Lady Gaga's Social Studies
When I was a little girl and my brothers or I were behaving badly, my mother used to warn us not to be little monsters.
Little did I know, years later, that I would proudly accept that title - and recommend it to as many others as possible.Because now, if you're a "little monster" it means that you're part of Lady Gaga's fan base - which is the same as being part of a social movement.
Lady Gaga has no hesitation in using her celebrity to do good. Of course she does well. In fact, she does amazingly well with sales that keep setting records. Good for her. Because she uses her nearly 11 million Twitter followers and all her fans worldwide as a means of moving society in a more tolerant, caring direction.
I knew of Lady Gaga, simply, as a pop music icon who was so much a part of a different generation than mine that she was barely a blip on my radar. Right up until she used her celebrity to support the repeal of the "Don't Ask. Don't Tell" legislation that was then being reviewed by Congress. Using her celebrity specifically to speak on behalf of an underserved and still actively discriminated against population - no matter what the cause - made her different from her colleagues and contemporaries. More courageous. More willing to use her success to do good.
More recently, with her record-breaking "Born This Way" song and album, she has escalated that philosophy by making sure that her "little monsters" all know that they are perfect. They need not feel disenfranchised - they're not a mistake! That they can - and should - live their lives proudly.
In a world where bullying in schools has taken peer pressure to new heights, that's a message that neither can nor should be ignored.
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