I don’t really follow Lady Gaga, but one of my lovely readers sent me a link to one of her recent tweets, and it bummed me out. The tweet read:
“Just killed back to back spin classes. Eating a salad dreaming of a cheeseburger #PopSingersDontEat #IWasBornThisWay”
Okay. You’re still with me? Let’s do this.
“Killing Back To Back Spin Classes”
I’m not going to touch this part, except to say that when you work out in an intense way, you need eat adequately. #justsaying
“Eating A Salad Dreaming of a Cheeseburger”
Of course, I’m taking this to mean that she was eating a salad while dreaming of a cheeseburger, as opposed to eating some strangely sentient salad capable of dreaming about eating other food products.
But in all seriousness, this is typical dieter and disordered eater thinking. Lady Gaga is definitely putting her diet rules about what she should eat above any possibility that she might be craving a cheeseburger for good reason. Maybe she needs more calories or more protein or just a reminder of home. She has a huge net worth and any number of assistants to cater to her whims and yet a cheeseburger is beyond her grasp? It’s so sad that a tastemaker like Gaga can’t allow herself tastes of the food that she wants. #eatthedamncake
This tweet came on the heels of an alleged feud between Gaga and fellow pop star Adele, wherein Gaga was supposedly going around calling Adele a “fat cow” due to her envy over Adele’s award sweep at the Grammy’s. (I had seen this reported in some fairly reputable places, but apparently the original story is from the ever disreputable Star magazine, and is probably untrue.) But still, what did Lady Gaga mean when she tweeted “#PopSingersDontEat”? Am I the only one who saw this as a dig against Adele? #whattheactualf
So is Gaga saying that she was born to be fatter than she is now? And if so, why not just accept that she’s born that way? I realize that she probably feels required to stay thin to retain her pop star status, but maybe that’s not really true anymore. (See Adele above.) Gaga always seems to have incredibly devoted fans, some of whom have probably used the “born this way” concept to embrace having fatter bodies, so why not Lady Gaga herself? #sobebornthisway
One Last Thing
I realize that when Lady Gaga tweeted this (if it was even she who did so), she was probably hungry and in a bad mood and looking for some diet commiseration from her twitter followers. She probably wasn’t thinking about the fact that it might be considered to be promoting anorexia. I realize that she’s a human being who has her own issues and is under tremendous scrutiny and pressure. But I also think that it would be a truly amazing and powerful thing if she embraced body acceptance as part of the “born this way” cause.
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8 replies on “Eating a Salad and Dreaming of a Cheeseburger #WhatsWithLadyGaga”
Not the point here, but:
It makes me sad that people can’t enjoy a salad for its crunchy, hydrating deliciousness. It’s not rabbit food! It’s not only for dieters! I eat salad because I love salad.
I go all out with my salads, such as yetserday with almonds, avocado, cranberries, chicken, lettuce, and grape tomatoes mmmmm. And as someone who eats for the pure enjoyment of it (well and that whole “it keeps me alive” thing) its really frusterating when people especially other women stare at my salad, and hten give me the Look “oh look at her tyring to be skinny. thought she claimed to be a feminist”.
Ugh.
Also I realise this is totally off topic but wanted to commiserate.
I think it’s refreshing that she’s honest that she isn’t like that naturally, that it takes extra exercise and having a salad when she really wants a burger. She’s a pop culture manufactured commodity, nicely boxed and tied with ribbon. Why would she translate the whole “born this way” cause to her looks? There’s nothing about her that isn’t artificial, that’s her schtick. She markets herself as a walking commentary on pop-culture, from the 19-inch platform shoes, to the makeup, and bizarre clothing, she exudes artifice.
Maybe if more celebrities were honest about the work and sacrifices they make in the name of looking a certain way, more people would see it for the unrealistic ideal that it is and not berate themselves for not living up to that.
If I remember correctly, she’s said something about how “pop singers don’t eat” before. I don’t know where, though.
I think you are the only one who saw this as a dig to Adele and what’s with all the hashtags? Â I thought those were for Twitter. Â Is that a new thing now for blogs?
I believe it’s a device employed to play off of the fact that Gaga’s hash tags were problematic themselves.
Lady Gaga has lost a lot of weight since she first became famous. Check her out in that teal leotard in the “Poker Face” video. And if I may get my armchair psych on, she always struck me as using her costuming half for attention/art and half to distract the public from her own perceived physical flaws. At the end of the day she just wants to be a pretty girl. I’m not surprised that she disappoints by being normal when it comes to the typical girl problems.
It’s not awesome, but my reaction when I read this was “at least she’s honest about what it takes to look that way, instead of claiming she works out three times a week and eats whatever she wants.” I dunno. I get so tired of that tired celebrity shtick, because you KNOW that 9 out or 10 of them do exactly this to look like they do, and I appreciate the honesty at least. Makes it easier to say “well damn, I don’t want to subsist on back to back spin classes and salads, so who the hell cares how I look, I’m happy.” At least for me.