Oh, Lana Del Rey. Lana, Lana, Lana. Why was this whole mess needed? What started as a poor, not-so-subtle promotion of her upcoming poetry books and album, has really mutated into a sad display of tone deaf commentary.
In case you missed it, the previously much-acclaimed singer released an Instagram statement (in ridiculously offensive font) last week calling out women of colour. That she was somehow – as a white CIS woman – underrepresented in modern day feminism, and that she’s had a lot of critics that other female artists don’t.
It was clumsy to say the least, clearly lacking some guile and insight into the hardships of women like Beyonce, Cardi B and Nicki Minaj to get where they are today. You weren’t the first female artist to sing about failed relationships, female honesty or intimacy, honey.
Lana Del Rey seems to think she’s the only female artist to ever face backlash for portraying sexuality. The idea that FKA Twigs are other Black female artists don’t experience that response is absurd. Black women have been demeaned and degraded for centuries for our sexuality.
— Lisa Bee (@leebee4life) May 25, 2020
And rather than take a step back from her initial comments, realise that she was being tone deaf towards the artists she mentioned (and people of colour in general), she has doubled down continuously.
First she released a second statement, where she labelled people who turned her comments into a race discussion “Trump/Pence supporters or hyper Liberals”. And now she’s released the final nail in her three-piece coffin of white privilege, posting a six-minute rant (of sorts) to her Instagram account.
In it, she talks about her “advocacy for fragility” as if it’s some kind of human rights oppression campaign. She shows no signs of apologising to people that she’s offended, and even goes in on MORE women of colour. I shit you not, comparing herself to FKA Twigs dancing on a pole.
“When I get on the pole, people call me a whore – but when Twigs gets on the pole, it’s art,” she says, in a legit direct quote.
GIRL, STOP. PLEASE I BEG OF YOU.
twigs wrote an entire album on how many wronged women in history have had their narratives warped n devalued by men n how she’s also been subject to that n she didn’t have to drag down a single other female artist to do it so i think lana del rey should shut the fuck up
— christina (@uncuntgems) May 25, 2020
She also continues to talk about this “fragile” female persona, that she is the self-assigned poster-girl for, as if women of colour (or other women in general) aren’t able to be “fragile”?
The fact that Lana del Rey couldn’t see that FKA Twigs’ was being delicate in “cellophane” and that her pole dancing was a metaphor for the vulnerability she experienced when her sexuality/relationships were being exposed and torn apart… I wonder WHY. https://t.co/M1HWbp6jUq
— Rubén (@QueerXiChisme) May 25, 2020
I’ve been following this train wreck for the past few days, and reading through the Instagram comments of this video confirmed one thing for me. People are done.
In her previous posts, there was a sense of understandability. And I’d even argue that in her first post, most people could see where she was coming from, if the delivery was awful.
But in this video, plenty went to town on Lana.
User @sorrysahri.f mentioned, “you continue to compare yourself to WOC lana while invalidating their experiences in this industry. At this point you’re just choosing to be tone deaf”.
One user asked why it was so hard for Lana Del Rey to just apologise to people she may have offended, while @theguerrillafeminist asked the singer to reflect on her actions and behaviour.
Going on to say that “so many white women follow you and listen to your music and witness what you do when you royally fuck up. Please be better.”
Old mate Perez Hilton even chimed in with an “Unfollowed. X” comment.
And it’s truly a big mess, that could have been avoided. Honestly, this could have been a nice little PR campaign for LDR. If she apologised for not understanding the impact her initial comments had, and explained a bit better how she felt – I think she comes away from some decent media attention.
To clarify, I don’t think Lana Del Rey is a racist, or intended to be this hurtful. But the impact of her commentary on this topic, is that she has been hurtful. By continuing to reference women of colour in this discourse, she continues to be hurtful.
Instead of dealing with it amicably and responsibly, she decided to go full disaster mode. Her series of tone-deaf content also worries me about what goes on in the head of other people who agree with her.
Lana also mentioned that her next album will be called Chemtrails over the Country Club in another not-so-subtle promotion – which has become common for these statements.
Feel free to watch the full video below, if you can bare the pain.
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Image Source: Twitter @PopCrave