When I am writing this, I am 23 years old and living in a urban city such as Cibinong (well I claimed as a periphery of Bogor and Depok) but still I am familiar with pop culture since my favorite band, My Chemical Romance announced their seperation. That was a rough moment in my life because I was one of their big fans and once I cried for a whole week and stop talking with my parents because I was too young for attending their concert when they held a concert in Jakarta. I still remember the date, January 28 2008.
Well, I am not writing this essay for criticizing pop music under Industrial and market’s desire. Pop music as created by music industry and market desire: trying to imitate art by life generalization (whose life? of course a young people who has capital to purchase). Rather I wrote for praising my ultimate Idol, Lana Del Rey and examined her with feminist extintialist theory by Simone De Beavoir as typed on the title.
Pop culture is what I breath everyday beside making drama and spending money on travel and foods and I bet also for most youth like me, adolesence between 18s and 25s. Youth has created a sub culture to distinguished a generation yet a way to communicate, trough memes, idols and also pop music. Pop music especially, influenced (and came from) by the western(er). Most songs we heard today, in our phones, ipod, radio are in english language or mixed between english-korean-japan-Indonesian. We are praising idol who dyed their hair to blonde The East with western influences.
-I wasnt said west pop culture was bad, even when you read this passage in alphabeths and english you were USING westerner culture, nobody stealing other culture instead forcing to adjusting culture (which belong to nowhere)-
To be honest, this article I want to defend Lana as my favorite singer and songs and analysing her songs with exentialism feminist theory because I want to and for me what she has done (eventough a commercial) as an art and I have my rights to intepreting her songs as I liked. Your negative comment are not welcome cause I am talking about my faith and religion.
Romance and Gender
Well, back to the pop culture and spirit of youth, pop music can be a medium to deliver a message this is a real represented by Mc Luhan of “medium is the message” POP MUSIC deliver a spirit of a youth and imitating life. Pop music, most of them talking about romance, romance, romance which adolesence taken account as the most importance of life. Why? because in stage of growth adolesence stage is the part where they build a connections, enviorment which they will established it later. Thus, romance could be that vital. Romance taught us how to build peers, selecting friends, categorizing foe, defining genders, self-conciousness of sex and reproductions.
I am going to begin from two things I mentioned before. Defining genders, sexual orientation and to be short, conciousness of sex and reproduction we learn by falling in love. Desire to other/same sex. If I found my self has a desire with a boy and I was taught to become a women by disney princess I watched. Here I learn my status and position to become a girl who wants to have a romance with a prince, which is man. Here goes a relation of woman and man then create a depedency of each other to defining their self trough their relation. And first of all before involved to a romance they both have to define their genders and roles.
Let us said that we already define our gender by our sexes (I am awared this would be heterosexual bias). But both Lana Del Rey, Simone de Beavoir and myself is a cis-heterosexual and I just want to analyzed our position, rethinking about our existence as a women because that’s what we are. Women live dispersed among the males, attached trough residence, geographical, economic class and social standing. Women never be a minority, they belong to the group identity which diverse. Relation between woman and man never be equal to relation between borguise and proletariat, between master and slaves. If master and slaves find their consciusness as a group by their needs are depend to the master, and banishing one group to could led to equality. But to liberating woman we can never dismissed men, there are such a relation of woman of their consiusness as The Other.
Woman is the only human being who define their self by their gender. In every introduction to new groups/enviorment, everyone must realising her as a “woman” rather than man who can stand being a man itself. Today we found woman has allowed to enters man’s sphere in economy, politics, socials but still the world was build by a man. Women always get a question of being ‘woman’. When woman become a politicians they had to adapt their selves and habit to fit into men’s sphere, if a woman killed, journalists will made a news about a pretty woman being murdered. When a woman caught in corruption scandals, they will be blamed because woman are not supposed to be in politics and it will ruined their innocence. Women are bound with seceral normies such a virginity and sacred to keep her become a ‘woman’.
Even a women it self as an idea of second sex which created by biology, myth, historical materialism by a man. Woman boud to nature of being a mother and a wife, taking her as a machine of reproduction or no less, a sex.
Lana Del Rey and Her Songs
I listen to Lana’s songs when I was in Senior High School, my bestfriend Daneshwara give me her song “Young and Beautiful” but I do not like it at first beacuse it was too dark and gloomy for full spirited women like me at that moment. But my life has changed drasticly I became a person whom I never imagine before. I know that this wolrd is cruel and I feel my soul is dark and living gloomy inside me. I know that I am traped in this body with this feminine identity. I learn feminism and it make me more depressed because I know when I tried to fight I will failed, or I probably have died when the ideal world I imagined become true, the worst it because truth are just a fighting discourse I had a chance that what I belive as truth, which is feminism may failed.
