Gaga in the social justice community

[hausofdavies 22]

Hi everyone! So, the past few months while I've been on twitter and social media, I've seen a lot of the social justice community accuse Gaga of what's called cultural appropriation (wearing a burqa in 2012, dreads) and other stuff, like using the word gypsy, which they believe to some people is offensive. Gaga is actually the one who inspired me to start a human rights organization in my city (going on our 3rd year!) because of her activism and message of equality, so it's just weird for me to see people accuse her of stuff that she has always fought against. So what are your opinions of these accusations? 

[Cocaine Heart 4,768]

There's no such thing as cultural appropriation in my opinion, the sjw crew are always looking for something to be offended about.

Ignore them. 

[Didymus 34,380]

Well, looking at the most common ideas about what cultural appropriation is, Gaga has definitely done her share. The burqa was obviously the most blatantly offensive and "problematic" move of her career in that respect.

Do I personally think that's a serious crime? No. Gaga obviously never means any genuine disrespect to social groups. For me it's all about intention.

[SissyFromSpace 20,884]

Hi cutie. I'm APrincessBoy on Twitter! ^_^

 

oh and SJWs are full of ****. Esp on Twitter/Tumblr. Only White artists get called out for "cultural appropriation" but no one cared when Nicki, Beyonce, Rihanna, Azealeelia banks, etc appropriated various cultures. Lady Gaga is actually very well informed when it comes to other cultures and anyone who attempts to call her out is just an idiot.

[Emvee 8,413]

What these people don't care to acknowledge is the fact that Gaga has learned from her mistakes. 

I can bet a hundred bucks that from now on Gaga will be very conscious of using cultural iconography to convey metaphors in her music. 

At her core, Gaga is the epitome of human compassion... learning to walk in other people's shoes. 

These things were also done in a very confusing atmosphere. I mean, Beyoncé releasing music in Spanish even though she has absolutely no Latin American ties? Nobody was offended. Gaga herself used Latin American imagery for a while. Nobody was offended. But apparently Muslim iconography is untouchable. Not saying Muslim people don't have a right to say they're offended, It's just really difficult to know what was offensive to people and what would be considered flattery. Gaga knows now. I'm pretty certain most pop stars these days will stay away from ever touching another culture's imagery because of SJW's. Interpret that as you will.  

[Angel Down 2,807]

The "cultural aproppriation" thing is totally bull**** iif you ask me... I have never understood why would a white person who has dreads be offensive to the black people, or why would a black person with something typical of the white people pose offence to them?... Like literally live your ****ing life and let everybody live the way they want to live with whichever style they want to adopt. 

People nowadays try so hard to play it "racism victims" that we focus on inconsequential issues like cultural appropriation and forget the real problems and real racism that people undergo daily. It's so preposterous! 

[PEDRO98 1,003]

SJW take things way out of proportion and make little things such a big deal !!

 

is that you in your pic, cause that JAW LINE slays

[Andreyw 4,285]

Those people should focus on people who are killed because of discrimination instead of pointing fingers at Gaga for doing something which doesn't offend and hurt anyone

[hausofdavies 22]

SJW take things way out of proportion and make little things such a big deal !!

 

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Yes it is me, and thank you very much

[FGGrayson 9,670]

Social Justice Warrior are a ****ing mess tbh

[Riot Poof 2,236]

SJWs hate Gaga because she's white. Plain and simple. She's definitely done some stuff that she shouldn't have done, but as Lance pointed out, black celebrities have done similar things but they rarely get called out on it. I stopped taking the SJ community seriously because they're hypocrites. They have witch hunts whenever a white celeb said something inappropriate in 2007 but ignore anything their black fave has done. Like... at least call everyone out when they've done something ~problematic~.

Fortunately, many people started to take this "your fave is problematic" mindset as a joke. I'm just done with it because everyone is problematic. The most important thing is that we strive to be better people, and we should allow celebrities to learn from their mistakes instead of demonizing them (while glorifying others that don't deserve such praise). If a celebrity consistently says/does discriminatory things (like Eminem), then that's different. However, most of the things celebs get called out on are done in ignorance rather than malice. Like... let's not act like they've committed a crime against humanity.  I don't approve of cultural appropriation, but it's not the worst thing someone can do.

[freebit 6,240]

I do think Gaga has slipped up and shown ignorance at times (wearing a burqa, including the archaic word oriental in BTW etc.), but she's obviously not a hateful person, just as I said, ignorant.

As a minority with a vested interest in social awareness I personally hope we all collectively get past the point of this witch hunt/tear the b---h! apart stage of social justice and move onto having informed opinions. The way it is now lacks nuance or any real critical thinking at all, it's very black and white. On one hand you've got people typing up angry novels about some celeb wearing something with a tribal print, and on the other you've got people trying to shut down any discussion at all and silence the whole movement. It's very frustrating. 

[giskardsb 12,565]

The cultural appropriation in Aura was intentional and appropriate in regard to the lyrics.  Artists can use symbols as appropriate. 

Besides 90 percent of cultural appropriation complaints are BS. We need to learn more from each other not isolate. 

[Karandr 150]

Well.. as a self proclaimed SJW (a term I both love and hate..) and a big Gaga fan..

I think it's a nuanced situation. Personally, I think a lot of things Gaga has done have been problematic and go against a lot of social justice thinking. I don't think it makes her a bad person, it just means she's ignorant of how certain things can be offensive. And that's fine to an extent, because we can all be ignorant at times. But it's the reasonable thing to do to listen to people if they're telling you that what you're doing is rude or inconsiderate. 

 

I think Gaga's use of the burqa/veil imagery is a bit troubling, likewise the use of the word "gypsy" (as I've discussed on here more times than I care to count). I'm of this opinion because of pieces of writing I have read from people who are actually from the groups those two things relate to. I'm inclined to listen to them when they say something is offensive, because it affects them. 

To put it really bluntly, and to generalise a bit - I don't care what white gays have to say about appropriation from Muslim cultures, or whether or not gypsy is a slur. To elaborate - if you're not part of the group that is likely to be offended, you don't really get a say in whether or not it's appropriate or offensive. Your feelings are irrelevant in this situation. 

I know Gaga is a smart woman, and of course I don't think she's racist or Islamophobic, or intentionally doing anything wrong. But she has room to learn. She's neither devil nor saint, because it's not as simple as that. 

[RAMROD 109,698]

Social justice crusaders know nothing but thinking they are savior of midern age by accusing everyone famous with everything wrong.

So.I.suggest you to not take their opinions way to seriously or personally.