The use of the word вЂpsychoвЂ™ in the title situates this video as an explicit response to the hetero-normative, misogynist вЂpsycho girlfriendвЂ™ stereotype. Translating the specific paradigm of her rage to a female or non-binary sexual partner wouldnвЂ™t quite work, and I do wonder what different dynamics would emerge if the ethnicities of the male partners were more variable in the videos. In вЂSweet but PsychoвЂ™, MaxвЂ™s revenge seems to be on men generally, perhaps a symbol for the patriarchy. So a woman reclaims power, exclusively against men, through ownership of the very вЂpsychoвЂ™ stereotypes which try to hold her down вЂ“ right? Of the three archetypal Romantic madwomen identified by Elaine Showalter in The Female Malady: Women, Madness and English Culture, 1830-198 0, Max chooses to employ вЂthe violent Lucia symbolising violence against menвЂ™. The three videos star Max as a вЂcrazy girlfriend/exвЂ™ figure who wreakes stylised, violent revenge on the (exclusively male and White, notably) boyfriends/exes/bosses who have wronged her. For вЂpeopleвЂ™, read вЂwomenвЂ™, here вЂ“ or, rather, a White, straight woman.

Max herself claims the prior of вЂSweet but PsychoвЂ™, вЂ think IвЂ™m actually calling them psycho, but then itвЂ™s a deeper meaningвЂ™. Leaving a ream of male critics and journalists to debate the intricacies of MaxвЂ™s portrayals is short-sighted of the music criticism community I hope to offer a more invested voice to the conversation. However, could the effect ultimately just be a reproduction of old misogynist tropes, changing nothing and possibly even fuelling the faithful old fire of patriarchy?ДЄs someone who identifies as a woman and who has at times been disabled by mental illness, this question is personal and political to me, as all feminism should be.

The persona that Max cultivates in these three videos is so overdone that it could be a cynical deconstruction of the вЂcrazyвЂ™ stereotype, rather than a reinforcement of it. Ava Max (born Amanda Ava Koci), the Albanian-American pop singer who shot to stardom following the 2018 release of her hit single, вЂSweet but PsychoвЂ™, capitalises on a heavily lip-glossed and lycra-ed image of the crazy ex-girlfriend in this single, as well as in вЂTornвЂ™ and вЂWhoвЂ™s Laughing NowвЂ™ (2020). SheвЂ™s вЂsweet but psychoвЂ™, вЂtornвЂ™, вЂpushed to the edgeвЂ™. CW: mental illness, mentions of gaslighting, violence.

Ava max boyfriend