Lana Del Rey Post Doesn't Go Over Well

She defends herself while calling out women of color for their own lyrics
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted May 21, 2020 1:43 PM CDT
Lana Del Rey Post Doesn't Go Over Well
Lana Del Rey arrives at a Grammy event Jan. 25, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif.   (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP)

At one point Thursday, "Lana" was the top trending topic on Twitter. That would typically be good news to an entertainer—in this case Lana Del Rey—but in this case, much of the attention was negative, reports the Daily Dot. It's all the result of a lengthy Instagram post by the 34-year-old singer in which she defended herself while name-dropping a slew of top female performers. "Question for the culture: Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyonce have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, f---ing, cheating etc––can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money––or whatever I want––without being crucified or saying that I’m glamorizing abuse?"

Some unpacking: Pitchfork notes that critics and musicians have faulted Del Rey for her portrayal of "submissive" women. It points to an interview with Lorde in Fader in which Lorde says she listened to a 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.'" Del Rey writes that she is "fed up with female writers and alt singers" accusing her of setting back feminism because she explores her own "sometimes submissive or passive roles in my relationships." But the biggest beef with her post is that the singers she called out were mostly black or Latina. NBC News takes note of a typical response, from writer and activist Shon Faye: "think Lana's post would have been fine if she hadn't compared herself to a group of mostly black women with the clear tone that she thinks she's been treated worse by the media when that’s observably untrue." (More Lana Del Rey stories.)

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