lily, Kate, Duffy, they all sound like auto-tuned versions of the American bubble gum pop of the ’60s. Gotta love NME and The Sun for getting us caught up in this garbage.
Probably the best acceptance speech ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSX8DxYUJk&feature=related
March 11th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
The Victorian days did make for some great literature that made for some great BBC miniseries though…if women don’t have pressure on them, what will happen to our archetypical plotlines?
March 11th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
This is fatastic writing…….
March 11th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Julia: Keep up the good work! Excellent thoughts and writing.
March 11th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Judy, Billie, Edith, Liza, Janis ….the history is not promising, let’s hope this story has a happier ending
March 11th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
…let’s hope she’s still going at 70 when she’s SeenItAll, belting out the Sondheim Anthemn, “I”m Still Here”
March 11th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I guess I should have gone to rehab
instead of ho, ho, ho
March 11th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Julia: We have all been there. The only difference is degree. Glad to see there is empathy out there!!!
March 11th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
…so if Jane Eyre had a coke dealer…Rochester would have been extraneous?
March 11th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Very, very insightful. Let’s hope they do dry on their own.
March 11th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
same on story…loads of talent, no self control…pi**ing her life away on the fast bus to the morgue. tell us about women with real problems like poverty, crappy schools, neglectful parents, circumscribed opportunities, who still manage to suck it up, kick butt and come out winners.
March 11th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
well noted…..but that is life in the big city..
agree w/yada..yada-just do IT-kick ass and take names
March 11th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
The substance that would have alleviated the pressures on Victorian (and Georgian and Edwardian) women (and perhaps the course of literature) would have been sterling, not opiates. Without independent income, and no possibilty of a career, they never had a chance…always the pawns or playthings of fathers and husbands.
March 11th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Coleridge took the slow bus to the morgue. He didn’t succumb to opium until the ripe old age of 61. But he was on the wrong side of the gender divide so life was probably a lot easier for him.
March 12th, 2008 at 7:25 am
on reflection, the best case scenario: comes out of rehab clean, moves a decade ahead from ’60’s bubble gum to find musical inspiration in the golden era of disco, especially the life-affirming hits of Gloria Gaynor; “I Am What I Am”, “Never Can Say Goodbye” and especially, “I Will Survive” which emboldened a generation facing death, many of whom did survive by way of drugs (albeit FDA-approved ones). Stops short of the gay-bashing Christianist wingnuttery to which the mature Gaynor has descended as of late.
March 13th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
[…] -Amy Winehouse doesn’t need a patriarchal media and society to save her. […]
March 14th, 2008 at 9:44 am
“No self control” - I used to think it was that easy, before I had a close-up view of addition, relapse and recovery. But it’s a lot more complicated.
Picture yourself having not eaten for a full day. You’re extremely hungry. Sure, you can exercise self-control and not eat. But if you’re not already there, pretty soon you won’t be able to stop thinking about food. As you continue to hold out, your thoughts will become more obsessional and your cravings stronger. Although I could remind you that as long as you drink water you should be able to survive a month or more without eating, the odds are overwhelming that you’re not going to hold out that long. That’s pretty much what periods of sobriety (outside of a recovery, and sometimes during recovery) are like for addicts. Sobriety is not a “good thing” - it’s something to be endured between fixes.
Some addicts, whether due to their drug of choice or the manifestation of their addiction, are not likely to die (save possibly in an accident) as a result of their addiction. Others will go many years before their addictions become potentially lethal. Some are on a downward spiral so rapid, if they don’t get into a recovery program you may as well start measuring the coffin. Where on that spectrum would you place Amy Winehouse?
I am not defending patronizing lectures directed at Amy Winehouse; I haven’t read them, but if they’re typical most are probably unhelpful at best. Yet an addict who is not actively seeking recovery is not receptive even to helpful messages. Once we’re into the territory of helpful messages, I personally don’t care what type of “archy” it takes to get an addict to become receptive to treatment. (Inpatient treatment, incidentally, follows what I would describe as a highly controlling, patriarchal model.) Patriarchy, matriarchy, “hit you over the head with a whiffle bat until you listen”-iarchy. Because until the addict is ready for recovery, it’s not going to happen.
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April 6th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Sounds perfect to me. I have read this post with a great pleasure. You should write much more often.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:41 am
I was getting pretty edgy reading this. If I say I’m disagreeing with your post I would say nothing. Reading this is meaningless waste of time.
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