Lady Gaga, the infamous meat-suit-wearing, egg-arriving pop star who never ceases to amaze the American public is usually in the news for some excessive stunt, outfit, performance or outlandish statement.
But recently, the media has targeted this pop icon for something that almost everyone deals with: weight gain.
And this is just another example of how the media breeds a culture based on impossible standards.
I mean, when someone mentions Lady Gaga, who thinks, “Oh yeah, the one who’s gained 25 pounds on tour this season”?
Nobody? Didn’t think so.
Who cares if Lady Gaga put on a few extra notes while juggling a worldwide tour and the constant berating pressure of a media eye bent on perfection?
As a young woman in this psychotic society obsessed with body image and an unrealistic portrayal of what the “perfect” body looks like, I’m glad Lady Gaga has put on some weight.
According to US Magazine, Gaga remarked, “I really don’t feel bad about [gaining weight], not even for a second.”
I think it’s great that such a well-known public figure defended her recent jump up in size by telling the hungry cameras that yes, she knows about the gain but is an Italian from New York who loves to eat pasta and pizza.
But the larger issue here isn’t some celebrity gaining weight, but rather the incredible pressure of the media to dictate what beauty is.
When did it become normal for men and women to feel poorly about their bodies just because they didn’t fit the “ideal image” presented in airbrushed magazines?
Who cares what they say! The media tries constantly to publish a carbon copy image of what an entire nation of individuals should look like, but that’s not right.
Beauty is unique and should be celebrated no matter what size, shape, weight or color someone is.
It’s time for somebody to stand up and tell the larger media that criticizing someone for their weight is wrong.
In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
So maybe it’s time for the rest of us to take a step back and realize that just because it’s on a magazine, TV or smiling blankly back from a CD cover, it doesn’t have the ability to dictate who we are anymore.
Reule, a junior public relations and journalism major from Charlotte, is an opinion writer.