Lana Del Rey has Twitter-verse buzzing about some comments she recently made.
The singer-songwriter announced that she’s got a few projects coming up – her new album is dropping on September 5, and she’s got two poetry books in the works. In that same announcement, she also defended her lyrics from people who have raised concerns about her portrayal of women in “sometimes submissive or passive roles.”
In her statement, posted on Instagram, she writes, “Now that Doja Cat, Ariana [Grande], Camila [Cabello], Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyonce have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, f–king, cheating etc — can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money — or whatever I want — without being crucified or saying that I’m glamorizing abuse??????”
“I’m fed up with female writers and alt singers saying that I glamorize abuse when in reality I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent emotionally abusive relationships all over the world,” she continues. “I think it’s pathetic that my minor lyrical exploration detailing my sometimes submissive or passive roles in my relationships has often made people say I’ve set women back hundreds of years.”
“I’m not not a feminist—but there has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me—the kind of woman who says no but men hear yes—the kind of women who are slated mercilessly for being their authentic, delicate selves, the kind of women who get their own stories and voices taken away from them by stronger women or by men who hate women,” she goes on.
She explains that she was just being “honest and optimistic” about her experiences in the relationships she’s had, and thinks that she made it possible for today’s top female artists to get real about theirs, too.
“It’s been a long 10 years of bulls–t reviewers up until recently and I’ve learned a lot from them but I also feel it really paved the way for other women to stop ‘putting on a happy face’ and to just be able to say whatever the hell they wanted to in their music,” she writes.
She said she’d be exploring this topic in her poetry books and upcoming album.
Lana’s statement quickly became a trending topic on Twitter. Some fans weren’t exactly happy about her namechecking other artists while others showed their support for how she spoke her mind.
“all lana had to say was ‘i’m tired of people telling me what i can and can’t sing about, if you don’t like it don’t stream it.’ she didn’t have to say literally any of that other s–t now she’s toast smh,” one person wrote.
“love Lana’s music and feel strongly that she should not have internet access,” another tweeted.
“lana sweetie this isn’t what we meant when we wanted u to promote ur music,” someone shared.
“I woke up to my queen Lana trending for all the wrong reasons 🙁 simply bc y’all can’t tell the difference between someone coming for your faves or using them as an EXAMPLE. Sure the name drop was unnecessary, but stop overlooking the point,” one fan defended.
While others expressed, “Nothing but respect for Lana Del Rey.”
Lana has yet to respond to the backlash.
