Troye Sivan opens up about ‘complicated’ relationship with men
Troye Sivan gets vunerable about masculinity. (Michael Buckner/Getty)
Gay pop star Troye Sivan reflects on his “complicated relationship with men” and masculinity in a new intimate video.
The 31-year-old “She’s the Best” hitmaker opened up about his schooling experience and that one person seeing a “real version” of him was a formative moment.
Sivan shared these details appearing on A View From A Bridge. The format is simple: “A person on a bridge picks up a phone and shares their view with the world.”
In the video of Sivan, the singer stands on the bridge, talking into a red phone, about a teacher who cut through the bullies.
“I think I’ve always had a very complicated relationship with men and my own masculinity,” Sivan explained.
“Some of my earliest memories were feeling like a bit of a failure as a boy.
“I really, really didn’t like sport. I’m honestly completely useless at it.
“One of my biggest fears is a ball getting kicked over a fence when I’m the one walking past, and I have to pass it back to this group of men. That is a very terrifying experience to me.”
Sivan went on to recall a specific childhood memory that has stuck with him. He recalled a carnival school experience where swimming was compulsory. Sivan struggled with swimming and didn’t like being in the pool
“All of the boys who were already making fun of me for singing like a girl were watching,” he also added.
‘The boys were already making fun of me for singing like a girl’
The next year, when it came time to swim again, Sivan approached a teacher. The singer remembered that she “always looked immaculate and was so warm”.
When he opened up to her, she offered him a deal. The bargain was he didn’t have to swim, but he had to sing the national anthem at the carnival.
Looking back, he said: “She saw something in me that I was really afraid of: a real version of myself.”
He also cited it as an example of good leadership, saying: “Seeing what makes someone different is also what makes them special, and celebrating that.”
The rollout for Sivan’s new album, She’s the Best, has celebrated the women in his life. The lead single’s music video featured Big Little Lies actor Nicole Kidman.
“To be able to have made music with Ariana [Grande] or Lily-Rose Depp, then touring with Charli [XCX] and growing up alongside her… I’ve always just loved being in the orbit of these women,” Sivan said upon the track’s release.
“‘She’s the Best’ was the first time I wasn’t trying to psychoanalyse myself, and I wasn’t writing about men,” he also added.
“The one thing that has been constant in my whole life is the women in my life, and the feminine people in my life.”
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
