It Was A Cultural Reset

Rachel Trow | Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa | She/Her

Kirsty Frame | She/Her

To celebrate the debut of Salient’s culture section, your chaotic editors are serving you with their top cultural resets for women in the last 20 years. 

To bring everyone up to speed (cc: those without Tik Tok), a cultural reset is a moment that defines an era and fundamentally changes pop culture thereafter. Best you believe the now-viral audio of “it was a cultural reset… it was a cultural reset” is, in the original Rose McGowan interview, referencing the #MeToo movement. 

Jennifer Lopez’s 2000 Versace Grammy Dress (and then again 20-fucking-years later)

Remember when J.Lo invented Google Images? 

Tarana Burke and the MeToo movement

Black American activist and organiser, Tarana Burke, coined the “MeToo” campaign in 2006. Over 10 years later, the phrase is championed by an international movement, and Burke is named Time’s Person of the Year (along with a collective of activists). We have no choice but to stan.

Beyoncé giving Taylor Swift the stage after Kayne West had the audacity

While this doesn’t pass the bechdel test, it’s pure class. Off (one of) pop culture’s most infamous moments, Beyoncé letting Swift “have her moment” will forever encapsulate sisterhood and men ain’t shit energy. Katy Perry and P!nk taking to twitter after to drag Kayne was the cherry on top.

Julia Gillard’s Misogyny Speech

I WILL NOT BE LECTURED ABOUT SEXISM AND MISOGYNY BY THIS MAN. I WILL NOT. AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT BE LECTURED ABOUT SEXISM AND MISOGYNY BY THIS MAN. NOT NOW NOT EVER. THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION SAYS THAT PEOPLE WHO HOLD SEXIST VIEWS AND WHO ARE MISOGYNISTS ARE NOT APPROPRIATE FOR HIGH OFFICE. WELL I HOPE THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION HAS GOT A PIECE OF PAPER AND HE IS WRITING OUT HIS RESIGNATION. BECAUSE IF HE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT MISOGYNY LOOKS LIKE IN MODERN AUSTRALIA HE DOESN’T NEED A MOTION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, HE NEEDS A MIRROR. THAT’S WHAT HE NEEDS.

Rihanna’s VS walk; VS getting cancelled; Savage x Fenty emerging from the ashes

Rihanna-”I’m not looking for a man, let’s start there”- has had us questioning our sexuality since Pon de Replay. She mopped the floor with the ghost of VS founder Roy Raymond at the 2012 Victoria’s Secret Show. Seven years later, VS is cancelled for being transphobic, fatphobic, and just all around shite. Savage x Fenty emerges as the Supreme.

Lady Gaga’s 2019 Met Gala Reveal

If your reveal isn’t Sasha Velour at the Season 9 finale we don’t want it. Either that, or it’s a 15 minutes long piece of performance art on the stairs of the Met, and finally entering the venue in nothing but lingerie and stilettos. We pity the B list celeb that had to follow that.

The Satisfyer Pro Community

WHILE IT IS LOUDER THAN PEOPLE WILL HAVE YOU BELIEVE, shit slaps. The “clit sucker” has united an online community for satisfying orgasms since the second generation model distributed itself last year. Never before have so many women talked so openly about masturbating, and honestly, we are here for it. 

WAP - Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion

We’re off to the sexual revolution, y’all want anything? If you’re spewing your concerns with this absolute banger then the “clean” version of this song is your fucking fault and we are holding you personally responsible. All we want is to be able to watch this high art music video without having to hear the phrase “wet and gushy.” Never in our life times have we seen such an unapologetic celebration of feminine sexuality on such an iconic scale. This is a warning to all readers before attempting the Tik Tok dance: stretch first.

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