Jennifer Keishin Armstrong is the author of the new book Pop Star Goddesses: And How To Tap Into Their Energies To Invoke Your Best Self. Her other books include Seinfeldia and Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted, and her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including The New York Times Book Review and Vice. She lives in New York City.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for Pop Star
Goddesses, and how would you define a pop star goddess?
A: I noticed that we tend to treat our female pop
stars in particular very much like we think of goddesses and goddess worship:
These women represent specific energies, and we look to them as inspiration to
invoke those energies in our own lives.
For example, I have a “What Would Beyoncé Do?” sign
above my desk and a Britney Spears “Work Bitch” prayer candle, both of which
give me genuine encouragement throughout my work days. So I thought it would be
fun to write a book looking at the ways different pop stars inspire us.
I ended up doing 35, and that still meant doing some
serious narrowing down. I was looking specifically for pop stars who started
their careers in the 1990s or after, who clearly represent a certain kind of
inspiration, and who had a story I could tell in the essays.
Q: Can you say more about how you chose the women you included in the
book--as well as their ancient goddess sisters?
A: I looked for women who met the criteria I just
mentioned, but some of it is just based on my personal feelings and
preferences.
In addition to the more obvious ones who almost have
to be there, like Celine Dion or Jennifer Lopez, I included some left-field
choices that I hoped would surprise people, like former First Lady of
France/French folk-pop singer Carla Bruni, Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane
Grace, and political firebrand M.I.A.
Once I had my pop star goddesses and what each
represented, then I looked for ancient goddesses who represented similar
energies or had similar journeys.
Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn
anything especially surprising?
A: Lots of reading! And listening! Because I cannot
possibly be a lifelong expert on 35 pop star goddesses, I got to learn a lot
about some women I hadn’t gone deep on before, which was great fun.
Cardi B was just coming up when I was writing and
decided to include her, so I got to start from zero and learn quickly what an
incredible force she is: She literally built herself on the internet with a
captivating combination of wit, sass, brutal honesty, and political savvy.
I ended up reading Larua Jane Grace’s entire excellent
memoir about coming out as trans, Tranny, and found that she is even smarter
and funnier than I had known. I gained a new appreciation for Missy Elliott and
Shakira (before she snapped the rest of the world back to attention with this
year’s Super Bowl Halftime show).
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: Mostly, especially now, I hope they just get some
light and joy and inspiration.
But I also hope they get a little bit of what I did from
writing it, which is a new appreciation for what it takes to be a female pop
star who survives and thrives, given the incredible pressures they’re under.
These are women who have figured out how to withstand
outrageous demands on their bodies and appearances, weather relationships under
ridiculous public scrutiny, and make millions from their talents while,
hopefully, retaining some shred of themselves. To do that over years or decades
is superhuman.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m working on a book called When Women Invented
Television, about the period from about 1948 to 1955 when, because TV was still
experimental and not terribly profitable, women wrote, starred, created, and
directed more than people realize—because men were still mostly interested in
radio, which was in its golden age.
Women helped to create and shape many of the
foundational elements still in place today, like talk shows, soap operas, and
sitcoms.
I focus on four main characters to tell the story:
Hazel Scott, a jazz musician and the first African American to host a national
primetime show; Irna Phillips, who created the daytime soap for radio and
brought it to TV; Gertrude Berg, who wrote, created, and starred in the first
family sitcom; and Betty White, who co-hosted one of the first daytime talk
shows. That is due out next year.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: That’s it! I hope you enjoy!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
No comments:
Post a Comment