I don't like Lady Gaga. | Teen Ink

I don't like Lady Gaga.

April 2, 2010
By betterhappyending BRONZE, San Ysidro, California
betterhappyending BRONZE, San Ysidro, California
2 articles 0 photos 11 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin." - Leonard Cohen


Blasphemy alert. I’m a sixteen year old American girl and I don’t like Lady Gaga. And no, it’s not because I don’t like her music, her costumes, or her performances. I just don’t like being manipulated.

Actually, I lied. It’s partly her music, costumes, and performances. But not so much because they’re hideous or outrageous or tiresome. But looking back at those pictures of her as a “normal” girl and seeing what and who she is now, it’s almost insulting. The fact that this girl had to change into something almost non-human to finally get noticed is unsettling, at best. She’s instead this cold, faceless force. No one noticed her when she was trying to “make it”. But then the fame machine (monster, she calls it?) seemed to eat her up and spit out an entirely new person, repackaged and revamped to “shock” us all.

And in the end, it really isn’t even that shocking. It’s almost a little pathetic (and you’ll see what I mean by insulting) when it seems that the state of the nation’s youth has degenerated so much that we need a woman in a mask and sparkling breasts to tell us that we’re all okay. Okay to be different, okay to be loved, the whole package. Because then we really aren’t, are we?

She's been quoted as saying, “I would rather die than have my fans not see me in a pair of high heels. I'd never give up my wigs and hats for anything.” I'm afraid that this mentality about possessions and image, to her millions of female fans, is dangerous. She speaks almost as if these material things are as vital to life as water is. This is the same woman who says that “I'm always saying something about art and music and fame. That's why you don't ever catch me in sweatpants.” She claims that her style and her persona is for art, and yet, it begs the question if she ever does anything for herself. She makes herself a martyr for the love of her fans. And if she is as passionate as she says she is about new frontiers in art, why are the vast majority of her lyrics about sex and money?



I'm not asking her to be anything different, not exactly. Give me a David Bowie reincarnate, an rebel in the music industry. But give me a little more complexity, a little more beauty, a little more thought than just what's on the outside. Give me another facet than just the freaky hair and makeup and clothing, because if that’s all there is, her opinion about simply being yourself is lost somewhere in the jumble of cosmetics and oversized sunglasses. But most of all, give me a break.



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This article has 471 comments.


sparkles64 said...
on Nov. 28 2011 at 2:35 pm
i love it i dont like lady either

mbreezy said...
on Nov. 28 2011 at 8:16 am
Wowo I do not like her either she is an illumnati(on google look up lady gaga illuminate).She is teaching children to be crazy (no offense) hobnockers.

on Nov. 14 2011 at 3:14 pm
i love the article and im a fan of lady gaga. i think what the author says is correct and very true. but lady gaga's lyrics are not only about sex and money. yes she does have a song called "Money honey" but who doesn't want some more cash every now and then? i do believe that our civilization all in itself is surrounding money and sex. but gaga also writes about love and breakups. she expresses that being different is okay and should be accepted. 
(like you said) im not saying you have to like her music, because i know its not for everyone, but it's definetely comforting for me to know that being a little off is okay. 

on Nov. 6 2011 at 6:47 pm
ReadWriteBreathe PLATINUM, Pocatello, Idaho
24 articles 4 photos 114 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you" Tyler Durden Fight Club

We never needed lady gaga to tell us its ok to be different but she did. And did it help? Yeah. So many teenagers can be themselves because they look at lady gaga and realize that she isn't afraid to be herself. Sure, she used to be an everyday person but everyone starts out "Normal". She just changed. She found herself. Other than that. Amazing article. Very well written.

on Nov. 6 2011 at 12:49 am
GINGERgirl423 GOLD, Dayton, Tennessee
12 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
- when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, then throw the lemons back and demand the oranges you asked for in the first place.

I'm pretty sure lady gaga just does all that to get noticed. The more "creative" her wardrobe, the more viewers. Hipsters are taking over society. Call me old fashioned, but songs and outfits like hers don't make much sense. I could right a lady gaga song right now, I need growling, random words, and a half nude music video. I'll be a hit. The beat to her music is catchy, but the price for fame these days shouldn't be your clothing.

ultimatekai said...
on Nov. 6 2011 at 12:15 am

I agree with this article in the sense that Lady Gaga does use shock value to gain fame. However, all the money she earns she puts right back into producing her concerts (no joke, she has stated that she barely keeps any of the money for herself). On top of that, she has used her fame and status to promote various charities and speak out for gay rights.

