Ariana Grande has expressed her anger after a fan congratulated her boyfriend for "hitting that" while she was out and about on Tuesday night.
The singer posted a long message on Twitter on Wednesday, recounting the event and encouraging women to speak out when others' words make them feel uncomfortable.
According to Grande, a "young boy" who was a fan of her boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, approached the couple while they were collecting a takeaway order.
"I thought all of this was cute and exciting until he said 'Ariana is sexy as hell man I see you, I see you hitting that!'."
Grande, who has been dating Miller for about four months, said she had "felt really quiet and hurt" after the incident.
"I am not a piece of meat that a man gets to utilise for his pleasure," the Side to Side singer wrote.
"I'm an adult human being in a relationship with a man who treats me with love and respect."
The four-time Grammy nominee continued: "It hurts my heart that so many young people are so comfortable... using these phrases and objectifying women with such ease."
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016
The message, which has been retweeted more than 100,000 times, received some backlash, with Twitter users suggesting Grande had in some way asked to be objectified through her style of performance.
In a subsequent series of tweets, Grande shut down this argument, saying that "expressing sexuality in art is not an invitation for disrespect" and comparing their reasoning to an argument to victim-blaming in a sexual assault.
seeing a lot of "but look how you portray yourself in videos and in your music! you're so sexual!" .... please hold.. next tweet... i repeat
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016
expressing sexuality in art is not an invitation for disrespect !!! just like wearing a short skirt is not asking for assault.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016
Women's choice. ♡ our bodies, our clothing, our music, our personalities..... sexy, flirty, fun.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016
it is not. an open. invitation.
You are literally saying that if we look a certain way, we are yours to take. But we are not !!! It's our right to express ourselves. ♡
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016
It is not the first time Grande has expressed her frustration with being spoken about as the property of her partners (who, as an aside, are consistently less successful than she is).
In June 2015, following her break-up with rapper Big Sean, the singer wrote a similarly-themed essay on Twitter, after being referred to as "Big Sean's ex" one-too-many times.
"I am tired of living in a world where women are mostly being referred to as a man's past, present or future PROPERTY/POSSESSION [sic]," she wrote.
Grande ended her essay with a Gloria Steinem quote: "Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke. She will need her sisterhood."
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) June 7, 2015