The first paragraph of the post started off with Lana listing a bunch of the most well known female pop and rap artists today like Ariana Grande, Doja Cat, Cardi B, Camila Cabello, Beyonce, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and how they get praised for singing about wearing no clothes, having sex, cheating, and other sexual themes, while Lana Del Rey gets criticized for singing about dancing for money, being embodied and feeling loved in an abusive relationship. She is often demonized by female alternative singers and writers for romanticizing abusive relationships when she is just singing about her own experiences with abuse and it comes off as glamorized because she is a glamorous person. Women have started to be allowed to explore more sexual topics in their music, and the media still expects women to be one kind of woman and not anything else. We're expected to be strong, badass, and opinionated. That is the "feminist" woman in the eyes of the Western media. Lana goes on to talk about how there hasn't been enough room for women like her in feminism- women who are delicate, women who are often not heard over the voices of strong women or men who hate women, women who are mistreated because they are seen as weak, and women who are abused and belittled. Lana Del Rey feels like women like her aren't able to express their own pain when it comes to their experiences about facing abuse because they are often accused of romanizing toxic relationships. They are seen as anti-feminist because it appears that they are enabling toxic men when that simply isn't the case. Lana is grateful that her work has paved the way for other women to discuss their experiences in abusive relationships without fearing criticisms. She goes on to state that she's going to talk more about her personal experiences in her next two books of poetry coming out.
"And my last and final note on everything –
when I said people who look like me – I meant the people who don’t look strong or necessarily smart, or like they’re in control etc. it’s about advocating for a more delicate personality, not for white woman – thanks for the Karen comments tho. V helpful" - Lana Del Rey, May 22nd.
So, the reason this post got a ton of hate was because of the first few sentences where Lana mentioned other female artists. Critics of Lana's post believe that she was belittling the hate that black female artists face, such as Doja Cat, Beyonce, Kehlani, and Nicki Minaj. It is believed that Lana was invalidating other women's struggles, especially those of women of color, by only talking about the criticism she has faced and not mentioning that they have also been torn down by the media at times as well.
I have mixed opinions on this discussion. To start off, I have been a fan of Lana Del Rey's work since I was twelve or thirteen years old. I have always felt very comforted while listening to her music, and she has gotten me through various rough patches. I love her music and her as well, and I will continue to support her, but I want to be able to talk about this topic as objectively as I can because I do think that it's something important we need to discuss.
I do not agree with the criticisms that Lana Del Rey is racist or does not recognize the struggles that women of color face in our society as artists. I do understand, however, that she is coming off as not acknowledging the criticisms that other female artists, like the ones she listed, have faced by the media, and I do think it's important to note that she never said they didn't face any sort of pushback with their own work. I think what Lana was trying to discuss was her own experiences with being labeled as anti-feminist amongst female alternative writers and critics, and they often don't seem to feel that way about the work of women who sing about how strong and powerful they are. Lana is often demonized for singing about her personal experiences with abuse, while other topics have started to become more praised by the media. I agree that maybe it wasn't fair that she named other artists, but I don't believe she was trying to throw shade at them, tear them down, or diminish their own struggles they have faced as being white women or women of color. Another thing is that when Lana said "women like her", she was referring to women that have a more delicate personality and are often afraid to voice their own opinions, not white women.
Lana has come out with several statements since the Instagram post was uploaded, including a video. In these various posts, Lana talks about advocating for women with softer personalities, and how upset she is that social media turned it into a race war when that was not her intention. She doesn't apologize in any of these posts because I believe she wants to emphasize how guilty the media has tried to make her in the past when her beliefs have been twisted. Now I don't think she necessarily had to apologize, but in my personal opinion I do believe she should have let us know that she acknowledged the struggles and criticisms that other female artists, especially women of color have faced from the media. I can't sit here and say that I believed everything she said was 100% right because that wouldn't be true, but I do understand the point she was trying to make and how it came off wrong. I think she should have addressed that in her video and her various other statements. It is important that her audience knows that she recognizes the misogyny and racism that black female artists have been subjected to over the years.
Overall, I think Lana Del Rey had a powerful message with a lot of fair points and topics we should be discussing more as a society, but unfortunately, it came off wrong and made people turn away from her. I understand why fans, like myself, have stood by her in this situation but I also understand why it has made people upset. I hope in the future we can have a more civilized discussion about these sorts of topics.
Writer's Note: I also want to say I hope nothing I said in this article came off like I was trying to tell black people how to feel about Lana. I'm not black, so it's hard for me to fully understand everything the black community has to face, and I wasn't trying to say anyone's opinions about Lana or this situation aren't valid. Lots of love -Eva
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