So I feel like even if she is abusing the shock value, she's at least putting more into the world than, say, Justin Bieber. When's the last time you heard Justin Bieber doing something nice for other people?


on Oct. 21 2011 at 7:38 pm
BradCarrieshaw BRONZE, San Jose, California
1 article 0 photos 4 comments
I don't believe this. What is the definition of normal anyways? To some it could just be your girl next door going to school everyday, to others it could be finally feeling great in their own skin, expressing themselves in whatever fashion they desire. I believe that's what Lady GaGa is doing. She may be critcized for going "over the top" or "inhuman" like, but I believe it's just our society's perception of her. I believe that in her own way, this is how she feels normal. I don't think she changed, I think she just finally realized who she was and wanted to be.

on Oct. 15 2011 at 4:44 pm
ThatGirlOverthere BRONZE, LaLaland, Other
1 article 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We Must
bring our own light
to the darkness" by poet Charles Bukowski
- about prouving yourself... I'm on my way to accomplish that!

 Great great article! Though I disagree with some points, but still.

 You managed to express your opinin with solid arguments; and yet, you also give the reader space; your point of view is mature and not sufocating. Your language is clear and simple without ever being plain. 

 You wrote a wonderful article. Congratulations!

 oh, by the way: doesn't anyone want to comment my articles?  ;)


Naomi518 GOLD said...
on Oct. 15 2011 at 10:38 am
Naomi518 GOLD, Windsor, Connecticut
11 articles 15 photos 59 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light" ~Albus Dumbledore

this is exactly what I've been thinking! I just have never been able to work it so well!

zyxwvu said...
on Sep. 23 2011 at 11:17 pm
zyxwvu, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
0 articles 0 photos 12 comments

everyone takes her as this amazing person, so true and real.

but she's just so fake. 


on Sep. 23 2011 at 10:25 pm
well i Love lady GaGa i love her music mostly

on Sep. 23 2011 at 7:33 pm
Bookworm1998 GOLD, Brampton, Other
17 articles 2 photos 118 comments

Favorite Quote:
Preserve your memories, keep them well; what you forget, you can never retell.

i agree with u 100% i definately liked the last line of her article -great finish

on Sep. 23 2011 at 7:22 pm
Erecura PLATINUM, Eugene, Oregon
26 articles 11 photos 50 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Hell is empty; all the devils are here."
The tempest

I totally agree!!

Mystiecub said...
on Sep. 23 2011 at 7:16 pm

-Hmm.

I don't write articles like this (this is good btw, but I disagree with it) just for the fact that people will instantly jump down someone else's throat for shunning a music artist they are in favor of. It's like this article on Justin Bieber that I came across, I saw a LOT of comments saying how the haters are just jealous, blah blah blah

I suppose I should get to the point.

Lady Gaga is strange, yes, but she is unique. She can sing, she's talented, and actually DOES send across a good message in some of her songs.

I will completely agree, however, with the second paragraph. Our country is going downhill by the minute and if we need someone who is barely dressed at all to tell us what we need to know, something is seriously wrong.

*shrug* oh well...life goes on I guess...not really much we can do about it


on Sep. 23 2011 at 4:02 pm
lzcelloplayer BRONZE, Wayland, Massachusetts
2 articles 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It seems that we all look at Nature too much, and live with her too little." ~ Oscar Wilde

This article was well written and I very much agree with your opinion. I'm not much of a fan of pop music, and I do see now a days that music isn't about music anymore, just about the attention that the media gives to people who do outrageous things. Though that's my opinion, feel free to disagree with me. 

Keep up the good writing! :D


on Sep. 23 2011 at 8:17 am
I do agree with all the above comments, anyway you must consider the fact that Lady Gaga is also a human being. If Lady Gaga is your own mum (mother) and I do hope that you will hate those who hate her.....so let ignore the way she acts but consider that she is also a human being sent from god to show her own talent to all us and we must be proud of her because she able to show it rather than hiding. Anyway, the article is sound good......really like it heeee

Bnanaman312 said...
on Sep. 15 2011 at 10:37 am
Lady Gaga is a really good singer and that's what I think. She may be a little weird but I still think she is a good singer and a pretty cool person

on Sep. 13 2011 at 9:24 am
Don't make fun of her! She was BORN THIS WAY!

on Sep. 12 2011 at 11:53 am
Rocinante SILVER, Wexford, Pennsylvania
7 articles 1 photo 386 comments
She is over the top for sure. But so are a lot of other singers, movie stars, famous people. Good fame machine analogy!

Live&&Love said...
on Sep. 8 2011 at 5:20 pm
I couldn't care less about Lady Gaga but I absolutely adore what she stands for and she is a huge inspiration to me!!