Gaga's use of canes/crutches

[VanishIntoMe 3,925]

I have a boyfriend that is mildly disabled. As a day-one Gaga fan, I felt it was my duty to educate him on her entire career. After going through everything all the way up to attending the Mayhem Ball, he asked: Why has she used canes and cruthes so much throughout her career?

What do you think? Is it because of her fibromyalgia in recent years or is it more of a stylistic choice? If it's not functional, could it be seen as somewhat ableist?

This is not a question to shame but a genuine question from someone with lived experience and authority on the subject (him, not me).

[gagzus 19,837]

It’s to do with style and story. The crutches for Paparazzi are because she was supposed to have been thrown from a balcony and smashed into the steps of her mansion so it’d be odd if she could still walk imo. Her use of the cane in Shape on TDWP2/ The Grammy’s is a sign of wealth and power with style which is because it’s made by Versace and that’s their m.o. for women’s fashion to make women feel as powerful as men.

Yes in modern times canes are used as walking aids but they originate from aristocratic men who used them to show status and would often use them to fend off or beat poor people who came too close to them to beg. The distance from one’s hand to the end of the cane (usually 3-5 feet) was the distance that poor people were expected to stay away from the aristocracy. So it’s also a weapon to a degree and used to be made of heavy metals such as gold or lead for weight and power. 

Edited 5 hours ago by gagzus

[AVeryGagaHolyDick 30,544]

I’m pretty sure it’s just a metaphor for being hurt but determined to heal

[JustAnotherGayASMR 374]

I see it as her form of artistic expression. In Paparazzi it was symbolic of the fall from stardom of an artist & their journey of recovery. While touring Mayhem I felt that it was in part a reference to the MV & when she threw them it was a sign of overcoming struggles & freedom.

[gagzus 19,837]

2 minutes ago, JustAnotherGayASMR said:

I see it as her form of artistic expression. In Paparazzi it was symbolic of the fall from stardom of an artist & their journey of recovery. While touring Mayhem I felt that it was in part a reference to the MV & when she threw them it was a sign of overcoming struggles & freedom.

This also the Mistress is sort of shown as an almost aristocratic ruler during The Mayhem Ball even the use of an Opera House sets the time period up in line with it. She’s supposed to be seen as almost cruel and decrepit and holding onto her life like how fame and the industry and the public perception of Gaga’s persona is (she’s this because we say she’s this etc) which is in line with her vision of the album’s sound as explained in that Rolling Stone breakdown video where she explains how people put her in a box.

[TimotheeChalamet 6,752]

No, it's not ableist at all: all these elements have to be considered beyond their surface value and inserted into various contexts. In Paparazzi and its live performances, the crutches are both a recognizable gimmick (like the disco stick for LoveGame) and a metaphor for being hurt by fame and all the story clearly displayed in the music video; the mistress of Mayhem carrying a cane is both about what @gagzus said and a stylistic feature of the character displaying her as being her dark, twisted and hurt part (she also has a cast on her left foot, as per the Manifesto of Mayhem). Pretty sure there is nothing intentionally harmful about it, although I get why some people may see them as what they are not. I have a disease that will likely require me to use crutches or a wheelchair in a few years, so I get where you're coming from. 

Edited 4 hours ago by TimotheeChalamet

[Electric Venom 192]

This is her new disco stick since she knows we millennials have sore knees & backs jk

yup, definitely a performance flare + all the metaphors you can connote to it

[Wet Fire 8,215]

I've seen quite a few disabled people praise Gaga for normalizing the representation of crutches and wheelchairs, considering that her metaphor is rooted in her own history of being incapacitated by hip injury. The idea of not being bounded or defined solely by it is nicely delivered in the Mayhem Ball Paparazzi performance IMO.

Edited 4 hours ago by Wet Fire

[Ladle Ghoulash 42,876]

53 minutes ago, gagzus said:

It’s to do with style and story. The crutches for Paparazzi are because she was supposed to have been thrown from a balcony and smashed into the steps of her mansion so it’d be odd if she could still walk imo. Her use of the cane in Shape on TDWP2/ The Grammy’s is a sign of wealth and power with style which is because it’s made by Versace and that’s their m.o. for women’s fashion to make women feel as powerful as men.

Yes in modern times canes are used as walking aids but they originate from aristocratic men who used them to show status and would often use them to fend off or beat poor people who came too close to them to beg. The distance from one’s hand to the end of the cane (usually 3-5 feet) was the distance that poor people were expected to stay away from the aristocracy. So it’s also a weapon to a degree and used to be made of heavy metals such as gold or lead for weight and power. 

I do also think there’s something to be said for the Mistress representing the part of her that is so singularly focused on the pursuit of her vision and fame to the point of self-harm (ie the performance injury she incurred on the BTWB tour). The Mistress is ruthless to the point of self-destruction, which is, by the end of the show, mediated by EtherealGa’s embrace of vulnerability (à la the “birth” and attempted healing in the Disease vid)

[gagzus 19,837]

1 hour ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

I do also think there’s something to be said for the Mistress representing the part of her that is so singularly focused on the pursuit of her vision and fame to the point of self-harm (ie the performance injury she incurred on the BTWB tour). The Mistress is ruthless to the point of self-destruction, which is, by the end of the show, mediated by EtherealGa’s embrace of vulnerability (à la the “birth” and attempted healing in the Disease vid)

Yeah and the ending with Bad Romance is when they finally “become one” hence the red in her outfit and the black in the hair too.

[celestiallove 49]

Being that she herself has a physical disability, I don't think it's ableist, I think it's kind of a metaphor I guess

[Jenina 15,196]

I don't find it offensive at all but I also have argued with other disabled people about this topic like for the Yuyi performance with her in a wheelchair. The disability spectrum is too wide for me to be some spokesperson but personally I view it in a different category from using accessibility devices as props for a Halloween costume

Edited 1 hour ago by Jenina

[Lucas 30,097]

3 hours ago, gagzus said:

Yes in modern times canes are used as walking aids but they originate from aristocratic men who used them to show status and would often use them to fend off or beat poor people who came too close to them to beg. The distance from one’s hand to the end of the cane (usually 3-5 feet) was the distance that poor people were expected to stay away from the aristocracy. So it’s also a weapon to a degree and used to be made of heavy metals such as gold or lead for weight and power. 

I was today years old when I learned this, thanks! 

[HotLikeMexico 6,185]

I have always wondered this. It was even a point of the discussion back then when the VMA performance first happened. However I think intentions matters and she was not using the imagery to try to be abelist. 

[Obobo 3,879]

She’s preparing us for when she performs at age 60. There won’t be decrepit allegations since the cane and crutches have been part of her iconography xoxo

Edited 16 minutes ago by Obobo