Lana Del Rey is a stage name of Elizabeth Woolricht Grant. Unlike another women singer in western pop culture with the stream third wave of feminism and using ‘empowering woman’ as a songs theme, Lana’s songs more dark and gloomy, celebrating feminity, depedency to a man, mentioning a woman position in the state and nationalism but critizing moralist. Until this essay I wrote, at least I have listened five Lana Del Rey’s album and also several singles including movie soundtrack ex: Big Eyes and Maleficent, Serial Killer, Queen of Dissaster and her leaked EP, No Kung Fu and Sirens. Her first album named Lana Del Rey a.k.a Lizzy Grant, most of songs are developed form her demo in Kill Kill and No Kungfu EP, her second album is Born To Die which containts suicide and loving a handsome boy this album is my favorite one because it contains of a song desiring an older man.
Lana’s magnum opus probably is in her third albums which most of my friend said the best Ultraviolance has darker theme and gloomy sphere can be found in every tracks. Followed by the fourth album titled Honeymoon which more artchitecture sphere (critics said so) and critisizing moralist and how religion tells a story about woman and also her depedency to a man, and the last is Lust for Life which in this album is the first time Lana have a duet with other singer such as The Weeknd, Stevie Nicks and so on.
I found her songs celebrating her self as a woman, a phrase depedency to a man, a vunerability of being woman which questioning the feminity it self when it comes to romance.
When I was in a feminism paradigm class, there were a lot of people who found feminism in pop culture -what a basic- because third wave feminism are easily identified. So many people I know taking Beyonce or P!nk as their favorite ‘feminist’ pop singer and the other one choose Taylor Swift for a simple reason: their songs are empowering women.
I cannot deny how pop culture integrated with feminism particulary the third wave of feminism whom taking a feminity as a part of the struggle, putting on the labels of being a feminim. Celebrating pink and knitting. Proud and loud as a feminist and their slogan is “empowering”. So many women singer adjust this idea on their songs as I mention before Beyonce as a icon and also Katy Perry, Lady Gaga umm what else? Dua Lipa! I am enjoying Dua Lipa’s album and listening it as my workout soundtrack every morning and their songs contains the same idea: agints violance on relationship, liberating sexuality and last but not least, empowering women.
Anyway I think this ideas of third wave feminism also using male pop singer with their songs such as Bruno Mars songs: “just the way you are” or “vercase on the floor” and gorrilla. Not to mention The Weeknd, “I feel it coming” and a brain-wash song John Mayer, “all of you”. Yet sexuality can be seen as a integrated part for liberating women yet makes women (and sex) as a pleasure commodification. I guess so.
And I am soooooooooo bored with this kind of theme. Yet I cannot run away from it, it seems like all my Spotify playlist sooner or later will play one of that songs and I am feeling iritated. In my opinion it is not (only) celebrating sexuality -
The question remained, do we ever questioning feminism, gender and most importance, a woman itself? With the abudance of knowledges we should question those keywords and for me, feminist existentialist tries to redefining a identity we accept everyday.
And we should questioning woman as creature. If a women never understand their position and status as a woman it would trapped them into an idealization of feminity.
Women as Sex
In this world created by a man from religions to music industy, women only seen as a sex. Her being is only a flesh represent by breast, vagina, legs, faces. Her fuction laid on her womb, she is present because man’s need him. In this world who belong to man, when every researcher, filsuf, priest are men they create a woman as an idea to define his self as the essensial. He found his consciousness by accepting The Other to defining his self. Simone De Beavoir made an analogy of a bative who accept other cultures as a neighbourd but still putting his self as the essensial, The One.
Women never be seen as a human being. She represent with her faces or body because she is a sex. Woman lives in the idea of a man, this caused woman forced to be pretty and fullfill man’s desire to be pretty. Lana Del Rey point this on her songs:
“When you talk it’s like a movie and you’re making me crazy,
’Cause life imitates art.
If I get a little prettier, can I be your baby?
You tell me life isn’t that hard.” (Gods and Monster — Tropico Short Movie)
A man world require woman to be pretty. No less, yet that pretty face will again categorized into manic pixie dream girl or female fatale. A biological fact that man’s chhose to legitimate the idealisation of woman that they are the passive, a natural being and care being. This romanticism strengthed by philosophy and a history that put woman, again, aside.
“My pussy tastes like Pepsi Cola
My eyes are wide like cherry pies
I got sweet taste for men who’re older
It’s always been so it’s no surprise” (Pepsi Cola- Born To Die)
She mention pussy as an opening of her song. OPENING TO A SONG. And cherry as a synonim with fragile feminity. She give me meaning what is of being woman. With your vagina (body), your fragile virginity (myth) and got a taste of men who older (power). Because being a feminist is not always about empowering but also thinking what is consider to be a women and how to breaks all the myth and sexuality which repressed you. You should learn how to THINK before you act and understanding your threat of become a human being not the idealisation of a women in a man’s mind.
Lana also pointed how being a woman contains vulnarability because you are a woman. Lana often mention a vunerability of being a women and this lead to depedency on a man. Especially man with money, power and glory. Why? because only man as The One can reached it all while woman only appears as the reciever, complementary. But deep inside as a human being woman also wanted the freedom which only can be recived trough power but still because she is a woman, she make depedency with (older) man who already has their power and money.
