Frankie Grande has asked: ‘Why are we shaming power bottoms?’ (Getty)
Frankie Grande has asked: ‘Why are we shaming power bottoms?’ (Getty)
Frankie Grande is bravely standing up for power bottoms everywhere, urging tops to have more respect for their sexual counterparts.
The musician and brother of Ariana Grande, 42, spoke to LGBTQ+ journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist – the woman behind last year’s iconic ‘Holding Space’ meme – on the first episode of her aptly titled podcast, Holding Space with Tracy E. Gilchrist.
During a wide-ranging conversation, the pair touched on everything from Grande’s sobriety and how Ariana helped him achieve it, to his initial “disappointment” in the Wicked stage show.
As talk turned to Grande’s music career, he spoke about his very steamy music video for his song “Boys”, which dropped back in May. In the video, Grande appears in a skimpy gym outfit and thick, glittery eyeshadow, dancing around buff, nearly naked men.
Speaking to Gilchrist about the realities of being a queer man in the gym, the singer said he found it “weird and interesting” how typically femme gay men appear more masculine presenting in masc spaces like gyms, and suggested he wanted to subvert that narrative through the video.
“Really, gay men like me go into that locker room and the clothes come off, and then all of a sudden we have to butch it up to attract other men,” he said.
“I think that’s so interesting to watch these really queer, very effeminate men like get into their towels and be like, ‘Yo, bro, what’s good?’ And it’s like, whoa, what is that thing where we’re not allowed to be overtly queer or overtly femme in those settings?”
He linked the experience to the “shaming” that feminine or submissive gay men sometimes experience from within the community.
“Even if you’re in there to have sex with another man, you still have to be masculine presented. You cannot be feminine in those settings. And so, I wanted to reclaim that space for the queer fem. To re-own [the term] ‘power bottom’. It’s like, we do most of the work, b***h. Do you know what I’m saying?”
In LGBTQ+ slang, a “power bottom” is a term for someone who takes on the role of the receiver during sex, but does so with assertiveness and control. They are active and directive in deciding the pace and pleasure of the sex, flipping the prevalent notion that ‘bottoms’ are passive when it comes to sexual intercourse.
“It is a power bottom anthem,” Frankie Grande said of his song.
“Why are we shaming power bottoms? You tops need them. We serve a purpose in the community. It is in the name. Power. Power is in the name. Power bottom.”
Other queer stars have also proclaimed themselves to be power bottoms, including Lil Nas X and Special star Ryan O’Connell.
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