The SMH called her a “mediocre pop star” and a “fashion victim.” Every FM breakfast presenter worth their salt has cracked jokes about her having a penis, which is not very nice.

The Daily Telegraph today speculated she didn’t even have the stamina to make it through her Australian concerts.

And The Sunday Telegraph on the weekend wondered if the film clip for Telephone was too racy for her young fans. The video does address the penis rumours, to dramatic effect, and contain a bit of girl-kissing-girl. If you’re still shocked by that in 2010, you need to get out more.

Why is everyone giving Lady Gaga such a hard time?

The American pop star seems to have freaked a lot of people out with her tendency to forget her trousers. So she’s been lumped in with the gaggle of other “mediocre” pop stars, relying on their lack of pants to sell albums.

The penis rumours, that have become so ubiquitous journalists have been known to ask her in press conferences if she has one, are particularly nasty. It’s pretty easy to find out that Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta went to the same fancy Manhattan all girls school as Paris Hilton and there’s loads of pics and video of her hamming it up for the cameras from the time she was a little girl.

And the Telephone video, which has been an international smash hit since she launched it online last Friday, features that anything but-mediocre pop star Beyonce.

Those wondering if the out-there pop phenomenon actually can actually sing or play an instrument should watch this.

And after all, she’s not really that shocking. Remember this from 20 years ago?

 

Most commented

44 comments

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    • Me says:

      10:33am | 16/03/10

      I have a feeling Germanotta is not too bothered by the “penis” remours, false as they are, they get people talking about her, it gives her an edge over her competition in terms of keeping herself in the public consciousness, and i don’t think most people seriously think she has one, it is just some sort of pop culture meme these days.

      For the conspiracy minded among us,  the rumor may have even been put about by GaGa and her agents, like I said, to stir up discussion about her. Germanotta has built/is building her career on being edgy and avante garde, and it only reinforces these conceptions about her.

    • Zeta says:

      10:36am | 16/03/10

      Lady GaGa is spectacular and I’d murder for tickets to her concert.

      The pop market is perpetually flooded with carefully crafted products, stage managed, contrived, vapid faceless humanity stuttering through their interviews about how much they love God and their families and how they’re ‘just so thankful for this opportunity to entertain y’all’; it makes you sick. It makes me sick, I can’t watch commercial television. I can’t watch that music show that’s on in the mornings on weekends. These things that they scrape from the reality television barrel and give singing lessons too, these stunted pampered creatures that shuffle and gyrate in front of green screens. They barely sing. They can’t write. They have nothing to say. They’re given an opportunity to speak to millions of people and instead of saying anything meaningful they sell you Diet Pepsi.

      What’s great about Lady GaGa is that she’s like a splinter working its way into the soft white belly meat of our entertainment culture. She’s dug in now, too deep to cut out without serious surgery. And now she can get infected.

      It’s almost as though her entire meteoric rise to fame has been carefully orchestrated to maximise her capability for subverting the very mechanism of fame creation.

      Take a close look at the Telephone video clip. It’s pure bug f*** crazy genius. She flashes her genitals, engages in a passionate lesbian kiss with a very unattractive woman, women fight each other, then cavort in string bikinis in a prison before she jumps into the ‘Pussy Wagon’, hooks up with her lover, Beyonce in a twisted subversion of media roles and then murders everyone in a diner. Murders them dead. Because Beyonce’s man stole her honey. Then the poster child for female celebritarianism says the mother f word and the clip devolves into bizarre, David Lynch esque twitching.

      If you were from a poetic commune in 1963 and you time traveled to 2010 and someone read you that synopsis, you’d think Kenneth Anger or Andy Warhol was still making movies.

      I had this arguement with my girlfriend last night about how much I loved that clip and she said, quite rightly, that it’s really no better then most of the fare independent and alternative artists have been making for a decade, but that’s exactly the point. When Chris Cunningham makes the amazing, 14 minute spectacle of Aphex Twin’s perverse and transgressive Windowlicker video clip, no one is going to see it unless they watch Rage at 1:00am.

      This is a major, mainstream release from a major label. And it’s taking every thing the major labels stand for, chewing it up, spitting it out, and making an interesting sculpture out of it.