“You talk lots about God
Freedom comes from the call
But that’s not what this bitch wants
No what I want at all
I want money, power and glory
I want money and all your power, all your glory
Alleluia, I wanna take you for all that you got
Alleluia, I’m gonna take them for all that they got” (Money, Power Glory — Ultraviolence)
Yes, religion as created by a men to determine their power are used to claimed a women as the the sex which his desire. A woman, by a wave of feminism entering a man’s world and she just begin. Wand how them entering this? Why Megawati can run as a president and the first woman president in Indonesia? because her father is Presiden Soekarno, why Hillary Clintont can be a president candidate? becasue she marry Bill Clinton. Why I could be recognized as a researcher? because my partner is a Indonesianist researcher. Sadly but truth, woman needs a man/husband to get a previllege. And Lana sangs this in her songs.
Woman as and Idea in Lana Del Rey
I consider Lana as existentialist feminist because I found her songs are quite diffrent theme with other pop singer. Her songs, in Born To Die albums which I choose as her best album, a magnum opus for me are celebrating and asking people or women whom listened to it what is being a woman. What is determine human being of become a woman, why as a woman you cannot be liberated and dependen to the opressor who is a man. Why women glued to a idea as a women.
The Second sex, a book written by Simone de Beavoir has changed feminism as a critical theory examined how woman as a idea created by man’s mind. Everyday we taught to be women. To do this, to avoid this, to wear this. Most of woman realized this threat to become a women but most of them happy with they are. According to that, at the introduction feminism is not something that make you happy, rather make you a liberate human being. There is no thing such a progress in woman struggle, life of individuals is the struggle itself and creating a baromater to count progress of women movements has a trapped of the idealisation of woman(ness) itself.
That is we cannot critizising why Lana Del Rey songs and Simone De Beavoir only talks about their lives as a middle-white woman in first world contries and their “beautiful people with beautiful problems” (also songs by Lana Del Rey in her fifth album). What we should point is why we followed the idealization of: gender identity and also a relation. A relation with a man you love, with your friends. Determine you of become a person.
“This is what makes us girls
We don’t look for heaven and we put our love first
Somethin’ that we’d die for it’s a curse
Don’t cry about it, don’t cry about it
This is what makes us girls
We don’t stick together ’cause we put our love first
Don’t cry about him, don’t cry about him
It’s all gonna happen” (What Makes Us Girls — Born To Die).
What is makes you woman? a man, a opposite sex. A love that you have to the opressor, an oprressor idea of you. As long as women never try to reveal their body trough biology, history, and technology the long woman still become a woman, not a human being.
Love and Moralist
Things that makes me Lana Del Rey the most beside her glooomy songs and feminity is how she hates moralist. Trough religion and re-teaching about myth and creation of humans, women is determined. Myth are comes also from a religion. To learn what is good and evil and how women’s body and sexuality will represent the hell, the lust and the bad. Here is the genesis of mysoginist while we tried to believe in myth and how become a women was constructed by those myth. Eve as a second human creature to compliting Adam’s lives not be seen as a updated version of human creature. And her body and menstruation cycle
They shaped a myth of how to become a women, an angel, a good girl. To keep your virginity, trapped by your body, that body who chained you to a vulnarabilty. Society pushes you, judged you because only two types of women accepted in this world: whore or angel and you cannot be both like a human does. To become a human being an not an angel or bitch, woman must ready to open up your self as ahuman which do bad and good things in this world.
“in a world of Gods and Monsters, I was an angel
waiting to get fucked hardf”
(Gods and Monsters — Tropico)
Lana challange society saw a woman trough her songs. Explaining of being a woman with her body and man’s ideas about her. She plays between the desire and fear of a man, making a relation between man and woman dependence and reciprokal. The depedency between two sexs appeared in a romance mostly, like a string connect how gender being shaped.
“Darlin’, darlin’, darlin’
I fall to pieces when I’m with you, I fall to pieces
My cherries and wine, rosemary and thyme
And all of my peaches are ruined”
(Cherry — Lust for Life)
Things I LOVE from Lana is she mentioning a gender in relationship with a man when it comes to falling in love. Falling in love also a complicated thing because sometimes you know it will giving a unfair position. Woman will lose their selves when they are falling in love. She surrender herself to become The Other, blended into object. The Other because man is the subject and you just become a person who love and be loved with subject. Women accepted inferiority when it comes to falling in love, of course this is a n alien point of view.
“Is it me, was I wrong
To have trusted you?
Did I see what I want,
What wasn’t true?
Was I wrong to go on
Like a little fool?
It’s amazing what
Women in love will do” (Big Eyes — Big Eyes ost)
The relation beetwen women and men are much complicated than a relation between master-slaves or patron-client because they know they will find each other dependency and the object dependent to the subject which has power more than the other. But the relation between women and men are more complicated than the depedency.
Conclution
But Lana never state herself as feminist existentialist. Everything that I wrote here is my intepretation about Lana and her song. I love her so much and you, the reader might be disagree with my intepretation on Lana Del Rey’s. I have write a lot in this articles so I’ll finished with a setences mixed by me and by Lana’s song Mermaid Motel:
You call me lavender, you call me sunshine, you said “take it off.” You only seen me as a sex. No more. And you said it by God, woman is an idea in a man’s thought.
