I’m still completely enamored with Pink’s latest album, Beautiful Trauma. I listen to it often. Many of the songs resonate. I’ve already written about a couple of her latest songs. Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, today’s song choice, feels particularly poignant these days. Not only is the song a venue for Alecia’s amazing vocal talents, but it is a pretty beautiful “rally cry” for what is being acknowledged recently in the media across the world. When I listen to it, tears fill my eyes for all the abuse, all the humiliation, all the ravaged souls. I literally picture women tied and bound, their power stripped, their voices stolen.

Here’s a Billboard.com article that talks about why Alecia wrote the song: Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken

The article also talks about another song on the album, a duo with Eminem, called Revenge. I love singing that song, it’s catchy, but not at all sweet. My favorite section of the song actually belongs to Eminem when he says, “You’re a whore, you’re a whore, this is WAR.” Like Pink, I sing this to my husband, often, right to his face. He is the whore, and a piece of me wants to beat the shit out of him… but I digress. Back to Wild Hearts.

Regardless of why songwriters write songs, we, the audience listen to those songs and the words mean something different to all of us. Wild Hearts, to me, is all about abuse of women. The #metoo movement, of which I am a member, is merely a realization that we live in a society where men use power and sexual dominance to control their environment, and women are still being taught and encouraged to keep their mouths shut when abused or mistreated. I’m not sure there are many women left out there that are not a member of the #metoo movement. Whether sexist, humiliating, demeaning, or violent the actions, many of us have suffered silently at the hands of men in our life.

I’m not being obtuse here. I realize there are lots of men who have been mistreated and abused, and lots of people who have been abused by women. I know this as well as anyone. I am speaking specifically here of silence. Of women, for whatever reason, choosing to remain quiet after being sexually abused. We’ve built a system that protects men and degrades women.

I’m not talking about cheating and betrayal, although there is a high level of abuse and control and power and keeping quiet involved. We, the betrayed wives, likewise feel humiliated, and judged. This is about how we are raised, generally speaking. The difference in the sexes. Boys are taught that strong is good, to not show weakness, and in fact, to be competitive and dominant… and to never, ever cry. Girls are often taught to be quiet, prim, proper and demure, not to speak up or out. It’s okay to be weak, we are sweet little girls. Perhaps things are starting to even out a bit, I am a child of the 60’s and 70’s and I know how I grew up, and today it seems that, in some cases, there is a push for young girls to speak up, to believe they can be anything and do anything. The problem is, our society is still dominated by men. They hold the physical power, and often the mental power. Not intelligence, but they feel it is their right to take what they want, and that fuels a type of abusive control. They, generally speaking, have the high level positions, they are driven by power and control, and they feel entitled. Often their emotions have been beaten out of them. But women, we have the nurturing gene, right? Or is that taught to us? Or both? Regardless of nature or nurture, speaking up and protecting our minds and bodies from abuse is our human right. Being treated with respect and kindness is our right. How many of us will have to stand up and fight before there is change. Pretty sure, the answer is all of us.