April 11, 2012

Lady Gaga's Dieting Wars and the Art of Hypocrisy

The setting, Brentwood High School in Los Angeles.  The event, the It's Our Turn women's conference.  The surprise guest, Lady Gaga.  Conference co-organizer Jade Iovine calls Lady Gaga to the stage where she sat with Maria Shriver for a 30 minute candid conversation about her struggles growing up. 

Maria Shriver began the conversation by stating that Stefani is an incredible example of being brave and having an authentic voice but that she wasn't always that way.  Stefani talked about her bullying but she also went on to talk about her poor body image when a female student approached the microphone and said, "I struggle with body issues, and I know you're so confident in the way you dress. And I am wondering how you deal with such issues?"

Stefani composed her thoughts for a moment then went on to admit  "I used to throw up all the time in high school. So I'm not that confident. And maybe it's easier for me to talk about it now because I don't do it anymore."

"I wanted to be a skinny little ballerina but I was a voluptuous little Italian girl whose dad had meatballs on the table every night," Lady Gaga revealed. "I used to come home and say, 'Dad, why do you always give us this food? I need to be thin.' And he'd say, 'Eat your spaghetti.'"

"It's really hard," she continued. "But ... you've got to talk to somebody about it. And the fact that you stood up in front of this whole room and said that is so incredible."

"Every video I'm in, every magazine cover, they stretch you; they make you perfect," Lady Gaga said. "It's not real life. I'm gonna say this about girls: The dieting wars have got to stop. Everyone just knock it off. Because at the end of the day, it's affecting kids your age. And it's making girls sick."

This was just a mere two months ago.  She's right.  The pressure on young girls to be thin and to look a certain way is a cancer in their minds.  It's causing so many girls to strive by using any means necessary to live up to what society, the fashion world and magazines say they ought to be.  

Then, just yesterday, the founder of the Born This Way Foundation tweeted this.


I found this to be a very irresponsible thing to say.  For someone who demands that the dieting wars need to stop, she certainly isn't trying to be a true beacon of change.  Sure, she talks the good talk but her walk is crippled.  One has to question what the purpose of tweeting this is?  Pop singers don't eat? I was born this way?  Is this something she's wearing like a badge of honor?  

A more appropriate name for her foundation would be the Do As I Say, Not As I Do Foundation.  Stefani is very good at giving out advice but why doesn't she take her own? 

But that's not all she tweeted.  Stefani also bragged about her use of prescription drugs.


OK Princess Xena....I have to admit, I'm not sure if she's talking about the actual pill Xanax or her music having a Xanax like effect on people within ear shot. 

Either way, it's becoming more clear that Lady Gaga is not the appropriate person to spearhead the self esteem campaign when at the same time, she's advocating extreme dieting and pill popping.  It's her choice if she wants to take a Xanax but again why tweet about it?  It's irresponsible especially when most of her fans are teenagers themselves and I think it's about time media outlets and interviewers called her out on her hypocrisy and lies.

Here's an awesome comment from Oh No They Didn't.














P.S. I got linked to The Arts and Craft Daily.  :)