    • eeldraw says:

      11:31am | 16/03/10

      “instead of saying anything meaningful they sell you Diet Pepsi.”

      Laughed, I could have cried. You are right, she is saying something so much more meaningful…

      Blatant product placements:
      1:34: Heartbeats earphones.
      2:06: Virgin Mobile.
      2:17: Diet Coke.
      4:15: Virgin Mobile (again).
      4:24: HP Envy ‘Beats Limited Editon’ laptop from Monster.
      4:28: Plenty Of Fish dating site.
      4:44: Chevrolet.
      5:37: Polaroid.
      6:24: Wonderbread.
      6:36: Miracle Whip.
      8:31: Polaroid (again)


      Now, that is a carefully crafted product, stage managed, contrived and about the most absolute definition of commercial you can get… One extremely well produced and contrived, 9 minute multi-brand commercial!!!

    • Zeta says:

      12:25pm | 16/03/10

      @ eeldraw - but that’s the beauty of it. The same corporations who would baulk at the notion of a convicted criminal spruiking their products (Wonderbread were one of the companies that pulled their Martha Stewart sponsorship after the ‘unpleasantness’) have been tricked into appearing in a transgressive video clip that glorifies violence and sexual promiscuity.

      The reality is, if you’re going to have a big budget music video produced by a mainstream label, you’re going to need product placement. So instead of simply wearing it, she’s making a statement about the ridiculousness of those very products by having, for example wonderbread, be used in the manufacture of a poison to kill a diner of fat stupid Americans; or Virgin mobile, which appears down the pants of a woman she’s suggestively groping.

    • Marky Mark says:

      05:24pm | 16/03/10

      I am not a fan of her, but I do think she will have a big presence in the charts for some time to come. But please do not make out that Lady Gaga is a game-changer in the world of music.

      There is a grand total of five people listed in the writing credits for Telephone - one of those is the producer of the track. That same man has also co-written and produced songs for other splinters in the belly of entertainment culture like the Pussycat Dolls, Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez.

      The Lady (and her label, publicist, manager) have carefully crafted her image to achieve the same goals as they have with any other popstar - maximum exposure for the maximum profit for the maximum period of time. Her videos are created to draw attention to her image - they are not being made to be a form of art to be admired.

      And for the argument that there is some sort of rebellion against product placement in the new clip, I would say that I believe those companies knew what they were in for - it is a Lady Gaga video… I remember hearing about how companies lined up to have Graham Kennedy and Bert Newton do live ads on their products - and take the p*ss while doing so.

    • Trolldoll says:

      01:43pm | 18/03/10

      @Marky Mark, The Burt Newton Graham Kennedy thing came about ‘cause of 2 reasons, first they were already well loved TV presenters on the top rating Melbourne TV show. Second is the add they did for a particular brand of shoes (cannot remember the name) on the show burt and Graham utterly destroyed a pair of these shoes while spruiking the quality involved in the manufacturing process, they almost got fired but were saved when the company called up asking if Burt and Graham could do the same thing to another Brand of their shoes as they had sold out of the Brand they destroyed in 24 hours

    • nic says:

      10:33am | 16/03/10

      Is she a particularly good singer? I wouldn’t say so. Besides, her music is hardly original, a mix of disco meets 80’s dance music. She knows her 15 minutes of fame are slowly ebbing, hence the fashion based publicity acts. As Freddie Mercury used to say, ‘talent will out’.

    • Michael says:

      02:22pm | 16/03/10

      Neither was Madonna and neither is Kylie Minogue. They just market themselves really well. The latter two have often deliberately gone off the radar before people got too sick of them, then have reappeared reinvented hit hit the charts again. She seems shrewd and I think she follow.

    • bella starkey says:

      11:01am | 16/03/10

      I’m pretty sure she is just a bit of maddonna spawn, which is alright i spose. Her music is shite, her clothes are stupid and she starts rumours about herself.

      When is she going to get a new nose, a british accent and a black baby?

    • Paul Colgan

      Paul Colgan says:

      11:29am | 16/03/10

      Telephone is a top-shelf pop video. I love how it leans on Quentin Tarantino, whose movies I reckon are better pop than most of the music that has been around lately. I wonder if the car is actually the same ute?

