{"id":53,"date":"2010-10-06T10:44:57","date_gmt":"2010-10-06T14:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/wpblog\/?p=53"},"modified":"2012-07-15T19:57:51","modified_gmt":"2012-07-15T23:57:51","slug":"lady-gaga-and-the-pornification-of-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/lady-gaga-and-the-pornification-of-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Lady Gaga and the Pornification of America"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By John W. Whitehead
\n9\/3\/2010<\/h2>\n

\u201cThis mornig my little 8 year old sister\u2026scremed to the tope of her lungs \u2018 ! I LOVE LADY GAGA TILL DEATH!\u2019 over and over agin HISTERICLY and crying because she saw a lady gaga video\u2026now she cant talk HEY BUT I LOVE HER TWO HAHAHA.\u201d\u2014 Lady Gaga Facebook fan<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With a record-breaking 17 million fans on Facebook, an equally chart-topping 5 million followers on Twitter, the most popular hashtext on twitter (#becauseofgaga), the most watched YouTube video (\u201cBad Romance,\u201d with over 271 million views), and more than $34 million in ticket sales from her Monster Ball Tour, Lady Gaga, a.k.a. the artist formerly known as Stefani Germanotta, is undeniably a musical force to be reckoned with. At least for the moment.<\/p>\n

Nominated for 13 MTV Music Video Awards, including four for \u201cBad Romance\u201d (which attracted so much attention when it premiered that it ground Gaga\u2019s website to a halt), Gaga knows how to fill seats, sell albums and incite a frenzied devotion among her followers, whom she affectionately refers to as \u201cLittle Monsters.\u201d The emphasis is on the \u201clittle.\u201d With a fan base dominated by the under-20 set (her fans on Facebook range in age from 10-21), the driving force behind Gaga\u2019s popularity and success comes from \u201ckidpower.\u201d Yet the content of Gaga\u2019s music and videos is far from kid-friendly, and the impact on her young female fans is particularly troublesome.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Gaga admits that \u201cthe last thing a young woman needs is another picture of a sexy pop star writhing in sand, covered in grease, touching herself.\u201d However, if you were to replace \u201csand\u201d with \u201cbrothel floor\u201d and \u201cgrease\u201d with \u201cdiamonds,\u201d Gaga is precisely \u201canother sexy pop star,\u201d albeit one whose hyper-sexualized fa\u00e7ade has greatly contributed to the pornification of American culture. As theatre historian and University of Illinois professor Mardia Bishop explains, \u201cpop culture and porn culture have become part of the same seamless continuum. As these images become pervasive in popular culture, they become normalized… and… accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the youth of Gaga\u2019s fanbase, however, this foray into porn culture\u2014the increasing acceptability and pervasiveness of sexualized imagery in mainstream media\u2014is where the Gaga phenomenon takes a dark turn. \u201cVisual images and narratives of music videos clearly have more potential to form attitudes, values, or perceptions of social reality than does the music alone,\u201d notes author Douglas A. Gentile in his book Media Violence and Children, \u201cbecause they add additional information and rely less on imagination.\u201d For example, Gaga\u2019s critically acclaimed \u201cBad Romance\u201d video packs a lot of messages\u2014none of them wholesome\u2014into a five-minute musical in which the singer is kidnapped, drugged, and forced to sell herself as a prostitute to the highest bidder. The video ends with a scantily clad Gaga lying on a bed in a post-coital pose beside the smoldering skeleton of her \u201ccustomer\u201d while her pyrotechnic bra emits fire.<\/p>\n

That said, Gaga is far from the only mainstream artist contributing to the sexualization and pornification of young children through the mediums of pop music and music videos. Among the worst culprits constantly bombarding young people today with sexual images and references are music videos, which are found daily in 75-80% of the homes of 9- to 14-year-olds. Children between the ages of 8 and 18 spend approximately 30\u2013120 minutes a day watching music videos\u201475% of which contain sexually suggestive materials, and with the advent of portable technology, children\u2019s television and music are often unmonitored by parents or guardians. Not only does this accelerate adolescent sexual behavior (girls between the ages of 12-14 are two times more likely to engage in sexual activity after being exposed to sexual imagery), but it increases the likelihood of more sexual partners.<\/p>\n

As for Gaga\u2019s \u201clittle monsters,\u201d between the celebrity worship and the hyper-sexed imagery found in the pop star\u2019s videos, they\u2019re getting double-teamed. Indeed, Nancy Bauer, a Tufts University professor, argues that as \u201cadoration of celebrities as idols or role models is a normal part of identity development in childhood and adolescence,\u201d young girls often look to celebrities as moral exemplars. This adoration can manifest itself from something as simple as putting up posters of the celebrity to more destructive behaviors, such as starving oneself to mimic a celebrity\u2019s body shape.<\/p>\n

