Olivia Rodrigo’s New Track “Serena Joy” Takes on the Patriarchy With a ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Twist

Surprise! Even after the release of her latest album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, Olivia Rodrigo hasn’t slowed down, dropping a brand-new track on Monday, August 24. And what a track it is! For the occasion, the American singer-songwriter and former Disney star decided to pay tribute to one of the most iconic characters from The Handmaid’s Tale, the series inspired by Margaret Atwood’s novels. Presenting: “serena joy.”We are not surprised that Olivia chose to release a track explicitly dedicated to women and their daily battles in a world dominated by patriarchy. Her activism took concrete form very recently with the organization of Daisy Chain Fields, her music festival entirely dedicated to her fellow female artists, which will take place on Saturday, August 29, in Orange County, California.“serena joy” was made available to the public on August 24, but it was actually first released three days earlier in an extremely limited collector’s edition: just 500 physical CD copies, distributed exclusively at a single retail location, Analog Music Shop in Tustin, California.As expected, the store announced that the stock was completely sold out over the course of that same evening.But don’t despair if you didn’t have the privilege of buying the exclusive CD, because “serena joy” is now available on all major streaming platforms. (Oh, and BTW: A portion of the proceeds from the track, as confirmed by the singer herself, will go to her Daisy Chain Fields Fund.)Add Cosmopolitan as a preferred source in your Google search results.Use your Google account to add this to your settings.Of course, true Livies know that the track is not actually entirely new. Back in June, producer Jim-E Stack revealed its existence by showing a studio whiteboard that included 18 songs being considered for the tracklist of Olivia’s third album.Interviewed two months ago by Etalk, the singer explained, “I actually really love [“serena joy”]. It didn’t fit on the album. The record was very much a chronicle of a relationship—beginning, middle, and end. But I hope that it’ll be a part of something else down the line.”If you’re not familiar with Margaret Atwood’s dystopian masterpiece, the figure of Serena Joy represents precisely the paradox of the woman who helps build a freedom-destroying system, only to find herself stripped of all power by the very structures she helped consolidate. In the novel, she captures the character’s arc with this memorable line: “She doesn’t make speeches anymore. She has become speechless. She stays in her home, but it doesn’t seem to agree with her. How furious she must be, now that she’s been taken at her word.”The key passages of Olivia’s song echo this unsettling short circuit between complicity and submission, highlighting how oppressive systems ultimately end up hurting even those who thought they were completely immune to them.We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again: her mind!!