MTV Video Vanguard Award Speech - P!nk

I know I don't have a lot of time
But if I may tell you a quick story
Recently I was driving my daughter to school and she said to me
Out of the blue 'Mama
I said 'Yes baby
She said 'I'm the ugliest girl I know
And I said 'Huh
And she was like
Yeah I look like a boy with long hair
And my brain went to Oh my god you're 6
Why
Where is this coming from
Who said this
Can I kick a 6 year old's a*s like what
But I didn't say anything
Instead I went home and I made a Powerpoint presentation for her
And in that presentation were androgynous rockstars and artists that live their truth
Are probably made fun of every day of their life
And carry on wave their flag
And inspire the rest of us
And these are artists like Michael Jackson
And David Bowie and Freddie Mercury and Annie Lennox
And Prince and Janis Joplin and George Michael Elton John
So many artists her eyes glazed over But then I said
You know I really wanna know why you feel this way about yourself
And she said 'Well I look like a boy and I said
Well what do you think I look like
And she said
Well you're beautiful And I was like
Well thanks But when people make fun of me that's what they use
They say I look like a boy or I'm too masculine or I have too many opinions my body is too strong
And I said to her 'Do you see me growing my hair
She said
No Mama I said 'Do you see me changing my body
No Mama 'Do you see me changing the way I present myself to the world
No Mama 'Do you see me selling out arenas all over the world
Yes Mama 'OK So baby girl We don't change
We take the gravel and the shell and we make a pearl
And we help other people to change so they can see more kinds of beauty
And to all the artists here I'm so inspired by all of you
Thank you for being your true selves and for lighting the way for us
I'm so inspired by you guys
There's so much rad s**t happening in music
And keep doing it keep shining for the rest of us to see
And you my darling girl are beautiful and I love you
Thank you MTV This is a really special night
Thank you Ellen I couldn't love you more
Thank you guys Goodnight