Why being a “crazy girl” is ok

Dear crazy girl, I love you.

You’ve had a great year. From Rosamund Pike’s mesmerizing turn as the ultimate femme fatale Amy Dunne in Gone Girl to TSwizzle riffing off her public image in “Blank Space”, 2014 has been the year of the crazy girl. While there have been some bumps in the road (Is Amy a misogynist? Are we laughing at or with Orange is the New Black’s Crazy Eyes?), ultimately this is a boon for women.

Crazy used to be one of the worst insults you could call a girl. It allowed a girl to be easily brushed off and unable to defend herself. If she’s overreacting, starting a scene, emotional annoying, just call her crazy. The list goes on. There’s no need to understand a crazy girl because she’s crazy. A crazy girl lies, cheats, and maybe even kills. You either laugh at a crazy ex-girlfriend or you hate her. Responding with “I’m not crazy” just reinforced your craziness. So what happens if you can’t beat them? You join them, but in your own way – in a way where people might not even notice that you’re actually winning.

This is, for the most part, the case in 2014. In Gone Girl, I saw Amy as a cunning and intelligent woman, who takes society’s perception of her, and uses it to stick it to the assholes in her life. And maybe she does some questionable things, but so do the men, and she wins. She’s not a good person, but she doesn’t have to be. It’s about time a female character in pop culture became popular without having to be the stereotypical cute girl next door. The titular character in The Mindy Project is an unashamed crazy basic betch, who is sometimes irrational and presents herself as a person some may consider to be a vapid idiot. But she’s also a successful, lovable, and relatable gynecologist, and she never apologizes for who she is.

Something similar has been going on with “bitches”. A few years ago there was no possible interpretation of the term that wasn’t derogatory. But now it can be used as a means of empowerment (and frequently alliteration). Bitches get shit done. Don’t like me? That’s fine. I’m better than you.

That’s what “Blank Space” is. In the video, Swift obsesses over the beginning of a relationship and just as aggressively destroys the man as soon as the beginnings of conflict surface. You can practically see Swift sneering at the paparazzi. You want crazy? You’ve got it. I don’t care because I’m laughing all the way to the bank. And as an added bonus, Swift makes it okay to have all these feelings that people typically have after the tumultuous end of a relationship. She’s not defined by craziness; she uses it to her advantage.

It’s easy to forget that just a few years ago the most popular female characters were the most grounded and “rational”. Meredith from Grey’s Anatomy is a career-focused doctor. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy is badass fighter, but she still conforms to gender stereotypes. These characters were conflicted, but they were not proud of anything that made them appear crazy.

So sure, you’re crazy. But you’re also a badass mofo, and all you do is win, win, win no matter what.