I don’t pretend to have a deep understanding of Charlie XCX’s Brat – or to see myself as anywhere close to that level of cool 😂. But I’ve got as caught up in it as anyone else who regularly spends too much time on tiktok. It has really resonated with me and I think there’s one big reason for that: audacity.
Is a Brat Summer all about audacity?
I’ve seen as many interpretations of Brat Summer as there are versions of the apple dance but there are themes (“no one else does it like her” etc) that point me in one direction: audacity. I love the word audacity. It’s something most often heard in the context of “where does she get the audacity to do that” *judgmental frown*. And when I used to be someone who felt a lot of shame I stayed as far away from audacity as possible for fear of being judged in exactly that way. Well, not anymore.
I love the idea of a Brat Summer
From the audacity of showing up everywhere in a lime green car with your album name on it, to having the audacity to run for president of the USA when you’re not an old white man to the audacity of writing song lyrics like “you wanna guess the colour of my underwear” and making it about the female (rather than the traditional male) gaze.. all these things have such resonance in a society so dominated by the patriarchy, where there are (STILL) so many unwritten rules about what women “should” or “shouldn’t” be or do. And, honestly, I’m here for it.
All aboard the audacity train
Even before Brat summer I was already all aboard the audacity train, embracing the idea that it’s time to do the things our mothers and grandmothers might have judged us for (but secretly wanted to do themselves). And taking a much more uncompromising attitude to socially conditioned rules about what we can or can’t be. The key to this often lies in releasing shame. Because it’s shame that determines whether something is “acceptable” or not – i.e. whether it’s audacious.
Defining audacity
And when you look at the definition of audacity you can see even more clearly why shame plays such a big part in blocking it. Because audacious means “a disregard of constraints commonly imposed by convention or prudence” (according to the Merriam Webster dictionary). What an awful word prudence is – straight from the shaming, patriarchal language of the worst elements of religion – and don’t get me started on how much I dislike convention. Which is essentially just another word for social conditioning.
Have your Brat Summer
If audacity is essentially disregarding the constraints imposed by social conditioning or judgmental, rigid, patriarchal power structures then surely it’s time that we all had more of it? Because when you look at it like that, audacity is really just having the courage to show up in the world as 100% yourself. And that IS Brat.
You’ve got a month or so left of summer (I include September in this, we have to eke it out int the UK) and I challenge you to make these months the most audacious Brat Summer of your life.
Want some help exploring audacity, releasing shame and building up your confidence? Book a free intro call with me today.
