April 26, 2010
On Gender and Misogyny in Mark Derry's Anti-Gaga Argument

screwrocknroll:

Re: this.

THAT ETHER, THAT SHIT THAT MAKE YOUR SOUL BURN SLOW.

 I first saw the Mark Dery anti-Gaga piece a couple of days ago when Warren Ellis linked to it from his website. I love Warren Ellis, but I love Lady Gaga too, so that really bummed me out, even before I read Dery’s essay; it seems to me that the sheer lunacy of Lady Gaga should appeal to Warren Ellis, and I hate to think that he approves of blogosphere hatchet jobs against her. But whatever, I tried to read Dery’s essay anyway, mainly because I feel like a hypocrite if I dismiss someone’s opinion for being contradictory to my own without having first listened to everything they had to say to support that opinion.

Like I said, I tried to read Dery’s essay. I found its irrational hatred so repugnant that I couldn’t get through it. When screwrocknroll linked to the above response, I tried again to read it, and got a little bit farther (mostly by skimming the parts I’d already read) but still couldn’t make it through. I can deal with bad reviews of things I like when the argument is made in good faith, but Dery’s so obviously coming at Lady Gaga from a pre-existing position that there’s no way he ever gave her music an honest chance, and that combined with the rampant sexism of the piece is just way too much for me. I can’t stomach it.

Robin at its-her-factory takes his sexism apart with practiced efficiency; I have nothing to add on that score (though I do want to give her a shout-out for an awesome blog title, from a truly great Gang Of Four song). I do think there’s some homophobia in Dery’s article that Robin doesn’t address, though. She says: “He does address charges of “homophobia or racism,” but he NEVER adequately addresses my charge, which is of misogyny.” But I don’t think he addresses charges of homophobia, either. It’s pretty clear to me what he’s doing here:

Most of the comment-thread flame wars between Gaga’s Kiss Army of “little monsters,” as the Lady calls her devout fans, and her no less devout haters are ignited by the Great Debate: Is she a rarified being who has more talent in her clitoral hood than you can even dream of, little man? Whose Art for Art’s Sake raptures us out of our stonewashed lives, into a disco ball-flecked Bubble World, a Studio 54 in the Sky where gay teens, pillow-biting emo boys,  and high-school weirdos are waved into the VIP lounge while all the Mean Girls and haters mill outside, crazed with envy? Or is she just some Tisch drop-out who watched Grease one too many times, pickled her brain in  Britney, and now thinks she’s some cross between Madonna and Leigh Bowery, just because she forgets to wear pants and name-checks The Night Porter (Sontag’s “Fascinating Fascism” for people who don’t read)? In other words, is Lady Gaga the last, best hope for pop smart enough to beat the Society of the Spectacle at its own game, sell out with a shamelessness that would shock the pants off her patron saints (Warhol and Dali, who perfected the complimentary notions of self as brand and art as marketing) and still snooker a generation of cultural-studies profs and nth-wave feminists into a deconstructive swoon about her Judith Butler-approved gender performativity? Or is she something thuddingly dumber: Donatella Versace in the remake of Blow-Up? Liza Minelli in a Vegas revue inspired by The Reluctant Astronaut? Perez Hilton sings the Human League songbook? Is she pop, or Pop Art? In on the joke, or just a joke?

He’s equating queerness with femininity and dismissing both. I mean, right? Otherwise what’s with the references to Perez Hilton, The Human League, “gay teens,” and “pillow-biting emo boys”? That last characterization was the last straw for me the first time I read this article, by the way. I know when I’m being insulted, and for the record anyone who thinks that “pillow biting” is a valid insult in the year 2010 is a homophobic asshole who can FUCK RIGHT OFF. On my second attempt at reading this vile essay, discovering that he made a reference to one of my personal heroes, Guy Debord, just made me go FUCK OFF all over again.

So yeah, I still haven’t finished the Dery post, and I won’t, but I think I got enough of the gist to understand what he’s saying about all the queer kids who love Gaga and My Chemical Romance (kids like, uh, ME): We’re just not macho enough for him, so we get lumped into the category of “girls, etc.” and filed under “not good enough.” There’s no defense for that kind of misogyny, and yes, homophobia. So fuck this guy. And even though I usually love him, fuck Warren Ellis for approvingly linking to this guy. I’ll stop now, because I’m probably banging on about this for too long, but I’m also pissed off, so hey, these things happen.

One final note: I don’t care if you hate Lady Gaga, all right? I’ve said that plenty of times before. A lot of people hate the music I like, and I’m used to it and can respect it. Just… if you want me to have any respect for your opinion, base your hatred in an honest understanding of the music, not a knee-jerk dismissal of women, queers, and the things they/we typically like. OK? Cool. Now let’s talk about something less upsetting.

2:13pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-FUayWspWr
(Notes: 12)
  
  1. ikeeelyoupftphewphewphew reblogged this from andrewtsks
  2. andrewtsks reblogged this from screwrocknroll and added:
    I first saw the Mark Dery anti-Gaga piece a couple of days ago when Warren Ellis linked to it from his website. I love...
  3. screwrocknroll posted this