Strangeness and Charm: Lessons From the Life of Grace Jones
Image Courtesy: W Magazine
Navigating the rigidity of societal norms requires confronting a conflict of self, torn between embracing the raw authenticity of who you are and conforming to who you’re told to be. This war between society and the conscious self has plagued human minds for generations. While many have submitted to the dominant paradigm, few have chosen to walk an alternative path. Few have chosen to allow their innate soul the room to stretch the minds of those around them. Few can compare to the life lived by the icon Grace Jones.
Born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, Jones has always been a rebellious spirit, though her individuality was shaped by her resilience amid childhood adversity. As the daughter of a Pentecostal clergyman, she and her five siblings were raised in a strict orthodox household. She describes her early life in Jamaica as tainted by the physical abuse she endured from her disciplinarian step-grandfather Peart, also known as the self-proclaimed Mas P—short for Master P. Jones chronicled the abuse, disclosing that when she was once caught doing a handstand in a dress, he whipped her with a leather belt. Yet even in the face of brutality, she remained strong and resolute, undeterred by the backlash.
Jones’s mother was a detail-oriented seamstress who passed on the skill that became invaluable to her at the beginning of her modeling career. After being scouted at 16 years old in 1966, Jones became a symbol of style, music, and elegance for decades to come. She emerged onto the scene as an enigma, often shedding her clothes and taking risks with designers like Jean-Paul Goude. As a frequent attendee of the notorious Studio 54, she cemented her legacy with the odd and uncanny.
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In an interview with W Magazine, Jones recounts searching for designer clothing. “I had to kind of make things up and put things together as if it didn’t look cheap and was inspirational to photographers and designers I was going to see.” Her inability to reach certain standards became a tool of subversion, allowing her creativity and idiosyncrasy to shine. Nothing was stopping her from becoming her most authentic self. Jones divulges in the interview, “I saw a photograph that came out and couldn’t recognize myself because they put a wig on me. I had a shaved head at the time and I was told I shouldn’t have done that. I think that was a wake-up call for me when I was very young, that I’d like to recognize myself.”
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In her documentary, Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami, Jones paces back and forth in the dressing room after performing her hit “La Vie En Rose,” wearing a full-coverage black ensemble surrounded by dancers in pink lingerie. She exclaims to her producer, “All these girls around me, I look like a madam!” Her producer attempts to calm her down and convince her that this stage production is the best. But Jones is steadfast in her opinion, repeating, “I’m like a madam in a whorehouse. It’s like a bad dream. It’s against what I stand for.” Following the altercation, Jones opted to finish the performance solo, proving that her tenacity and bravery in trusting her instincts propelled her toward a life worth living.
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Jones’s career serves as a testament to self-loyalty, a stark reminder that in the echo of opinions, the truest resonance is found in staying faithful to one's own melody. In her W Magazine interview, she explains, “Some people think I’ve been married a gazillion times. Some people think I’m a man. Some people think I’ve had a sex change. That’s fine [laughs]. I don’t need to set anything straight because I’ve told a lot of untruths about myself. So I do not want to set the record straight.”
Strike Out,
Writer: Mishalynn Brown
Editor: Noelle Knowlton
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