    • Samantha says:

      01:34pm | 16/03/10

      It is the same ute Tarantino met with her and told her she should use it in the clip.

    • Eliza says:

      11:38am | 16/03/10

      It’s not her, its the video clip. Firstly it has nothing to do with the song. Secondly, here we have a woman who writes her music and others, produces her own albums, directs her own videoclips and obviously performs. She has the potential to be a fantastic feminist, strong female role model. Instead she comes out with statements saying she’s not a feminist becuase she likes sex with men and prances around in next to nothing to get attention. She’s a sellout to sexism. the song sends one message of ‘hey i wont be controlled by a male and possessiveness’ and the video clip says ‘but I’m find to be a sex object’. I don’t need another flakey popstar to idolise. We produce them in masses. I’m ready for a strong female figure, who I can say, she knows who she is, she does it for herself, and doesn’t sell out to an ideal or objectification.

    • Michael says:

      02:27pm | 16/03/10

      She is trying to sell herself as a product, which four Number 1’s in a calendar year is an impressive measure of success. She is not here to give you a feministic idol to make you feel all warm and fuzzy, just to sell a product. Blame men, blame the younger generation, blame the bimbos of this world, but she is being consumed like candy and fulfilling her own agenda. It may surprise you that feminism, intelligence, responsibility and personal strength, albeit admirable, are not big sellers and don’t offer that instant gratification the masses are hungry for.

    • Bennymac says:

      08:10pm | 16/03/10

      Eliza, Don’t you think its great that she can do everything that she does as a strong, talented, independant woman, and also dress and act as she likes. In my opinion that’s a sign of true equality. If your views are a accurate representation of feminism in 2010, your ideals are in serious conflict with your cause. It is the equivalent of telling a man that he is weak if his woman is not barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. We have moved past that as a society.

    • Liz says:

      09:27pm | 16/03/10

      So true Eliza, both in the ‘celebrity world’ and everyday life, more emphasis is put on female’s sexuality and fulfilling male fantasies than their actual talents.  As Michael points out, “feminism, intelligence, responsibility and personal strength, albeit admirable, are not big sellers and don’t offer that instant gratification the masses are hungry for”. I want my daughters to have pride in their intelligence, responsible personalities and immense personal strength - not smother it in a thick layer of spandex and hairspray. What can we do to stop this? The almighty dollar always talks, but is there enough of us tired of this stuff to make a stand and refuse to spend money on things that depict women in this way?

    • Loz says:

      11:37am | 16/03/10

      Oh and I hate the comment “a bit of girl-kissing-girl. If you’re still shocked by that in 2010, you need to get out more.”.

      I also am shocked that objectification of women, particularly in media and advertisement is normalised in every day life and not many people blink an eye when we see posters of women in next to nothing advertising a random food item outside the local primary school. I am shocked no one links this objectification to the fact one in five women experience sexual assault in their life time. I’ve had enough of women fighting to become a slab of meat for men to drool over. Bring on a new wave of feminism

    • Samantha says:

      01:42pm | 16/03/10

      While I’m also sick of seeing half naked women everywhere making fools of themselves these people are not underage girls or desperate women willing to do anything for a little bit of money appearing in these advertisements, they are women who get paid large sums of money to do something they have decided is ok with them. 
      What makes you think they need you to rush in and protect them from themselves isn’t that what the feminist movement was about in the first place, giving women the right to their own lives? You may not like what they are doing so you probably shouldn’t do it but please stop with the patronising bull s*** it actually goes against what you are trying to say by suggesting in any small way that these women are too silly or maybe just to female to make their own decisions regarding their own lives… not that any of this has anything to do with the article.

    • Ross says:

      09:35pm | 16/03/10

      Well said Loz. We’re seeing more sexual assaults against women than ever. Can we really address the issue of abuse against women when the vast majority of our future generations are being raised on a diet of this stuff? When we continue to idolise people who use violent, sexualised messages to sell music, magazines and movies? I’m not a prude and think that consenting adults should be able to do - and view - whatever they want in private, but can our government please turn around and ask itself WHY we need to be exposed to this constantly? It is absolutely, definitely not healthy for young, developing males and females.

