It’s Not an Act of Love If You Make Her: Analysing Paris Paloma’s “LABOUR” Music Video and the Symbolism of the Pomegranate

The following paper takes a look at the music video “LABOUR” by songwriter Paris Paloma to explore the parallel between the ancient myth of Persephone and the symbolism of the pomegranate in the video. Paris’ lyrics channel pure female rage by calling out the strenuous labor women are required to carry out, both as domestic work and forced childbearing. While the man on the scene gnaws on meat, a food often associated with virility and masculine strength, she starts eating a pomegranate, a fruit that calls back to the myth of Persephone. Much like in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, where Persephone is tricked by Hades in remaining half of the year in the Underworld by eating six seeds of pomegranate, Paris is bound to a man she must serve. While the pomegranate has been positively associated with fertility, the darker side to Persephone’s abduction has been often dismissed. In the music video, as Paris starts devouring the pomegranate and the blood-like juice pours down her hands, she embodies the pure duality of the fruit. From a symbol of force and deceit, the consumption of the fruit that first represented the binding nature of marriage later allows her to leave. Her escape represents both the death of her abusive household and her rebirth as a free woman. Through the intertwining oppositions of fertility/antifertility, death/rebirth, victory/defeat, Paris Paloma encapsulates the myth of Persephone via a feminist lens that channels female rage and frustration, resulting in a chant that resonated with countless women.