Meaning of “God Is a Woman” by Ariana Grande

“God Is a Woman” is a song performed by American singer and songwriter Ariana Grande. Besides telling the world that the Almighty God’s gender is female, the song’s lyrics deal with a number of themes ranging from female empowerment to sexual liberation to spirituality. According to the singer herself, the lyrics of “God Is a Woman” center on two major themes: “sexual female empowerment” and how women are everything important in this world. According to her, women are so important that the universe basically resides inside them.

Below is Grande’s full tweet via her official Twitter account regarding the meaning of this track:

Ariana Grande’s comments on the song’s themes.

Controversy caused by ascribing gender to God

We all know about how a lot of believers believe that God is so powerful that He has no gender. Based on this, it becomes more of a “sin” to ascribe a particular gender to Him since doing so makes Him appear like an ordinary human being. When asked whether she wasn’t concerned about the potential controversy she was going to create by saying God is a female while answering questions from her fans on Twitter, Grande said she was aware of the controversy that ascribing the female gender to God was going to create and was actually expecting a negative backlash. However, she said it is important that people remember that what she’s doing is nothing short of art. According to her, regardless of whether people understand or don’t understand everything she does, she’s grateful for the opportunity she’s been blessed with to be herself and “inspire others to do that as well”. She ended by saying, she’d rather be herself “than play it safe”.

What a strong and incredibly powerful statement from Grande!

Come to think of it, if God can be referred to with the masculine pronoun “he”, why isn’t it okay for us to also use the female pronoun “she” when referring to God?

Facts about “God Is a Woman”

• The track was written by Ariana Grande and four other prominent songwriters: Max Martin of Sweden, Ilya Salmanzadeh of Sweden, Savan Kotecha of the United States and Rickard Göransson from the noted Swedish-American band Carolina Liar.
• This track was produced solely by the Swedish songwriter and producer Ilya Salmanzadeh (who also co-wrote the song). Salmanzadeh also sings background vocals on the track.
• “God Is a Woman” was officially released on 13th July, 2018 as the second single from Grande’s fourth studio album titled Sweetener. The first single from this album was the hit “No Tears Left to Cry” which both debuted and peaked at the number 3 spot on the Hot 100.
• The music video of “God Is a Woman” was directed by the American music video and film director Dave Meyers, who also directed the music video of Grande’s “No Tears Left to Cry”.
• One of the highlights of the music video of this track is its profound monologue, which is spoken by iconic American singer Madonna. It is worth noting that Madonna (aka the Queen of Pop) is one of Ariana Grande’s greatest musical heroes.
• The phrase “God is a woman” is said approximately 12 times in the song.
• Speaking with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Grande said this track happens to be her grandmother’s favorite track from her album Sweetener.
• This track made its debut on the US Billboard Hot 100 at the number 11 position, thereby giving Grande the 13th top 40 hit single of her career. It went on to peak at number 8 on that chart. On the UK Singles Chart, the track peaked at number 4.
• Grande performed this song live at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards on August 20, 2018. Towards the end of her performance, she was joined by her mother, Joan, her cousin, Lani and her grandma, Marjorie on stage. According to the singer, these three women are the most important women in her life.

Below is the official music video of Ariana Grande’s controversial hit single “God Is a Woman”. The video pays tribute to a host of things, including Greek mythology, the female body, the Day of the Lord, Romulus and Remus from Roman mythology astronomy, and Michelangelo’s fresco legendary painting The Creation of Adam.

Is Madonna’s monologue from the “God Is a Woman” music video taken from the Bible?

Yes! It is taken from the Book of Ezekiel from the Bible (specifically Ezekiel 25:17).

Madonna’s monologue from the music video.

It is noteworthy that American actor Samuel L. Jackson recited a similar statement  in the 1994  Quentin Tarantino crime film Pulp Fiction starring himself (Jackson), Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Uma Thurman. The only major difference between Madonna’s version and that of Jackson’s is the fact that the former version is spoken from a feminist’s point of view.