by The Cowl Editor on February 16, 2017
Opinion
by Allison LaBelle ’20
Opinion Staff
If you saw Lady Gaga’s halftime performance during the Super Bowl last week, then chances are her talent and vocals blew you away. Lady Gaga’s individuality is admirable. Her confidence shines on the stage, and she serves as a positive role model for all of her fans.
Unfortunately, the responses to Gaga’s performance were extremely pessimistic, and not for the reasons one would expect. People loved her show, saying it may have even been one of the best halftime shows of all time.
So if people were not shaming her performance, then what bad things did they have to say? It’s called body shaming.
Tweets following her performance said things such as, “Gaga needs to do some crunches if she wants to show her flabby belly,” and “Tried to enjoy Gaga’s performance, was distracted by the flab on her stomach swinging around.” Tweets, like these, came from individuals hidden behind their computer screens.
Gaga performed incredibly and looked beautiful during her show. The standards put on women to be stick-thin have gone too far. What people are calling fat is actually called skin, and we need it to survive. Without it, we would all be skeletal zombies.
The pressure put on women to fit into a size two is outright disappointing. According to the Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association (MEDA), approximately 20 percent of college women suffer or have suffered from some form of an eating disorder. Why do girls who weigh 135 pounds fear that they are “fat” and get nervous after eating one slice of pizza?
Society has created an unrealistic body image for females. Insecurities and nerves run rampant when people are not comfortable in their own skin. So what should we take away from this distasteful after-effect of Gaga’s performance?
In response to these disrespectful tweets, Gaga said,“I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I’m proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too.” Her pride and confidence in her own body is one of the many reasons she is such a role model.
Gaga is happy in her own skin and encourages everyone to be proud of his or her own body. She advises, “Be you and be relentlessly you.”
We are all unique. We are all different shapes and sizes. It is our differences that define each and every one of us.
If we were all the same size as Victoria Secret models, then there would be no individuality. It is not only extremely unrealistic and impossible for all women to be Barbie-sized, but it would also make for a boring world.
Let’s embrace our differences. Stand tall and be proud of our bodies. No one has the right to put you down. You are beautiful, and you should never let anyone tell you otherwise.