Lily Allen: “It’s Hard Out Here for a Bitch”

If you want an expensive car, Britney Spears says you have to work, bitch. But, as Spears gyrates and takes a lackadaisical feminist angle straight to the top of the charts, the never shy of opinion Lily Allen is back from maternity leave with her biting new single, “It’s Hard Out Here.” The feminism is rightfully ferocious here.

In the song, Allen touches heavy-handedly on society’s expectations of women with a bit of tongue in cheek and a full-fledged third finger in the air as she proclaims: “Forget your balls and grow a pair of tits/It’s hard, it’s hard, it’s hard out here for a bitch.”

As the video progresses from Allen strapped to a surgical bed supposedly in need of getting her figure in order after birthing children, to dishwashing high-end tire rims, to standing in front of letter balloons (in “Blurred Lines” fashion) that read “LILY ALLEN HAS A BAGGY PUSSY,” it becomes clear that the UK pop star has not enjoyed how her gender’s been treated of late. One could also argue that she’s less than impressed by women continuing to allow themselves to be portrayed in certain lights.

Nevertheless, the song is brilliant and the video is equally poignant. It’s worth dedicating 4:23 of your day to.