Ariana Grande posted a totally girl-power picture on her Instagram recently, which totally makes sense for her. Ariana is all about empowerment, and stands up not only for herself, but for other women. She made that very clear when she spoke up about being harassed by a Mac Miller fan, explaining exactly how harmful and horrifying the situation was for her, and how unfortunately common those feelings are for other women. In her new Instagram post, though, Ariana seems to lay out a girl-power creed.
She posted a shot of a page from a book that reads in part, "because I am the definition of a powerful woman. I love with my whole body, heart and soul. I say whatever the f*** is on my mind. I make huge mistakes proudly. I rage with as much passion as I grieve." The picture is captioned #regenathomashauer, and that's it. So what is this mysterious manifesto? New York Magazine got some answers.
According to New York Magazine, Ariana's post is from a book that encourages women to reconnect with their original power source: their vaginas. Hell yeah!
Pussy: a Reclamation, is a book by Regena Thomashauer, the woman from Ariana's caption, that "is written to reacquaint a woman with her own power source—which is the part of herself she has been taught to ignore, push down, and despise," according to its Amazon description. It encourages women to speak their truth, embody radical self-celebration, love your body, and get in tune with your spirit. This message is one Regena, better known as Mama Gena, has been pushing for nearly two decades now through her School of Womanly Arts.
On the surface, Mama Gena's message is pretty inspiring. Women are taught to be ashamed of their bodies, their sexuality and their feelings. Reclaiming those things and recognizing them as sources of strength is important and inspiring. But New York Magazine points out Mama Gena's message comes at a price. Her "mastery course," which promises to "unlock the legend inside you," costs about $5,000.
Of course, we're all about girl power, and the message in Ariana's post is one of strength and self-love so of course it's amazing. But any program that promises to help you love yourself more with a hefty price tag is definitely not required. Self-love doesn't have a price, it comes as you grow and begin to accept yourself for who and what you are. It's not easy to overcome the shame instilled in us and embrace everything that our bodies give us, and at the end of the day, you don't need $5,000 to love yourself. But if you have $10, you can buy the book.
Mama Gena's words in Ariana's post are inspiring, but what's more inspiring is when you start to have those kind of thoughts on your own.