She’s 4th on the Forbes list of Most Influential Celebrities, she’s featured in the Time 100 and whether she’s asking Cher to hold her “meat purse” or covering herself in blood in a sensationalized staged suicide, Lady Gaga is always on the front lines of the media.
And it’s for good reason.
Seriously, I saw the woman in concert last week. She shot fire out of her boobs, covered herself in blood and brandished the heart of a cow in the span of a mere two-hour show. She has absolutely earned her street cred in the art of performance, and thus amassed a ginormous following of little monsters.
But what is its impact on feminism?
See, Gagz is one of those people who says “I’m not a feminist, BUT [insert some well-stated feminist ideals here]”.
Can I get a collective feminist-head-smack-on-wall, please?
Seriously. That was a beautiful collection of feminist statements followed by a denial of feminism. WHYY!?
Clearly, she’s hiding her feminism behind that Pokerface.
In her defense, she has since recanted and referred to herself as a feminist. But I think this is an excellent example of our culture’s nonsensical rejection of “the F word”. As BlondeRedhead myth-busted yesterday, feminists are not necessarily bra-burning, hairy-legged, lesbians (though we welcome bra-burning, hairy-legged, lesbians into the feminist bracket, too!). But this association is so strong, it makes women like Lady Gaga run from the title in an attempt to…protect their sex appeal? Avoid alienating a non-feminist audience? Ensure that everyone knows they’re skintimate?
Whatever the reason, it needs to end. And it needs to end now.
If you believe in sociocultural equality between genders, you’re a feminist. Embrace it. Talk about it. Sing about it. Dance to it. Write about it. Draw it. Tattoo it. But whatever you do, don’t deny it.
Because if you do, you and feminism will have a Bad Romance. And I’ll have pick up the Telephone and tell Alejandro that you’re only livin’ for The Fame. OK. I know, I know…I need to stop. Besides, Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say.)
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
I could not be more disappointed in Lady Gaga right now… “I’m not a feminist! I love men!” I can’t even believe she said that. I’m so disheartened. How can she be such a powerful political figure and still believe the anti-feminist crap about us hating men? So sad…
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That’s one of the things that has always bothered me about Lady Gaga… I always feel like she’s almost feminist, but then misses the mark. Take the Telephone video… I wrote a paper on it last semester, and in between all the flashy dancing and everything else, there were some great, strong feminist statements. And then at other times, she completely screwed up and made some blatant anti-feminist statements. Also, for all her emphasis on queer rights, the way she deals with the transgender rumors seems transphobic and really rubs me the wrong way.
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Exactly! I almost wish someone would send Gaga a quick video lesson or something on how to be a champion for all inclusive queer rights, not just “the gay community” (and that likely means the gay, white, upper to middle-class, able-bodied community, right?). Of course I realize it is a learning process, and I absolutely admire her activism and courage to speak out despite not being an expert. There is certainly something to be said for that, and I wish more people were willing to be vulnerable and insert their voices in that way, so long as there is an acknowledgment that they are still learning. Things become problematic when folks are clearly missing the mark, but claiming to be experts or representative of an entire community, and I don’t think Gaga has done that.
How wonderful that we get to enjoy videos like this that chronicle her growth. I hope she seeks out some more education on feminism and justice work in general and continues to grow.
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Shrug, if she recanted I don’t see a problem, means she was educated, right?
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except she didn’t really recant. To the LA times she said, “I’m getting the sense that you’re a little bit of a feminist, like I am, which is good,” she said. “I find that men get away with saying a lot in this business, and that women get away with saying very little.'” So really she’s saying she’s a feminist in the sense that there is something about male culture she doesn’t like.
She still doesn’t get it…
Source: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-ca-lady-gaga13-2009dec13,0,233483.story?page=1
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Here’s another article written for the New York Times “Opinion Pages” online this past June about Gaga’s stance on feminism. It discusses the fact that even though she may have taken back her initial statement denouncing feminism, Gaga still appears to be sending opposing signals about where she may stand on the issue.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/lady-power/
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And this the fascination part for me. I never quite KNOW how to handle Gaga. There are the problems with “not a feminist BUT…” and the questionable attitude towards trans folks, but on the other hand no one else THIS much in the public eye TALKS about this stuff. Can we name ANY pop star that has advocated gay rights as much as Gaga has. (I think not, to the best of my recollection even the Divas are awkwardly silent in interviews on the gay community, which always saddens me. And they are certainly not at repeal DADT rallys.) And the feminism thing will ALWAYS fluster me, but she doesn’t dismiss it outright. Who knows.
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I’m with you on this one, Mitch. No, Gaga doesn’t use her celebrity to the fullest extent when it comes to gay rights. No, she’s not always the best example, but AT LEAST she talks about it. At least she puts it out there, you know?
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UGH! This is really disheartening. I fully agree with alaismich and somethingbeany, she puts herself out there far more than any other celebrity and should be commended for that, but I’m so saddened by the stereotyping!!! She sends such a positive message about the LGBTQA community and brings a lot of people into gay rights advocacy conversations; its just such a horrible shame that she won’t do the same for feminists, ESPECIALLY because she’s feeding into a stereotype. I understand that she’s learning and evolving but its statements like these that make girls say “I want equality for women but DON’T CALL ME A FEMINIST!”
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