What’s behind the title of Lorde’s new album, Virgin?
With her fourth studio album, Lorde reclaims the word “virgin” — unpacking gender identity, bodily autonomy, and the politics of rebirth.
Bodily Autonomy
Virgin’s album cover shows an x-ray scan of Lorde’s pelvis, along with a zipper, belt buckle, and IUD. The album imagery represents the album’s raw exploration of the female body, and Lorde’s reclamation of her bodily autonomy.
Virgin
Historically, the term “virgin” has been used to enforce purity culture, shame women and girls, and control our bodies. It applied a double standard that women and girls had to remain modest and abstain from sex to be considered “pure.”
Leading up to the album’s release, Lorde shared screenshots to her Instagram stories defining “virgin” as someone who is strong, independent, and androgynous.
Sexual Health
One of the tracks on Virgin, “Clearblue,” is named after the popular Clearblue pregnancy test brand. The song unpacks the complex “flood of emotions” that comes with having a pregnancy scare, a common experience for many women:
“Wish I'd kept the Clearblue / I'd remember how it feels to / Be so bare in the throes.”
Gender Identity
This idea is most heavily referenced in the single “Man of the Year,” which Lorde wrote in embrace of the expansiveness of her gender identity:
“Some days I’m a woman, some days I’m a man.”
"I'm a woman, but there's masculinity within that. Deep masculinity," the singer-songwriter explained in an interview.
Body Image
Virgin reflects the growth of a woman who has built both emotional and physical fortitude, challenging traditional ideas of what female bodies should look and feel like.
Eating Disorders
The song “Broken Glass” is an account of Lorde’s experience with a eating disorder, while the following track “If She Could See Me Now” shows her building her strength back to become the person she is today:
“At the gym, I’m exorcising / All the demons, make ‘em keep riding”
"I think a lot of women have this conditioning
to want to look… to want to be the smallest possible version of themselves,"
Lorde explained in an interview.
“What if we didn't do that? What would surrendering to becoming whatever size
you're supposed to become do to your life?
What would that feel like, if you could be
brave and let that happen?”
Activism
While promoting her new album and tour, Lorde has also been open about her support for a free Palestine. Recently, she shared words from pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil to her Instagram story.
In 2018, Lorde also canceled a concert in occupied Palestine to stand with the Palestinian people.
Maternal Lineage
In the song “Favorite Daughter,” Lorde details her complicated relationship with her mother, both idolizing her and yearning to impress her:
“Everywhere I run, I'm always runnin' to ya / Breaking my back just to be as brave as my mother”
"My mum's such an incredible woman," Lorde shared in an interview. "She really is like the blueprint for who I am. And her pain is my pain, and her peace is my peace and her grandmother's and all this.”
Women and Queer Influences
When writing Virgin, Lorde cited strong influences from the “unsparing femininity” in Tracey Emin’s 1995 work, “Everyone I Have Ever Slept With”, along with the work of French author Annie Ernaux who wrote on topics like sexual freedom, eating disorders, and her own experience getting an illegal abortion.
