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Originally Posted by Vanilla
This is admirable.
I think you guys expect too much from her though. In the sense that you expect her to act lady like, to coincide with every other pop tart like Katy Perry for instance. I don't know if anyone noticed, but she is being herself! Yeah she flipped off paparazzi, yeah she doesn't wear **** all clothes. Who gives a damn. I'd rather her personality come through than some bull**** recording company making her a clone like Floptina and Britney Spears.
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I wasn't expecting Lady Gaga to be ladylike...I was irritated that Seinfeld (or anyone) would expect or want someone to behave in a "ladylike" fashion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mojopinuk
When ive seen Perry be interviewed shes always reminded me of alot of the loud-mouthed chavs i went to school with it. Now, maybe we need a definition of what it is to be ladylike but whatever it is, i wouldnt think its that. In some ways though i can see it, i think i get what you mean.
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I feel that being "ladylike" or "gentlemanly," at their best, means being considerate of others and trying to be polite to them. So, giving someone the finger (unless it is a joke), wouldn't qualify.
However, at its worst, "ladylike" to me means passive, unadventuresome, constrained, and hyper-concerned about meeting others' expectations. Also, someone who is "ladylike" is not supposed to appear too sexual or too powerful.
I think people really have a problem with women who are in control of their own sexuality and do with it what they will...presenting themselves sexually, for example. Someone who is "ladylike" is supposed to walk the line between Madonna and whore...be titillating enough to be considered sexy, but not so much as to be considered a "slut."
Madonna (the singer) obviously played with this line society sets up for women, and Lady Gaga does, too. She doesn't always try to be beautiful, for example. She tries to be startling, sometimes grotesque (I'm thinking of that video of her with the hunched spine).
In general, I think society judges women much more harshly than men according to how or whether women express their sexuality. It's as if women get blamed if they don't try to look sexy, and blamed if they do. I've seen this again and again where people lose respect for people, especially women, when they appear in a sexual way. And by lose respect, I mean that people start thinking of women (who present themselves in a sexual way) as one-sided beings rather than multi-faceted.
Lady Gaga may be "too much" for people because she is NOT LETTING SOCIETY CONTROL HER as much as women usually do. And that is very threatening in a world where a large majority of women are still legally and socially subservient to men, and quite a few men (as well as women) buy into the notion that expression of sexuality is a bad thing (for women). Women "aren't supposed to be too forward." Lady Gaga doesn't hide her sexuality at all, and I think that freaks people out because they secretly feel women are only "good" if they look appealing but not TOO blatantly sexual.
Phew! I got that essay out of my system. Now I feel better!
