preview

Pink Isnt For Boys Analysis

Decent Essays
Open Document

Pink isn’t for boys. Girls don’t play football. Men don’t cry and women can’t fight – or so goes the dictum of convention. But, the ephemeral nature of existence beckons our surrender into the other. Fans, critics, straight, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer celebrate their aristocratic, glam rock Ubermensch David Bowie. On Monday, Jan. 11, the world mourned the loss of a kindred soul. Bowie, the avant-garde experimentalist of Rock ‘n Roll, film, and fashion, inspired millions to be themselves. From 1972s chameleonic manifesto “Changes,” to his final unsettling single and video “Lazarus,” Bowie synthesized what Isacc Guzman of TIME referred to as “highbrow ideas about art, identity and theater,” that mirrored our desire to hover above the rest. “I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human,” Bowie said, “I felt very puny as a human. I thought, ‘F-ck …show more content…

That is, our identity isn’t ready made but created. And Bowie danced with Sartre’s maxim, infusing it with Nietzsche’s concept of the Ubermensch: the ideal human being. These virtuous few are salvation incarnate. Through the practical application of culture, they raise the character of society. Independent and austere, they accept adversity as necessary, unafraid to showcase their abilities. The Ubermensch regards his greatest project—his life—as a work of art, not merely reflecting existence, but constructing it. The Dionysian beauty lurking in the shadows of Bowie’s Apollonian lyrics, “Seeing more and feeling less/ Saying no but meaning yes/ This is all I ever meant/ That’s the message I sent,” is a confirmation of life’s turbulence and delight. Peel back the superficiality of social convention and Bowie’s often dystopian lyrics undergird a sincere sense of fragility, providing the springboard for reinvention and

Get Access