    • Liz says:

      09:41pm | 16/03/10

      Samantha women should have the right to their own lives, if what you are talking about is the right to good health care, equal education opportunities and contraception…we aren’t talking about fundamental human rights here, we’re talking about their ‘right’ to take their clothes off vs. the rest of society’s right to not have to be exposed to it at every billboard, newsagency and tv show. We’re talking about the constant mass production of imagery that not only has a deleterious effect on the self image of girls and women, but gives males - young and old - a view of women that, at best, is unhelpful in giving us credibility and equal standing in society and relationships - and at worst, feeds some very sick minds that believe women, sex, denigration and violence come hand-in-hand.

    • Helen says:

      08:00am | 19/03/10

      Loz, I agree - and the “girl-kissing-girl action” is not doing anything radical to normalise gay women, it’s just doing the same old “girl on girl action to turn the men on” schtick.

      Heavily made-up blonde white woman without a musical instrument singing and dancing heavily produced musical numbers. This might have been radical and edgy in what, the 1920s?

    • Sarah says:

      11:50am | 16/03/10

      people are unkind because she is terrible. Does she have more musical talent than me? Most definately. Does she use it wisely? In my opinion, no. She dresses like an idiot, just to get noticed, her music is atrocious, and I agree that it’s more than likely the rumours were started by her, or her ‘people’.
      To point all this out is not being unkind, simply factual. And I can’t wait for the day she disappears from public.

    • Gavin says:

      02:25pm | 16/03/10

      4 number 1’s in a year doesn’t sound too unwise to me. If she seems dull and atrocious, is she doing anything other than appealing accordingly to the younger generation who obviously swallow her up and ask for more?

    • Steve says:

      12:44pm | 16/03/10

      I couldn’t care less how she dresses. I’m not sure how much musical talent she possesses, given her songs aren’t all that technical.. - they’re great songs though. Catchy songs with a good melody. Who needs anything else?

      I’m not really a pop fan. There’s not much interesting to me in the ‘mainstream’, and that’s not on purpose. But Lady GaGa’s tunes are interesting enough to me to keep me listening.

    • Anita says:

      01:00pm | 16/03/10

      Is that film clip *meant* to be funny? How do the kids say it? ROFLMAO. I’m not sure what part of it equates to ‘genius’...I’m all for bangin’ your own drum but in the end that whole thing is all kind of pointless.

    • Adam says:

      01:13pm | 16/03/10

      GaGa sells pop music. Pop music has always been and will always be a matter of personal preference (I chose not to use the word taste, she’s got none). Either like her warbling and buy it or dislike and change the chanel.
      If however someone courts controversy as a way to make people talk about them, there are bound to be some who are"nasty”. suck it up or change career

    • Grumpy says:

      01:48pm | 16/03/10

      Ms Germanotta is predictable rubbish.I find it curious that the pop music thing keeps going-Is anyone interested in or moved by this music?I suppose theres suckers born every day(The only explanation i can think of).Its a pity the industry hasnt collapsed under internet free access.

    • Gwen says:

      01:46pm | 16/03/10

      I think she’s great.  She’s totally upfront about what she wants- to be famous, make music, and make money.  And she does it!  Including stuffing something down her pants to start those hermaphrodite rumours.  She’s definitely musically talented, wears whatever she likes, and does whatever she likes.  Very rock and roll.

    • KD says:

      02:03pm | 16/03/10

      People!  You’ve gotta move with the times AND lighten up!  Too many people (read Gen Y) are all so serious and politically correct these days, and everything’s either racist, sexist, “objectifying women” or just plain offensive in some way!  Have a bit of fun, for God’s sake!  I remember my parents couldn’t stand most of what I listened to in the 70’s, when Queen was considered pretty raunchy because they said things like “and now you can kiss my ass goodbye”.  I’m now in my 40’s and thankfully not a closed-minded old fart, and think Lady Gaga is sensational!  Just watch with an open mind and try and appreciate something other than bland, maudlin or mediocre for a change!

