Is Gaga insecure/ true reasoning behind her outfits?

[Katie14 4,828]

Confidence and insecurity are in general extremely confusing traits/emotions because they are so fleeting. We all feel moments of confidence that can be quickly followed by feelings of insecurity right after. It is difficult to tell if people around you (or yourself) are confident. You can be extremely confident in certain areas or in certain aspects of yourself. For example, you can be confident in your intelligence or ability to cook, ect but that doesn't mean you are a confident person overall. I guess nobody is fully confident or fully insecure. I think someone can be described as overall confident if they believe in themselves and have faith in their abilities. If they realize they have weaknesses and accept who they are but are also willing to improve themselves because they believe they deserve happiness and success.

I look at how fearless Gaga is onstage and its so easy to assume that she is extremely confident. But then there are certain things that she does that makes me wonder. I think Gaga is confident in a lot of ways but she definitely has a lot of insecurities probably stemming from being bullied growing up and then the stuff that happened when she was 19. She said in the Oprah interview that she didn't realize until she was older how much being bullied affected her. Even after all the success she has, she still wonders if all the things that were said about her are really true.

I used to think that Gaga dressing up in all kinds of wacky outfits was a sign of confidence. She presents herself in a certain way and she doesn't care about being judged. She has said many times before that her outfits are a way for her to express herself and she started dressing that way when she became brave enough to do so. But then in interviews from 2013 (Z100, Ellen, ect) Gaga said that after all the trauma she went through before becoming famous, she was left feeling vacant and insecure. She said that she started dressing up because she wanted to become different people. She wanted to escape from herself. She said that to create ARTPOP, she had to take all the masks off and reopen her wounds to heal herself. So her reasoning behind the outfits/wigs./makeup is very contradictory. I don't think she was lying. I think she initially thought that she was dressing up because she was confident. In reality, being able to morph herself was making her confident. But I definitely do think that she also just loves fashion and its fun for her wear all kinds of weird stuff. Its very confusing.

Sometimes I think Gaga is fully confident on stage and I think she is most of the time. But, whenever Gaga gets a standing ovation, she gets very emotional. it seems to me that she isn't just grateful and appreciative. She also seems sort of surprised by the positive reaction. This indicates to me that she has doubts about herself as a vocalist. She knows she has one of the best voices in pop but now she opened herself up to the realm of jazz singers, broadway singers, ect. I think she wonders if she is good enough.

I also think that Gaga can be too trusting and sensitive to people, almost in a naive way. She mentioned in many interviews starting in 2013 that many people have betrayed her (closest friends, ex manager). I think sometimes she gets too attached and close with the people who work for/with her. The lines between friend and employee get blurred. She forgets that these people are really there because its their job. Then she feels personally betrayed when her manager, for example, wants to move on to other projects. We don't know exactly what happened but that's what i'm guessing. I can't really blame her for feeling that way. I just think maybe its another sign of insecurity that she gets so affected by these betrayals that she ends up turning to d--gs and alcohol. The again, she was dealing with a ton of other **** all at the same time so I don't know if this can be used as an example. I was just listening to the Howard Stern interview with my mom a few weeks ago and she said something like, "she is very insecure that she gets so affected by how people treat her". I am wondering if anyone else agrees.

Those are just a few examples. What do you think about Gaga's confidence and insecurities? Why do you think she dresses up the way that she does?

[Kermit the frog 1,921]

I used to think the same way but since we'll never know what's inside her head then I'd rather think of it as a manifestation of her creativity.

[Fiona Apple 13,006]

Tbh I think it is.But mostly earlier in her career. In the fame era with the makeup,the blonde hair with the bangs etc.she looked awesome but she didn't even look like herself.

[Dominic 11,922]

Personally I think it takes more confidence to wear a dress made of meat than just jeans and a tee. I feel as though the wigs and outfits originally were a way for her to be recognisable and individual, a marketing ploy however over time it has become apart of who she is. 

[RAMROD 109,222]

Well...,

 

[Sister 9,907]

I believe all of what you have written is true. Gaga is only human and we all are like that, we all have so many levels and different parts of us, like peeling an onion and sometimes we display or play up certain parts of us that we feel on terms with, while hiding away other parts that we are feeling insecure about in the moment and it all changes at whim.

It is also pretty common for an entertainer to be rather a shy person personally and even insecure, but then be able to entertain in front of millions with no fear or struggle. It is a very common trait in most artists.

[ARTPOPdidntflop 3,987]

i think gaga's said before that her costumes and wigs have been ways of being able to deal with her pain and insecurity

Also she has to be fking confident to be able to wear them, like theyre basically LOOK AT ME outfits

[monsterdreams 1,529]

I think it started that way but now it's who she is 

[Iwontell 7,312]

Everyone has insecurities...

As someone who has been bullied for quite some time, like Gaga, I have this double standard: negative feedback, which is what I'm used, makes no difference to me...in a way I've become so unimpressed by criticism that it makes me free to do and say what I want and look as I please, cuz all the ****ty things ppl might say, I've heard it already...which makes me look very secure of myself, even if I'm not; on the other hand, the positive things, which are so unexpected and weird for me to hear, those really do get to me, and make me feel like crying, and make me feel like I'm getting undeserved props...which makes me look more insecure than I actually am.

I thinks that's what goes on with Gaga.

As for the way she dresses, I think there are multiple reasons for that...one of them, as I said, is being used to ppl talking **** about you anyway, but I also see it as a tool of communication (like, she's telling us without words what her next album might sound like through her looks...in the same way she started dressing more elegantly right before cheek to cheek was announced), as an armor for her to face the world in her bad days (I do feel that the more insecure she is, the more "costume-ish" her clothes get) and as a way for her to create iconic images to be associated with her and with her work, which make her an easy figure to remember (in the same way MJ had his gloves, dancing shoes and hat, Madonna had her big tulle skirt gloves and chains, Elton has colorful his glasses, etc.).

I really think she's now going through her most secure and authentic phase ever since she became famous.

[Creyk 17,805]

I think Luc Carl said it best: She was a girl who found that when she puts on unusual clothes ppl pay more attention to her.

it's a way for her to be different, to get your attention. It's also fun to be able to experiment with many looks and wear different things

[Phoebe 158]

I applaud her big time that she's able to put on whatever she feels like and walk down the street and simply don't give a fk. Especially in a society that's so judgemental. Gaga's fashion sense isn't just a little unusual it's very "out there". 

I do believe it's a bit of both. It's her way of protecting herself and morphing into someone else, but I also firmly believe it's who she truly is.