Olivia Rodrigo’s Serena Joy Is A Powerful Meditation On Solidarity And Resistance
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Overview
Nearly three years after Guts made its way into the world, everyone’s favorite plaid-laden pop icon Olivia Rodrigo returned this June with her third studio album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. A devastatingly raw depiction of the lifecycle of romantic love, the album traces the sweet beginnings of new romance and the head-dizzying hope of finding yourself in someone else. As the record progresses, the threads of the relationship begin to unravel. It’s undoubtedly one of Rodrigo’s most vulnerable bodies of work, earning widespread praise from critics and fans alike and debuting at number one in over 20 countries. In the eight weeks since its release, stupid song and the cure have boomed around my little Hyundai hatchback more times than I’d like to admit, which is why it was such a delightful surprise this week to wake up to the news of the pop star dropping a new standalone track, serena joy.
If that name doesn’t immediately ring a bell and you haven’t yet dived into the dystopian pages of Margaret Atwood’s acclaimed The Handmaid’s Tale, allow me to connect the dots. The novel is set in the dystopian theocracy of Gilead — a society in which women exist almost entirely for their reproductive value, with any sense of autonomy effectively stripped away. Gilead is a world constructed by and for men, where fanatic religious extremism and brutish violence prosper.
Serena Joy, a conservative woman of high social status, is in many ways a purveyor of this system. But what makes her character so complex and compelling is her inevitable fall from grace: the very cage she so diligently helped build becomes her own prison. Rodrigo’s song charts this contradiction, exposing the fate of those who uphold the very structures that entrap them. And while the character may exist in an abstract, fictional universe, the political parallels to modern-day reproductive laws, the rise of the manosphere and the resurgence of right-wing hostility — just look at the current administration — are undeniable.
Though Rodrigo never explicitly references Serena in the song, her essence is unmistakable in the lyrics. The track opens with a powerful statement, delivered in almost spoken-word: “Yeah, it’s all for the cause / For the good of us all / And if you close your eyes / Then it can’t be your fault.” When we talk about systems of oppression, we often focus our energy on those sitting cushy on their throne, unaffected by the weight of their own authority. But rarely do we look outwards to those seemingly on our own side — one foot in our camp, the other carefully balancing the very structures they feel compelled to uphold. There’s a complex, unspoken hostility in being betrayed by those you thought would stand with you. As the track progresses, so too does the urgency of solidarity. “If they do it to them / Thеy’ll do it to you.” It’s almost a call to arms for collective vigilance. Infighting isn’t new; it’s existed since the earliest days of protest.
Rarely do we look outwards to those seemingly on our own side — one foot in our camp, the other carefully balancing the very structures they feel compelled to uphold.
Yet it still simmers beneath the surface, in terse alliances and uneasy truces, as we fight the more urgent battles against oppression. It’s a tension that begs to be ignored, with many fearing the consequences of breaking the collective silence, which is why it’s so powerful — and profoundly important — that Rodrigo tackles this squarely in her new track. As a young woman with an immense audience, she doesn’t shy away from such a fraught topic, instead giving voice to conversations that are too often silenced. While the release came as a surprise to many (myself included), it certainly isn’t the singer’s first foray into taking aim at systems of oppression and using her voice for advocacy. In 2022 at Glastonbury Festival, she was joined by iconic British artist Lily Allen for a duet of Allen’s anthemic “F*ck You” in protest of the Roe v. Wade ruling in the U.S. Rodrigo has continually shown herself to be a living, breathing, fishnet-wearing example of the power of advocacy.
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More recently, Rodrigo called out critics who deemed her babydoll dresses too provocative, exposing the misdirected moral panic with a deft hand: “It’s just this rhetoric that we’re fed as girls since we’re so little, which is like, ‘Don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault.’ Like, it’s so weird”. Her activism pokes holes in the patriarchal structures that seek to suffocate women’s autonomy, and serena joy is the next rung on that ladder. The timing of the release is no coincidence, either. Rodrigo’s inaugural Daisy Chain Fields music festival takes place on Saturday, August 29, boasting an all-women lineup, with all net profits going to organizations supporting women and girls.
It’s her rejection of the binary that I find most refreshing. She’s a 23-year-old woman, and she’s not pretending otherwise. She’s navigating heartbreak, self-discovery, political activism and the complexities of growing up in the public eye, all with more gumption than I ever had at that age. Bravo, Olivia. Bravo.
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Originally published at www.refinery29.com.