Thus, to younger children, Lady Gaga crawling around on the floor in diamonds and giving a lap dance to an emotionally distant male stranger becomes the embodiment of Gaga behavior\u2014to be studied and emulated. For example, the image of Gaga with overly large, computer-generated eyes in \u201cBad Romance\u201d has given rise to a whole new craze in eyewear\u2014circle lenses. After the video premiered, a professional make-up artist and spokesperson for Lancome, Michelle Phan, uploaded a \u201cHow To\u201d video teaching girls how to achieve a similar look. The instruction video, which calls for five layers of false lashes, two eyeliners, brow gel, three different eye shadows, a brow pencil, circle contact lenses, and an anti-inflammatory \u201cnot meant for daily use,\u201d received over 12 million hits. One user commented \u201c!? Nice ^^ I want to do this look but I\u2019am just 11 years old!!!\u201d Another girl, 16 years old, admitted to owning 22 pairs of the dangerous (and expensive) lenses. The American Optometric Association, however, has cautioned that the lenses used, which increase the apparent size of the eye by covering not only the iris but also part of the whites of the eyes, pose serious health risks, including \u201cthe potential for irreversible sight loss.\u201d If Gaga intended her large eyes to represent innocence lost \u2013 a fair and, admittedly, clever, symbol \u2013 that\u2019s not what 12 million young viewers got out of it.<\/p>\n

That Gaga\u2019s fan base is significantly younger and therefore less capable of comprehending the difference between reality and fantasy and more likely to interpret imagery on a literal level than the fans of past artists demonstrates why Gaga is such a central factor in the pornification of American youth through popular music. Anything they see, whether it\u2019s Gaga caged up with vertebrate sticking out of her back or Gaga using her sexuality to seduce and then murder a male counterpart as she does in \u201cBad Romance,\u201d is accepted as fact. Her outrageous fashion choices and excessive make-up keep up this fa\u00e7ade. As Gaga herself admits, \u201cI don\u2019t even drink water onstage in front of anybody, because I want them to focus on the fantasy of the music.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as professor Bauer notes, \u201cthe difference [between Gaga and other celebrities] is, somehow, that these people feel individually like [Gaga\u2019s] a real role model\u2014that they could be her.\u201d It is precisely this reciprocal relationship, something that usually manifests itself only in individuals with borderline-pathological celebrity worship syndrome that explains the difference between Gaga\u2019s fans and others. Fans that are not otherwise borderline-pathological hold similar mindsets, including the fantasy that Gaga loves them on a personal level, shares in their successes and failures, and is not only a role model but also a projection of the self.<\/p>\n

Gaga reinforces this perception through her own carefully choreographed behavior, appearing to show genuine love and an almost motherly concern for her fans. As she explains to one interviewer, \u201cWhat I\u2019m really trying to say is I want the deepest, darkest, sickest parts of you that you are afraid to share with anyone because I love you that much.\u201d Gaga also manages to create a sense of intimacy and reciprocity in what is traditionally a non-reciprocal relationship, constantly attributing her success and happiness to her fans. For example, Gaga tattooed \u201cLittle Monsters\u201d on her forearm, tweeting, \u201cLook what I did last night. Little monsters forever, on the arm that holds my mic.\u201d In response, one fan gushed, \u201cIf I ever meet YOU, I\u2019m going to get your signature tattooed on me too!!\u201d Another states, \u201cI wish we could sit down together and talk about all this stuff together. You would love the stories I have! And I know you\u2019d believe me.\u201d<\/p>\n

This pseudo-reciprocal relationship, then, is foundational to Gaga\u2019s pervasive impact on fans. After all, when fans are imbued with a sense of importance, they become ravenous consumers of associated commercial products. Yet, in an ironic take on \u201cBad Romance,\u201d in the end, it\u2019s Gaga\u2019s young fans who are being used for their consumer appetites and sold to the highest bidder.<\/p>\n

And what merchandise those appetites have spawned. Gaga\u2019s once obscure fashion has come to inspire Prada, Armani, and Alexander Wang. Nude corsets, lace, bodysuits, feathers, and \u201cthe pantsless look\u201d have all been featured on the runways. Particular materials\u2014corsets, high-heels, leather, rubber, fur, and underwear as outerwear are all commonly used in the porn industry, and all appear in Gaga\u2019s \u201cBad Romance.\u201d These fashions, like fashions of the past, trickle down to reach young girls\u2014which explains how sexually provocative slogans like \u201cFeeling Lucky\u201d find themselves stamped on the backs of underwear marketed to 7 year olds.<\/p>\n

Clearly, there are trade-offs in every relationship, and Lady Gaga is no exception. However, while Gaga gets stardom, wealth and affirmation out of her young fan base, it is not without a certain amount of trepidation that one wonders what her \u201clittle monsters\u201d are getting in return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are trade-offs in every relationship, and pop music sensation Lady Gaga’s love affair with her fans is no exception. But as Gaga gets stardom, one wonders what her “little monsters” are getting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,214],"tags":[27,29,8,28],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3074,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions\/3074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}