Whatever the truth behind allegations against Lizzo, women can certainly be abusers, too | Gaby Hinsliff

Abuse of power exists wherever toxic working environments indulge it. Pretending that all women are nice is not the answer

Being an icon, the rapper-singer-songwriter Lizzo once said, is not about how long you've had your platform. Instead it's about what you do with that platform", as she told a cheering crowd at last year's People's Choice awards in the US, before inviting a string of female activists who she suggested were more deserving of recognition to join her on stage.

Few seemingly embodied inclusive feminism better than Lizzo, who built her brand on an uplifting, joyful, thrillingly body-positive form of female empowerment while glorying in her sexuality as a self-styled big grrrl". Of course it's her bouncy, summery track Pink that plays over the opening scenes of the new Barbie film. Who better than Lizzo to sell the idea of a dreamworld ruled by women for women, where men are just Kens and benign rule by Barbies frees all their sisters to be whatever they want to be?

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

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