With the release of Olivia Rodrigo’s “drivers license,” fans immediately created a love triangle narrative around Olivia, Joshua Bassett, and that blonde girl – Sabrina Carpenter. In an increasingly parasocial world, this phenomenon of pitting women against women has only intensified. And even though we’re almost two years out from the climax of this drama, I think we owe them all an apology, especially Sabrina.
Olivia and Joshua initially sparked rumors of their romance through their time together on the Disney+ show, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. But in a quick turnaround to their relationship’s rumored demise, Bassett was almost immediately linked with Carpenter, sparking cheating allegations. Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour, did nothing to quell the hate being spewed towards Sabrina.
It’s a terrifying thing that happens far too often. Labels like “the other woman,” “cheater,” and “slut” stick – especially on young women, regardless of whether shoe fits or not. Exacerbated by the cesspool of misogyny social media has created, we project our insecurities onto celebrities who we know absolutely nothing about.
Until the recent release of Sabrina’s own album, emails i can’t send, fans were still villainizing her. Her songs revealed that the timeline of Olivia’s relationship with Bassett and her own did not in fact overlap, and most importantly, the inner turmoil she went through when the press diminished her life’s accomplishments for simply being associated with a man.
With the majority of Rodrigo, Bassett, and Carpenter’s fanbases being female, it’s even more saddening that this happened to them. Songwriting is such a soul-baring craft – female success is a rarity in such a brutal industry. For listeners to underscore the beauty of both Olivia and Sabrina’s lyrics by pitting the two against each other is a loss for the artistry of music. Most of their fans know exactly how it feels to be compared to other women – that’s why their albums were so successful. So why do we time and time again chose to pick sides instead of lifting both up?
There’s a quote from former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that I think about often when I see conflicts like this, and it should remind fans that by partaking in pitting women against women, WE ARE THE PROBLEM.
“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”
Being a woman is a uniquely tragic experience. We will never understand the the levity at which men can approach life. Power is never given to us – we must learn to find it within ourselves. And the worst part is, by refusing to support fellow women, we go through it alone. We cannot label Sabrina and Olivia as boy-crazy and media manipulators without reflecting on whether we too have ever been the villains in someone’s story. I love both Olivia and Sabrina because I have been both of them. The wronged and the accused wrongdoer. Haven’t we all? It’s about time we offer more sympathy to those who have to play out these roles on an international stage.
Shreya,
Another great post! This world is cruel to women – and this cruelness is often elevated by the dog eat dog mentality. Girls are so often compared to each other that they feel the only way to be successful is to put others down. I definitely experienced this growing up with sisters, but now I realize that my accomplishments are made any better by the failures of others. What is a life lived if not to help others? It’s hard to break out of that mentality, but the world will surely be a better place once we do.
Sam
Hi Shreya!
Such an interesting analysis of this situation that is definitely true. I think that women are more likely to make negative comparisons between them and other women. I totally agree that the world would be a much better place if people focused on building each other up instead of tearing them down. I guess competition and the need to “win” is a big corrupter. It’s sad that, at the end of the day, most people would rather put themselves up than put someone else up. I wonder how much of this is society induced and how much is just human nature.
Shreya,
That is a very interesting blog post you have here! You certainly bring out a different perspective than what I, and many others, usually hear. I haven’t an idea about the Sabrina-Olivia beef; I just know Driver’s License is a catchy song, and it is fun to sing along to. I guess I never looked deep enough into the lyrics to find the intended meaning behind the music. I’m excited to read the next post!