The thing it took a lot of people a long time to acknowledge is that Jagged Little Pill was a #metoo album. “Hands Clean” and “You Oughta Know” are probably the most explicit, but even the change in tone from bubbly pop to angry frustration.
I think men, especially, want to call out her language on “Ironic” because it lets them dismiss the message of the entire album and distance themselves from the uncomfortable truth. And I think one of the reasons it did do so well, is that a lot of women and girls recognized the themes and that it made space for that anger.
