“Get girl out of my head”: The freeing fury of PJ Harvey’s ‘Man-Size’

Posted On November 12, 2024November 12, 2024

Sadly, through the mere act of being a woman in the rock world, PJ Harvey’s presence in the 1990s became a feminist one. It’s still a sad fact today that even as more women take to and dominate the world’s stages, the music industry at its core is a misogynistic one, like most industries are. So on ‘Man-Size’, Harvey turned her glaring glaze to that fact and for a raging three minutes and 15 seconds, dared to dream about the euphoria of being free from the injustices of her gender.

It’s a fantasy found repeatedly in the songs by women in music. When Patti Smith reimagined Them’s ‘Gloria’ or posed in a shirt and tie on the cover of her debut album, she was grabbing at the stereotypical image and masculine energy of music and capturing it as her own. Even modern artists like The Last Dinner Party are enamoured by the idea, singing on ‘Caesar on a TV Screen’, “When I put on that suit, I don’t have to stay mute / I can talk all the time ’cause my shoulders are wide,” and dreaming about a chance to step into the power, or ego, of male leaders if just for a second.

Power, belonging and confidence are what these songs are fantasising about. It’s the longing for the easier like that masculinity seems to boast, free from the shackles of sexism, subtle and constant misogyny, societal expectations to be demure and polite and the looming and historic doubt put on the shoulders of female dreamers. For women looking in on the world of men and the way society seems built for them, from every realm from business to pleasure, the thought of getting a chance to shake off your womanhood and indulge in one day in a man’s world feels like a fantasy. 

That’s what PJ Harvey is saying on ‘Man-Size’, writing a feminist anthem by imagining this manly world of power and ease. “I’m coming up man-sized” she sings as she imagines herself shedding her current skin and putting on a new one that’s leather clad and handsome. In this new form, she wanders the world through her verses, boasting about her “babe looking cool and neat” and the power that’s her “birthright”.

But littered amongst this fancy is more nuanced commentary. “Man-sized, no need to shout / Can you hear, can you hear me now?” she growls on this raging rock song, pointing a finger at the way women have historically been silence by men or been accused of being too forceful when they do try and get their voices heard. For Harvey who was kicking down the doors of the music industry with the record this song sat on as Rid Of Me truly established her as the new star of the scene, this was her shout to ensure her talent was heard amidst the male-heavy rock crowd.

But the most striking moment of the song comes in the quiet. Suddenly, Harvey returns to herself. As if the spell of manhood has worn off and she’s returned to her 5’4” self, her voice quietens too, as if back to the traditional expectations of womanhood. In that whisper she spits, “Silence my lady head / Get girl out of my head / Douse hair with gasoline / Set it light and set it free.”

It’s haunting, poetic and truly powerful as a moment that sends goosebumps shuddering through the body. It’s a two-pronged attack; on the one hand, Harvey seems to touch on the kind of internalised misogyny that women can fall into, becoming victim to society’s prejudice to the extent where they think power can only come from silencing their femininity or “lady’s head”. But on the other hand, alongside the rousing power of ‘Man-Size’, it seems that Harvey is imploring women to dare to grasp at the power and confidence of her imagined masculine, to carry themselves as if they are man-sized and set alight to the niggling doubts and societal holdbacks that are drilling into women. 

There’s something so freeing across the whole song. The carnage of Harvey’s beast as she transforms into the ultimate stereotype of the egotistical man and wanders hedonistically through the world of the song. This final image of pure rage as she sets fire to the girlish version of herself or the part of her brain that keeps her from behaving like that powerful, man-sized thing. Together, they made for a song packed with catharsis for women in rock and women who love rock to grab at the space they deserve and finally take up room in an industry where men have so much of it.

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