After Rihanna denied The FADER answers to even one question for her self-shot cover story, we believed that the pop priestess was pulling a Beyoncé on us for her interview style — seen, never heard. (Not to mention that both artists evade questions about their album release dates.) But well, well, well, what have we here? Fiery-haired Ms. Fenty covering the November issue of Vanity Fair, and this time with a lot to say.
Rihanna gave writer Lisa Robinson a full 4,000 words of her thoughts about everything from Rachel Dolezal — “I think she was a bit of a hero” — to her complex resentment over being a poster child for domestic abuse — “The victim gets punished over and over” — to why she’s been a little less naked recently — “I decided to take a little break from that and wear clothes.” She also explains why she’s single, with reasons that include trust issues, her schedule, and, frankly, the men currently on offer:
“You want them to feel good being a man, but now men are afraid to be men. They think being a real man is actually being a pussy, that if you take a chair out for a lady, or you’re nice or even affectionate to your girl in front of your boys, you’re less of a man. It’s so sick. They won’t be a gentleman because that makes them appear soft. That’s what we’re dealing with now, a hundred percent, and girls are settling for that, but I won’t. I will wait forever if I have to … but that’s O.K. You have to be screwed over enough times to know, but now I’m hoping for more than these guys can actually give.”
When that man who is capable of giving Rihanna what she wants materializes, will he be riding in on a white horse?
Nah. “Not on a white horse,” she says. “Probably on a black motorcycle.”
