By Brock Seng, NoisePorn Contributing Writer
The concept of the ideal feminist role model is prominent in modern American culture, and it’s wrongfully expected that every single female of prominence will, and should, fit this model. Feminism is not about every woman being the same. Feminism is about being free to be yourself and to choose whatever kind of lifestyle you want to live, not how everyone else – male or female – expects you to live.
The idea of a feminist role model has never been more prevalent than it is in the music industry. We all see how Beyoncé is treated: she’s Queen Bey. She is the feminist role model that America thinks it needs. And, if you’ve ever read any blog posts about the “Summertime Sadness” artist Lana Del Rey, you’ll know she is theexact opposite of what America wants in a feminist role model.
But, are Beyoncé and Lana different enough to justify feminists attacking Lana Del Rey, calling her an anti-feminist and a bad influence on the youth? Hell. No.
Personally, I’m a Lana Del Rey fan and I love her music. I think she’s an awesome, original artist in an industry full of cookie-cutters. She appeals to different people for different reasons. She is a symbol for my generation of Millennials; the current young 20-somethings, the grandchildren of the hippie movement, the kids of Generation X.
Our world is tempting. Some of us grew up on the “dark side of the American Dream.” We’re all a bunch of drugged-up, boozed-up, MDMA-popping fuck-ups just trying to make it and find love in a hopeless place. And if Lana Del Rey can be a 15-year-old with alcohol dependency and make it out alive to become a rock star, so can we! And that’s why I love her and her music.
When I originally set out to write this, I wanted to write about how Lana Del Rey is someone we should all look up to. I wanted to write this so everyone would agree with me that she is awesome and a great role model.
Then I started reading blog posts about her. I read countless posts that cut her down, calling her a horrible role model and an anti-feminist. Posts that, to me, just didn’t make any sense at all. These posts by supposed “feminists” just bashed her the entire time for being herself. I was in shock. I still am in shock.
After I read about her, I realized I couldn’t sit down and write what I originally had planned. Instead, I knew I had to address the hypocrisy surrounding how people view her.
Isn’t the feminist ideal to be anything you want to be without letting anyone else tell you otherwise? Isn’t that true freedom? Lana empowers women to be in love if they want to be in love. Beyoncé empowers women to be sexual and to be with their man if they want to be. Both of those are equal in my eyes.
The main reason why feminists think Lana Del Rey is so horrible stems from the nature of her songs. They believe her songs are misogynistic, submissive, sexual and consumed in the needs of a man.
The song “Video Games” was criticized as being about putting on perfume and being a housewife while the husband sits around being lazy playing video games. The critics claimed Lana was advertising submissiveness toward men and allowing them to run their life. Lana herself spoke up about the song in BBC, stating, “People talk about me being an anti-feminist because of that song. They think it’s coming from a place of submissiveness. But in reality it was more about coming together and doing your own things happily in the same living space.” If you listen to “Video Games,” that is exactly what the song is about.
Lana Del Rey as a whole isn’t about submissiveness; she’s about being enamored by love and the feeling of being lost in it. Just because her songs are about love doesn’t make her any less of a feminist. Why can’t a feminist be in love with a man and want to be consumed by love? What’s wrong with a feminist wearing a dress or a kind of perfume they know their significant other enjoys?
There is nothing wrong with that. Saying Lana Del Rey is less of a feminist because she makes the music she wants to is restricting a woman from making her own choices. It’s forcing her to follow an ideal instead of being an individual, therefore breaking the main ideal of true feminism: equality, regardless of who you are.
Lana Del Rey should be able to sing about sex without being called an anti-feminist. Beyoncé, the “leader” of feminist musicians, sure as hell does. Beyoncé is a very sexual artist, especially when it comes to her live shows. She wears skimpy outfits on stage, such as her infamous gold bodysuit with her nipple showing, and she dances provocatively.
Why is this OK? Beyoncé is a talented singer, she doesn’t need to dance around like that but she knows sex sells and it sells well, therefore she uses it to make more money. Look at the music video “Drunk in Love” and try to tell me that video would be as popular if it were just her and Jay Z sitting on a couch, fully dressed. It wouldn’t be. The song is about sex, the video is about sex, and yet she’s worshipped. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying Beyoncé shouldn’t or can’t be a role model, but try to take a step back and look at the hypocrisy in all of this. Lana is attacked for her sexuality while Beyoncé is praised.
Michelle Obama has called Beyoncé a role model for her two daughters, even though her songs have lyrics like, “He Monica Lewinksy-ed all on my gown,” “Let me sit this ass on you, show you how I feel” and “Can you lick my Skittles? That’s the sweetest in the middle. Pink, that’s the flavor. Solve the riddle.” Her new self-titled album is completely and utterly about sex, which is fine.
Again, I’m not saying Beyoncé shouldn’t be a role model for women. She’s done amazing things in business, in music and overall as a person. However, Lana Del Rey should and deserves to be respected just as much as Beyoncé. If Beyoncé can make albums about being in love and having sex, Lana Del Rey should too.
There are artists who have outwardly spoken against Lana Del Rey, saying she’s a bad influence, specifically Lorde.
Lorde told Fader, “I listened to that Lana Del Rey record and the whole time I was just thinking, It’s so unhealthy for young girls to be listening to, you know, ‘I’m nothing without you.’ This sort of shirt-tugging, desperate, don’t leave me stuff. That’s not a good thing for young girls, even young people, to hear.”
Lorde is the age of a high school junior, the age most people start getting into their first “real” relationship. When you’re that young, you don’t really understand life at all, no matter how much you think you do. True love pulls at your heartstrings. My God, I’ve heard males sing about the exact same thing (emo music, anyone?), so why does a woman get criticized for the same thing? Why is it OK if a male sings about being consumed by the love of a woman, but Lana Del Rey does it and it’s not “feminist enough”?
The hatred toward Lana Del Rey and the praise of Beyoncé is something I’ll never understand. Maybe it’s because Beyoncé is now a household name and Lana Del Rey is still early on in her career. Maybe it still stems from Lana Del Rey’s Saturday Night Live performance where she had a meltdown. Who knows? What I do know is that these two women should be looked at equally. They’re both out there doing their own thing, making their own music and living their own lives. Both are role models in their own right and should be treated as such. There is no way around that.
Lana Del Rey sets off on her “Young and Beautiful” U.S. Tour on April 23. If you still have any doubts at all about what kind of role model she is or should be, I highly recommend you go out and see her live.
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About the Author
Brock Seng is a fourth-year journalism student at the University of Florida. When he’s not writing he’s usually playing with cats, listening to music or staring at the clouds wondering why we’re all here. That last part is false.
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