    • Ruby says:

      09:44pm | 16/03/10

      KD, our generation is less politically correct than ever…if ‘politically correct’ means not spruiking sexualised images of women and glorifying violence at every opportunity. Maybe it’s just that some Gen Y actually care about the kind of society we’ll leave behind - whether over permissiveness and a fear of seeming boring or prudish will leave future generations with a lot of messed up ideas about women, sex, body image and violence. Lightening up is great, but we also need to be careful how far we go with it. Societies, families and communities function best when we keep ourselves in constant check. Not a very sexy thing to say I know, but history and sociology has shown it to be nonetheless true.

    • Lauren says:

      03:13pm | 16/03/10

      One of Gaga’s little monsters here. Can’t wait for the April 9 concert!

      Often those who have a negative comment don’t actually know what they are talking about, unfortunately. Those who simply say they don’t like Gaga’s music are the only smart ones, really.

      Those who say she is talentless don’t know of her playing the piano by ear since she was 4. Those who say her songs suck and no one likes them are unaware of the number one hits she has had.

      Those who say that she objectifies women and is only out there to market herself are half right.

      Bad Romance and Telephone are from ‘The Fame Monster’ album, which is the dark, ugly side of fame where sex sells and money rules. (‘The Fame’ album being the glamorous side of fame, geddit?)

      Gaga delibrately made those music videos to those songs so provocative. Yes, they are artistic (again, doesn’t mean you have to like it) and yes there are many undressed and sexed up women in them, because its suppose to be like that.

      Telephone is (IMO) an awesome video. It is also the continuation of the Paparazzi music video, FYI.

      And, finally, the minority that say Gaga is a bad influence on younger girls… She is a 23 year old woman singing about her situation in life. It is not going to relate to younger girls, and if you don’t want them watching it, then maybe do some parenting???

      Anyway - its good she is getting everyone all fired up and talking - like my mum says, it was the exact same thing back in the 70s and 80s. Change can be good.

    • Kate says:

      03:32pm | 16/03/10

      ...because we live in a democracy and people are allowed to like, appreciate, and criticise whomever they want?

      I make fun of Lady Gaga. I can’t stand her. Not because she might be a hermaphrodite or because she pashes girls in videos - because I think she’s got an irritating, nasal voice and her music has nothing that makes it interesting to me.
      She is not unique. Artists have been hiding a lack of raw talent behind shock value for years (see: Marilyn Manson). Sex and shock sells, and she (or whichever record company picked her up when she was plain old Stefani Whatsherface) has realised this. You have to give her credit for carefully crafting this image - but that doesn’t make her a good musician.

      I’m not much of a pop music fan at all, but I have much more respect for someone who can sell a massive amount of albums on pure talent without needing some flashy gimmick to get people noticing them (Taylor Swift for one).

    • Ned says:

      03:31pm | 16/03/10

      Who or what is a Lady Ga Ga?

    • Manik says:

      04:29pm | 16/03/10

      I just keep replaying it between 1min and 1min10s…dramatic effect Tors totally understates it….lol!!!!

    • n1k1 says:

      04:34pm | 16/03/10

      The first time I heard Just Dance I thought “Finally there’s a fab 80’s style dance song that you can actually dance to”. When I start seeing Lady GaGa everywhere in the media I thought she’s a famewhore that would do ANYTHING (pantless, provocative music, odd costumes) to be newsworthy. And then one day I saw this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM51qOpwcIM) of her and I thought “Why did she changed, she was fab before”. I started reading up about her and find her very interesting. I heard her song Speechless which she wrote for her dad and I was in love. She was on Ellen show explaining the reason she dress oddly because when she grew up, she always felt like a freak therefore she created this atmosphere for her Little Monsters to have a freak in her to hang out with. I’m so surprise by her comment, it is so unexpected because like what Zeta (at 11:36am|16/03/10) said we so used to the current trend of “vapid faceless humanity stuttering through their interviews”. I’m so sick and tired to these singers that sings to Autotune and not singing live at concerts. It’s BS!!! She’s fabulous, she’s talented, yes her clothes are weird but don’t we all feel weird once in a while and felt like we don’t fit into what society expect us to be, she also inspired others ie: JPG recent fashion show and celebrities all dressing up very GaGa-like. She is a walking messageboard that it’s OK to be different, be proud of who you are. I’m looking forward to be at her concert, I feel like a child going to Disneyland. I love what she’s doing to pop music, I love GaGa because “Pop music never be low brow”.

