It was bound to happen — within months of Chappell Roan’s sudden rise to stardom, she fell victim to criticism of her costume choices, blunt political commentary and privacy boundaries. Chappell Roan had quickly lost the Midwestern-girl-to-popstar allure she amassed in late 2024. However talented she is, her extravagant aesthetic isn’t palatable to the general public, nor should it be — her persona is rooted in queerness and flamboyance, which appeal to a specific demographic.
Roan, privately known as Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, has rejected the norms of popstar attire and has instead crafted her own unique aesthetic — a mix of drag, burlesque and glam. She built her platform on said rejection of norms, carving her own unique path in the music industry. Roan’s unapologetic queerness, combined with her hyper-religious Midwestern upbringing, makes for an aesthetic that’s hard for those from wildly different backgrounds to interpret. Her lyrics aim to highlight the struggle of being queer in a Christian environment and finding a balance between the two, as does the image she’s built for herself.
Inspired by drag icons, Roan actively works to involve them in her artistry. Roan has paid homage to famous queens like Divine at the Kentuckiana Pride Festival, cultivated close relationships with drag queens like Sasha Colby and donned costumes more loosely associated with LGBTQ+ groups like her nun costume at the Hinterland Music Festival. It sparked intense controversy with fans and outsiders alike claiming it was a sacrilegious act.
The outfit, however, was a nod to an iconic LGBTQ+ group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an international religious nonprofit that recognizes the intersection of queer culture and religion. Established in 1979, the Sisters have been a leading voice in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. The Sisters forgo textbook Christianity, opting instead to foster a community that welcomes both queer culture and spirituality. Roan’s bold eyeshadow, intense burgundy lipstick, fishnets and nun’s habit are undeniably reminiscent of the Sisters’ signature look. Having experienced a stifling religious upbringing, Roan both directly acknowledges the importance of representing queer culture and subtly pays tribute to the necessity for acceptance in religious communities with outfits like her Hinterland nun costume.
Unfortunately, the mainstream media wasn’t ready for Roan’s influence. Queer pop has been circling in the zeitgeist for as long as anyone can remember. Countless unforgettable names have paved the way for artists like Roan to proudly and unabashedly share their queer experiences. However, the level of fame Roan reached and the subsequent backlash she received suggests that her persona and its aesthetics are not palatable to the general public.
Queer culture is a unique response to decades of discrimination; a way of taking up space when space has been refused. As Roan has accumulated more and more accolades — the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, the largest crowds in Austin City Limits history and more — she’s been thrust into the world of mainstream pop. However, her persona is tailored to a queer demographic, and a heteronormative perspective simply might not absorb the nuances attached to her aesthetic. On a surface level, outfits like her nun costume are borderline offensive. However, upon examining the history of religious drag queens and her personal relationship with religion as a queer woman, it becomes clear that her outfit is not meant to insult religion but rather shed light on groups often left behind.
The public has been judging her from a heteronormative lens — forgetting that her target audience is the queer community — and evaluating her aesthetics without acknowledging the history behind them. Roan’s candid queerness is perhaps too intense of a shift for the industry to face, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Her queer female representation and her tendency to unabashedly tell it like it is are qualities that pop culture desperately needs more of. At its core, art is subjective. Artists like Roan are fundamental to developing communities with their own subcultures.
