Lorde on understanding her gender expression: ‘It’s all a journey’

Lorde is still on a journey when it comes to her gender expression.

The singer previously said in an interview for Rolling Stone that she feels “in the middle gender-wise,” and in a new interview with DAZED magazine she talks more about what that means for her.

“[S]ome days, I can’t wear women’s clothes,” she says. “I’ve had to figure out how to have my make-up done in a way that doesn’t make me feel trapped or tight or like the wrong thing. Now I just tell people, ‘Treat it like male grooming.’”

Lorde says she came into an understanding of herself after she taped her chest for the first time in 2023 while envisioning how she would perform the song “Man of the Year.” In doing so, she “felt a very pure version of myself present.” But she explains she’s not changing her pronouns right now.

“It’s all a journey,” she says. “I have no idea where it’s gonna go; it doesn’t feel like I’ve arrived anywhere permanent at all. I’m sure it’ll keep unfurling, the way these things do. It really took me by surprise how much shame I felt – feeling all that come up wasn’t easy.”

“I just think it takes time to metabolize and find itself. I’m excited to find out where that lands, if it ever does land,” she adds. “Your whole life it keeps unfurling.”

Lorde is still on a journey when it comes to her gender expression.

The singer previously said in an interview for Rolling Stone that she feels “in the middle gender-wise,” and in a new interview with DAZED magazine she talks more about what that means for her.

“[S]ome days, I can’t wear women’s clothes,” she says. “I’ve had to figure out how to have my make-up done in a way that doesn’t make me feel trapped or tight or like the wrong thing. Now I just tell people, ‘Treat it like male grooming.’”

Lorde says she came into an understanding of herself after she taped her chest for the first time in 2023 while envisioning how she would perform the song “Man of the Year.” In doing so, she “felt a very pure version of myself present.” But she explains she’s not changing her pronouns right now.

“It’s all a journey,” she says. “I have no idea where it’s gonna go; it doesn’t feel like I’ve arrived anywhere permanent at all. I’m sure it’ll keep unfurling, the way these things do. It really took me by surprise how much shame I felt – feeling all that come up wasn’t easy.”

“I just think it takes time to metabolize and find itself. I’m excited to find out where that lands, if it ever does land,” she adds. “Your whole life it keeps unfurling.”