Are you taking the lyrics to “Defying Gravity” and really holding space with that? That’s…really powerful.
If these words mean anything to you, congratulations. You are officially a very online person. You might even work in queer media! And you definitely know that we don’t hold hands with our friends anymore. Now, we delicately clutch one of their long manicured fingers like we are children learning how to use a pencil for the first time.
If the above is all gibberish to you, well, keep reading…
Help, I don’t understand. What is the “holding space” meme?
If you are not a very online person, the last paragraph has probably left you wondering what is going on. Allow me to explain. This week, our collective obsession features a particularly surreal moment that occurred during Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s objectively iconic Wicked press tour.
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During her interview with the Wicked stars, queer media’s star of the hour, Tracy E. Gilchrist, a journalist from Out, made a comment that was so very online, so very therapy-speak, and so very 2024 that it has since shaken the world: “This week, people are taking the lyrics to ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that and feeling power in that,” Gilchrist said—with the sort of quiet solemnity befitting such a groundbreaking statement.
Erivo instantly welled up—seemingly out of habit more than anything else. Grande looked confused and a little concerned. “Uh, I didn’t know that that was happening,” Erivo whispered back with wide-eyed reverence.
“I’ve seen it, yeah,” Gilchrist whispered back with a knowing smile.
“That’s… really powerful,” Erivo said, beginning to smile, her hand, complete with its signature green manicure, held against her heart. “That’s…what I wanted.”
Erivo then turned to Grande who, to her credit, looked just as confused as the rest of us. The pair then stared at each other and, after some witchy telepathy, Grande reached out and grasped onto one single manicured finger.
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Erivo turned back to Gilchrist to say once more in disbelief, “I didn’t know that was happening.”
“I’ve seen it on a couple posts, I don’t know how widespread—but, you know, I am in queer media,” replied the journalist.
It was a perfectly bizarre ending to a perfectly bizarre moment. It was, dare I say it, artful. And it was, of course, the stuff good memes are made of.
The social media icon known as bald ann dowd (again, if you know, you know) put it best when she retweeted the video: “no video has ever affected me this much in my entire life. i saw it for the first time 12 hours ago and it has completely changed the way i talk.”
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Evidently, the entire internet felt the same, because now all anyone can say are words like “holding space,” “that’s really powerful,” and “I work in queer media.” And, of course, there’s also a lot of finger holding going on. Please see a selection below:
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Ok, but are we supposed to understand what “holding space” actually means?
No, don’t panic, you’re not losing your mind. No one seems to fully understand what any of this actually means—or, for that matter, if it means anything at all. Indeed, that’s kind of the beauty of it.
Of course, the phrase “holding space” has been floating around the internet for a while as a therapy-adjacent concept. As activist and speaker Jamila Bradley explained in a TikTok video earlier this year, “Holding space in the most simply way that I can explain it is a component of active listening where we create a negative space within ourselves to have room for someone else to bring their thoughts, feelings and emotions to us so that we can engage with them.”
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Bradley then speaks about a metaphorical backpack that we all “carry around” containing our memories, thoughts, and experiences. “When we’re able to effectively hold space, we give someone a table, a surface, to take set that backpack down, take that things out, examine them and understand them better.” Essentially, it’s about opening yourself up so that you can actively listen without judgement.
If you are still desperate to make sense of the notion of “holding space for the lyrics to ‘Defying Gravity,’” the patron saint of queer media herself has since clarified what she meant in this specific context.
“I was very inspired by Tony Morrison, [senior communications director] from GLAAD,” she told Variety. “He posted the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ before I did my interview. It was a great explainer.”
Ok, but “holding space?”
“’Holding space’ is being physically, emotionally, and mentally present with someone or something,” she said. “For me, it means being in the moment, not being distracted and feeling something on a cellular level. I think you can hold space with lyrics of a song—one you’ve heard hundreds of times—and it can suddenly take on new meaning when you’re a queer person.”
She went on, “The Trump administration is targeting LGBTQ+ people via Project 2025. When Cynthia sings, ‘I’m through accepting limits,’ there’s power in that. She plays a character who is othered. One who comes to her full power when she is exiled by a charlatan, by a cruel leader. There’s a lot of resonance there right now for anyone who is marginalised. For me, holding space is listening to those lyrics anew and finding solace or inspiration.”
We can only applaud Gilchrist for her positive response to the memeification of her interview. As she went on to say, “This was for us, for queer people who understand what I meant by holding space—or really, for anybody who feels marginalised and can relate. So it’s for us. It’s not for them. They can hate all they want.”
And you know what? We are really holding space with and feeling power in that.
A version of this article was previously published on Glamour UK.
The post What Does ‘Holding Space for Defying Gravity’ Mean, Really? The Viral Meme, Explained appeared first on Glamour.