    • Bob says:

      06:26pm | 16/03/10

      I think she’s cute.

    • Stefano says:

      06:49pm | 16/03/10

      And Lada Gaga?

    • CVR says:

      07:02pm | 16/03/10

      Though there have some nay-sayers I feel quite the opposite to the sentiments of the column - I feel like the world has gone gaga for gaga. The similarities with Madonna may be there as it relates to taking risks but her musical talent and particularly her voice are world’s apart. I <3 Gaga. She’s pop-tastic. Oh. And Gaga is the last person to spring to mind when I think about the objectification of women. She ain’t nobody’s object - i think she’s very much in charge.

    • Bobby says:

      12:08am | 17/03/10

      This game of pop music is so transient, what worked last month certainly will not work this week. GaGa & team are actively working with delivery platforms - yet still stay a touch ahead of the curve.
      Sure the production on the tracks is nothing mind bending, sure the themes in clips are recurring, and no doubt the fashion cues are from various places in history.
      The label are working furiously - on every detail.
      But the vision is clear, she has the mix pretty sweet and right now it resonates - in 1080HD!

    • wolf says:

      12:58am | 17/03/10

      In the words of Paul Hayman (someone else who knows a thing or two about marketing):
      “H.L.A.”
      That is all.

    • BundyGil says:

      01:23am | 17/03/10

      Lady GaGa is an excellent musician and singer who has played the celebrity game exquisitely. She spent years in New york trying to make it as a conventional singer/musician without result, so she invented the Lady GaGa persona and it took off.
      As for the penis rumours, there are pics online from her performance at the 2010 Brit Awards where she had a ‘wardrobe malfunction’, and her unmistakably lady bits were there on show for all to see.

    • Jonathan says:

      01:35pm | 17/03/10

      Why are people so unkind, to Lada Gaga?

      The question should be: why do you care?

      Pop music: mehtastic.  Some of your articles are ok, you don’t need to stoop to this level.

    • chrome_dome says:

      11:45am | 18/03/10

      “If you’re still shocked by that in 2010, you need to get out more.”

      As a 30 yo male I am disgusted by this rubbish, but what concerns me more is the impression this fame whore and the commercial world of “pop” music has on our children.

      Witnessing my 8 year old niece dance around the house singing Lady Gaga has me worried. If she unfortunately gets to see this pathetic film clip now or in the near future, she may think its ok to prance around with your genitalia hanging out or pash a girl.

      Maybe I should just tell her parents to not worry about it, hey its 2010, this is common place today.

      And people wonder why our society is going off the rails.

    • John in Alice says:

      12:00am | 19/03/10

      To answer the question:
      1.  She is not a “lady” in any sense of the term.
      2.  Gaga?  Baby talk?  Does anyone really take this person seriously?
      3.  She is one of many these days who is selling soft porn, not music. I’m not impressed!  Take away their sexy videos and they would be nothing. 
      4.  Her behavior, dress, videos, and publicity would deeply embarass me as a parent.
      5.  She recently mentioned wearing a strap on penis on stage.  What kind of person even contemplates doing something so vulgar and bizarre?
      6.  I would dearly love to read about even just one city, one nation or country refuse entry to Gaga and those like her because she is not the kind of influence they would introduce to their people.  With lewd dancing, suggestive lyrics and often a male back up crew who frequently grab their crotches the whole act is a display of obscene perversion.  You don’t have to be a religious fanatic to be sickened by what many in our society view as good entertainment.
      7.  Of course our media simply fan the flames by posting pictures, like this morning of Ms. Gaga in an outfit that belongs in one of those men’s magazines with a plain brown wrapper, while school authorities struggle to explain why dress codes are important.  Ms. Gaga is just another NEGATIVE influence on the impressionable minds of our young.

    • Helen says:

      07:47am | 19/03/10

      I see after three days, the link and headline STILL read “Lada Gaga”.
      I thought a Lada was a Russian make of car.

 

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