Posts Tagged Lady Gaga

On R. Kelly, Lady Gaga, and redemption narratives: A conversation with Salamishah Tillet, Ph.D.

On Tuesday R. Kelly shared the tracklist and artwork for his subtly titled Black Panties album, which comes out December 10. The album cover, which Kelly released Tuesday, features the artist literally playing a topless woman as if she were a cello, bow and all. This, of course, is hardly shocking, given Kelly’s recent performance with Lady Gaga on Saturday Night Live, in which the two simulated having sex. Though the video went viral and set the internets abuzz with articles and blog posts, an important element was shockingly absent from the discussion: rape culture. Jenn M. Jackson, who called Gaga a rape apologist, was a notable exception.

For me, it wasn’t the simulated sex that  I ...

On Tuesday R. Kelly shared the tracklist and artwork for his subtly titled Black Panties album, which comes out December 10. The album cover, which Kelly released Tuesday, features the artist literally playing a ...

Weekly Feminist Reader

“Oklahomans brag that theirs has become the reddest state.”

Living with breast cancer at 26.

The difference between Malala and Nabila.

The 5 billion dollar food stamp cut is reverberating across the country.

“A wall is just a wall. It can be broken down.”

“Oklahomans brag that theirs has become the reddest state.”

Living with breast cancer at 26.

The difference between Malala and Nabila.

The 5 billion dollar food stamp cut is reverberating across the country.

“A ...

The Wednesday Weigh-in: Lady Gaga’s Body Revolution Edition

After the media erupted with the usual bullshit over photos that seemed to show the pop star looking chubbier than usual, Lady Gaga launched a new project on her site called Body Revolution and posted photos of herself in her underwear with the caption, “Bulimia and anorexia since I was 15.”

Gaga encouraged her Little Monsters to post their own photos and “be brave and celebrate with us your ‘perceived flaws,’ as society tells us. May we make our flaws famous, and thus redefine the heinous.” And post they have–with stories of battling cancer, recovering from eating disorders, living with disabilities. But as Kelsey notes at Bitch, many of the comments–from both Gaga and her fans–simply assure ...

After the media erupted with the usual bullshit over photos that seemed to show the pop star looking chubbier than usual, Lady Gaga launched a new project on her site called Body Revolution and posted ...

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Lady Gaga’s twitter confession: she eats salad when she wants cheeseburgers

Lady Gaga’s tweet about exercise and diet has turned some heads and with good reason. Not only is she perpetuating unhealthy ideas about health and exercise, but for someone committed to fighting for the underdog–you would think she would be sensitive about making casual mention of not eating enough. And as a role model, you would hope she would realize how much people internalize her words. But despite these transgressions and what she may want us to believe, Gaga is a human being–one that is functioning under extraordinary pressure to fit into a certain body type. Despite, concocting an image that is supposed to be anti-mainstream, she still embodies mainstream standards of beauty, namely being thin. And it shouldn’t be ...

Lady Gaga’s tweet about exercise and diet has turned some heads and with good reason. Not only is she perpetuating unhealthy ideas about health and exercise, but for someone committed to fighting for the underdog–you would think ...

An Open Letter To Lady Gaga, From A Fan And Fellow Feminist

Cross-posted at This Is Hysteria!

Dear Lady Gaga,

I love what you do. The populist spirit with which you insist that pop culture is art. Your devotion to performance. The sense of community that you’re building with your fans. That you’re not afraid to make out with butch women in your music videos, or be photographed in drag. I love that you’ve taken up the phrase “born this way,” not only as the title of your next single and album, but almost as a slogan. In light of the constructedness of your image, it’s very post-modern, and speaks strongly to self-determination – you become the person you want to be, and no one else can tell you who you are. And I ...

Cross-posted at This Is Hysteria!

Dear Lady Gaga,

I love what you do. The populist spirit with which you insist that pop culture is art. Your devotion to performance. The sense of community that you’re building with your ...

Lil-Wayne-bm09

Lil’ Wayne’s sexist and misleading song “Gonorrhea”

Lil’ Wayne’s new album that is being released digitally on iTunes today should be called “Women Aren’t Human Beings” instead of “I Am Not a Human Being.” His new song “Gonorrhea” captures how bad sexism in hip hop can really get. In the song’s verses he engages in the age-old strategy of vilifying an unknown opponent by likening him to a bitch, a word that has become a synonym for women for the umpteenth time. You see this tactic in a line like “you’s a bitch like zeta phi beta muthafucker,” a reference to members of the historically black sorority which includes greats such as Zora Neale Hurston or Violette Anderson, the first African American attorney.

While ...

Lil’ Wayne’s new album that is being released digitally on iTunes today should be called “Women Aren’t Human Beings” instead of “I Am Not a Human Being.” His new song “Gonorrhea” captures how bad ...