March 2011
27 posts
February 2011
31 posts
“Every empire tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires,...”
– Edward W. Said (via dreamhampton1)
Said was, of course, making reference to American foreign policy. But he was also a very savvy analyst of cultural imperialism and I think he helps us understand how hegemony works at a time when corporate power has supplanted both government and religion as the...
Lady Gaga's Corporate Sponsors aren't exactly gay... →
projectqueer:
In 2010, Lady Gaga brought in an estimated $31 million with a 106-date tour that grossed $95 million, and also made a considerable fortune from her corporate sponsorships and product placements, teaming up with Polaroid, Virgin Mobile, Monster Cable, HP, and Viva Glam.
Product placement abounds in her videos—in the official version of “Telephone,” NME counted...
What to expect from the "Born This Way" video.
Hey hey hey, looks like Gaga’s new video is going to be launched on Monday! Gays Against Gaga expects to see:
1. Stuff about “the birth of a new race”, which probably means it’s likely to run into the same sloppy “White Messiah” narrative problems which plagued Avatar.
2. More of those facial prosthetics and hair sculpted into plates, ripping off fashion...
5 tags
poetic justice
On top of Mount GaGa,
All covered with lies,
I lost my identity,
With a back full of knives.
(read the whole thing)
(Thanks to Henry Coachella for the submission)
Here's How Lady Gaga Is Rationalizing Her Get Rich...
With an exclusive deal with Target and Target.com to move deluxe editions of Born This Way, Lady Gaga appeared to be throwing her little monsters under the bus in exchange for a quick paycheck. But the singer insists that when the deal was first offered to she and manager Troy Carter, they were both wary — until she met with “the entire executive staff” at the company and they wooed...
“Lady Gaga has said “Born This Way” is a new gay anthem. She’s...”
– Yahoo! Music
“Immediately when “Born This Way” hit the airwaves a furor ran through my gay...”
– -Jeremy Gloff, The New Gay
This is an interesting take by someone who’s more of a Gaga fan than I am. I’d just add that I’m hopeful that Jeremy’s right; that the “gay” she’s presenting, which apparently involves involves casual racism, is the gay...
4 tags
Lady Gaga saves the world from Target
by Alex Blaze, Bilerico
Gag:
“That discussion was one of the most intense conversations I’ve ever had in a business meeting,” Lady Gaga said. “Part of my deal with Target is that they have to start affiliating themselves with LGBT charity groups and begin to reform and make amends for the mistakes they’ve made in the past … our relationship is hinged upon...
Some gay guys are really, really fucking stupid.
-louderthanbombs:
http://gaysagainstgaga.tumblr.com/
Of course Gaga doesn’t represent every LGBT member, like how Lea Salonga doesn’t represnt every Asian, how Aretha Franklin doesn’t represent every African American or how Selina didn’t represent every Latino.
Yet a huge portion of those audiences loved those artists and identifying with them, so stop people the only ones saying how Gaga...
From a reader: "It's a start"
I am the loving mother of an adult gay son who lives in Illinois. Just two weeks ago, my son and I attended the signing of the Civil Union Bill at the Chicago Cultural Center. I feel the same way about “Born This Way” that I feel about the Civil Union Bill — it’s a start. Perfect? No. Enough? No. Frustrating? Yes … but I’ll take it. I want giant leaps...
Gays Turn On Gaga →
thechosenjuan:
Some of the swipes were minor. Aaron Hicklin, the editor of Out (one of the earliest publications to put Gaga on the cover) was the first to break ranks. On Saturday, he took to his Facebook account and wrote a message saying, “Gaga shmaga.” He urged friends to go out and buy the new Adele album instead.
Eric Ord, an openly gay chap working in New York in commercial real...
“What is hipster racism?
Hipster racism involves making derogatory comments...”
– Hipster Racism
A good, clear post about no matter how you package it, racist shit is still racist. You think you sound cool and informed? Nope, still sound like an idiot. Owning up to what we say (this goes for me, too) is the only way to stop racism, not being ironic about it.
(via eyre)
...
“People say it’s artistic and stuff, but I’m just like, ‘You’re in a egg.’”
– Justin Bieber on Lady Gaga (via aventador)
a note from a reader!
Do you not know how much gaga dedicates to the gays? And most people. She loves everyone gay/straight/bi black/white/asian, and then you go and make a hate blog about it. Everything in her life, she does for her fans, and you go and say she’s trying to just fake this to get your money? You don’t know Gaga at all!
Dear reader,
Thanks for the note. Basically I think it’s fine...
A Soliloquy of Sorts: The Racism in "Born This... →
iamabutchsolo:
So I’ve spent the past couple of days pondering about Lady Gaga’s self-proclaimed “gay anthem.” The words “chola” and “Orient” are among the harshest criticisms. Regardless of the quality of the song itself, I will say that “Born This Way” does reflect the LGBT community at large in that it shows disregard and ignorance for people of color in the spectrum.
You might be saying...
“Sometimes I feel like being gay is just about buying stuff. Like I’m...”
– my best friend who wishes to remain anonymous, via Facebook
“I’m not a feminist - I, I hail men, I love men. I celebrate American male...”
– Lady Gaga
As if being a feminist means you can’t love men or beer. What ridiculous rubbish.
(via trastorn)
still remember this stunning display of intelligence.
(via aintitgrand)
megan rosalarian gedris: Born This Way (blech) →
rosalarian:
I get that “Orient” rhymes with “decent”, but there are also words that rhyme with Asian.
She's Born This Way....What's Our Excuse?
by Zack Rosen
If you’re remotely aligned with the mainstream queer community, if you’re a pop music aficionado or contrarian hipster or simply a member of the human race that has the misfortune to live anywhere beside a YouTube-less desert island, you’ve probably heard Lady Gaga’s new single “Born This Way.”
Here’s what you should do next. Turn off...
3 tags
“Lady Gaga repeatedly refers to her work in pop music as being performance art,...”
– Khaela Maricich, actual queer feminist pop music performance artist
“I hate it already. A gay anthem, whether it’s “I Will Survive” or “The Man That...”
– James St. James (via guilty-pleasures1414)
…and worst of all she’s doing it in partnership with Target, one of the most notoriously homophobic megachains in the nation.
What fresh hell is this?: FEELINGS; Lady Gaga,... →
whatfreshhellisthis:
Okay so I made the mistake of calling Gaga out on her recent racism on my facebook.
Me:
LADY GAGA YOUR SONGS ARE SO DAMN CATCHY. Why did you have to go and be a massive fuck off racist? Not cool, asshole.
One of my friends asked what it was she had done that was racist; I posted up the…
“Are Latinos supposed to be grateful that a white superstar, born of privilege,...”
– Robert Paul Reyes, “Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Single: Racist, Simplistic, Condescending Garbage!”
3 tags
“I said no. I’d just prefer to work with someone who is more original and...”
– Grace Jones on turning down Gaga’s invitation to collaborate.
4 tags
“I get that she is kind of trying to make a meta-comment about fame, attempting...”
– Khaela Maricich, The Blow
4 tags
“Great for Target to get such a deal with Lady Gaga, because they’re so...”
– Alex Blaze, Bilerico 