Dylan Mulvaney defends her ‘Days of Girlhood’ music video on this new podcast

Nearly a month ago, trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney dropped her first ever single, “Days of Girlhood,” along with a music video. It went viral for all the wrong reasons: conservatives hated it for its trans representation, and lots of queer folks criticized it for what they deemed a reductive depiction of gender roles. The song is unabashedly pink, bubblegum, and hyperfemme — and on a new podcast, Mulvaney explains why that’s exactly how she wanted it.

On the new podcast Breathe If You Agree, Mulvaney sat down with hosts Julian Burzynski and Nick Lehmann just a day after the song’s release. She explained the song’s connection to her popular Days of Girlhood series on TikTok, which kick-started her career as an influencer, and to the wave of hate she received last year after partnering with Bud Light.

“The song was just one sort of kiss to the good that came from that series, and reclaiming the happiness and the celebration of femininity,” Mulvaney said. “Because I kind of felt when everything went down last year, I didn’t have ownership of all the things I’d done. I felt so shameful over how people were interpreting me and my continent that I kind of hid. And this was a way for me to be like, ‘No, I’m f*cking back, b*tch, and I love that this is my version of womanhood and girlhood, and there shouldn’t be any shame or caveats in that.’”

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Elsewhere in the episode, Mulvaney dished on another wave of hate she just received, which came from posting a picture of herself and Lady Gaga for International Women’s Day. Meeting Gaga at all was surreal for Mulvaney, who’s been a fan of Gaga since childhood. 

“She was the only woman on my vision board this year,” Mulvaney said, which made it all the more wild when Gaga went from just following Mulvaney to inviting her to a private dinner.

“We’re at the bar and she walks up to me and goes, ‘I feel like I’ve known you my whole life,’” Mulvaney recalled. “It just felt like a friend, and there was so much love there already. And I really think what’s so special about meeting your role models is when they actually do exceed your belief in how amazing they are.”

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When Mulvaney shared a picture from the event and inexplicably got hate for it, Gaga posted the same picture and came to her defense — something that meant the world to Mulvaney.

“I never expected anyone to stand up for me. I’d never want to put that onto anyone,” Mulvaney said. “So when she posted that, it was like — you know, I’ve already healed so much from everything that happened, and I think it was the greatest little gift that little Dylan could’ve ever gotten, because that was my person growing up. That was my role model.”

The podcast sees Mulvaney dive into plenty more juicy topics: her celebrity crushes, her iconic style journey, and the new projects she’s looking forward to in the next year (including a book release and a one-woman show). Check out the new episode of Breathe If You Agree wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the episode on YouTube at the link below.

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