$30 Project

I got a little hot under the collar earlier today about Lana Del Rey. To which, I’ll admit, is a very idiotic topic to get hot under the collar about. Let me explain.

I don’t think that Del Rey has anything to apologize for, I don’t think her music is particularly terrible, and I walk into this conversation with the full understanding that her image has been heavily branded to create the illusion of some sort of indie-pop princess combo. THIS IS ALSO WHY I 100% DO NOT CARE ABOUT DEL REY WHATSOEVER. 

In this instance, where all of the above is so abundantly clear, I might think to myself that a joke or two about the situation is appropriate. And thus I reposted a photo. I reposted this photo because I thought that it captured the whole buzz around Del Rey very nicely; the obviousness of what her image is attempting to create, the ridiculousness of all the conversation that it has caused and most of all, all the attention that this topic has received. AND NOW I AM GIVING IT EVEN MORE ATTENTION. And I’m sorry, but that greatly aggravates me. 

If you really want to spark a conversation about Del Rey than you might ask why she has caused such a sensation amongst a predominantly male body of critics. What does this say about where the male gaze is focused and how does this, in turn, gender a wider opinion? 

All I am saying is dig a little bit deeper than, “She had plastic surgery and now people don’t like her and that’s bad!” or “People don’t like her because she looks really girly and that’s bad!” Because… REALLY? Are you saying that women are crafted into sexual objects and churned out for media consumption? NO WAY, DUDE! SINCE WHEN? 

And this is always the inherent trouble with a joke. A joke is a joke because often it toes the line between being offensive and being truthful. 

In this case, Del Rey is being taken to task a bit for being so transparent. Do I think that this transparency warranted such a blitz of negative attention? No, I do not. Do I find it amusing on occasion? Yes. Sometimes I do. 

And I have a problem with this type of blanket narrative, the whole concept of “No one should ever say anything negative about how a woman has constructed her image because women should never be held responsible for what the patriarchy has created” type statement. My question then becomes… are women so fucking helpless? Forgive me, but this woman did elect to have surgery and then place herself on a public stage knowing full well that she would then open herself up to public criticism… did she not? And before I get attacked for that statement, I’m not saying that she deserved the negative attention necessarily. OKAY?! I’m just saying that those types of blanket narratives tend to completely abolish the concept of personal responsibility and that tends to make me VERY nervous. 

Look. At the end of the day what I dislike about the type of dialogue that was centered around that picture was that, first and foremost, it negates the positive power that humor can often contain. While I would never argue that humor can also be very dangerous, it also has the ability to make us stop and go, “Wait a second. Why are we even talking about this?!” And I don’t think that should be ignored. 

Also, the whole “STOP PICKING ON LANA DEL REY!” is very surface level-type feminism. There is no engagement, there is no probing, there is no consideration of why you’re pausing to ask that question or why you’re even choosing her as a subject instead of another. I suppose that I would like to ask, “Why do you think this is so important? Have you considered that question at all?” 

Because truthfully. In the grander scheme of all that is the constructed female image… I don’t think that Lana Del Rey is that subversive or dangerous. I’m not really seeing her as a threat, you know? She represents an idea that has been repackaged and regurgitated so many times in our cultural discourse that it only warrants as much attention as we pay to it.  

And the fact that I felt compelled to do so just frustrates me beyond belief and hopefully explains my somewhat impulsive reaction to this morning’s photo thing.