Is Lady GaGa a Feminist?

Perhaps.

Check out the L.A. Times article “Frank talk with Lady GaGa” and decide for yourself.

Pop music critic Ann Powers writes:

Her new songs address serious themes like women’s shame about their bodies and the need for open communication in relationships; her often physically distorting costumes show that the pursuit of the feminine ideal is far from natural. Her commitment to confront the changing notion of what’s “natural” puts Gaga on the same road traveled by artists she admires, such as the photographer Cindy Sherman. Her frank talk about how female artists aren’t expected to write their own songs or about how young women are afraid to ask for what they need from their sexual partners inches her toward a new articulation of feminism.

Nona Willis Aronowitz, co-author of the new book Girldrive: Criss-Crossing America, Redefining Feminism had this to add on the topic:

“If you ask somebody where you see sexism in your life, all they think of is the old stuff,” said Willis told the L.A. Times. “Equal pay, that’s not really on their radar. Domestic violence and rape aren’t necessarily in the forefront. But you ask about double standards or restrictive gender roles, they don’t think of that as sexism; they think of that as the way it is. That’s kind of like what Lady Gaga is talking about.”