God, in most religions, is referred to and portrayed as a man, and the pronouns used in scriptures are ‘He’ and ‘Him’. Attempts at changing the gender have even been called blasphemous.
So, it is probably safe to assume that Ariana Grande’s new song is going hit many a fundamentalist misogynistic nerve. On Friday, the singer-songwriter released her new single, God is a Woman, accompanied by a video filled with stunning visuals, religious and feminist imagery that imagine the Christian god as female.
The most memorable of these comes towards the end, in which Grande provides a feminist reimagining of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, a famous Biblical story that is painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City.
The most talked about moment of the video, however, is when Madonna makes a surprise cameo – as god. Her voice is heard from above, recites the verse Ezekiel 25:17 from the Bible. This is followed by Grande throwing a hammer to break the glass ceiling – quite literally.
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