Female Manipulator Music
500 Days of Summer
A few months ago, the term “male manipulator music” was coined on TikTok to describe the music tastes of men that are, like the name says, manipulators (think gaslighters who wear Dickies and Docs and put stickers on their skateboard). If you look at popular videos under the hashtag and accompanying Spotify playlists, you’ll see the bands commonly referenced are artists like Weezer, Radiohead, Mac DeMarco, and Tame Impala. If you’ve ever been compared to Ramona Flowers, there’s a 90% chance that the guy who told you that was a male manipulator.
Recently, the description has been flipped on its head to describe toxic women’s playlists, creating the phrase “female manipulator music”. While there is a lot of overlap of artists, most notably The Smiths and Cage the Elephant, female manipulators are known for listening to Lana Del Rey, Mitski, Grimes, and the like, as well as drawing a strong influence from riot grrrl and hyperpop. These girls are known for being controlling and sometimes overbearing, but according to Urban Dictionary, they’re still “bad bitches”.
So, if this sounds like your music library and you’re thinking about smashing your record collection, don’t! Embrace it! Become the best female manipulator you can be in 5 easy steps:
Step 1: Download Letterboxd
Popular movie choices include Midsommar, Gone Girl, 500 Days of Summer, and Jennifer’s Body.
Step 2: Buy a ton of rings. Like, a lot.
The chunkier they are, the better. Bonus points if you can stack multiple on one finger.
Step 3: Perfect your dramatic winged eyeliner.
A staple from the 2014 “I’m not like other girls” Tumblr era we never quite outgrew, sharp eyeliner is an absolute must.
Step 4: Pick up some pretentious-sounding books at a used book store.
Think The Bell Jar and Slaughterhouse Five, and make sure to scribble as many vaguely poetic notes in the margins as possible.
Step 5: Get into tarot and astrology.
I mean, at this point you might as well.
