I was lucky enough to recently see Lady Gaga in concert–it was fantastic. She was fantastic (her voice is really good), the show was fantastic, and the world that she created onstage was fantastic. If you’ve ever seen her live or in a video, you know what I mean. If you ever, ever get a chance to see her in concert, go–it was that good.

One thing that stood out about her show was the way the she constantly reminded the audience of the fact that she–or at the least the version of herself that she is onstage–is fake. She is a reflection of what her listeners and audience expect and what from her; she is there to be whatever we want and need her to be. Towards the beginning of the show, she spoke this, what she calls “The Manifesto of Little Monster,” aloud to us:

“There is something heroic about the way my fans operate their cameras. So precisely, so intricately and so proudly. Like Kings writing the history of their people, is their prolific nature that both creates and procures what will later be perceived as the kingdom. So the real truth about Lady Gaga fans, my little monsters, lies in this sentiment: They are the Kings. They are the Queens. They write the history of the kingdom and I am something of a devoted Jester. It is in the theory of perception that we have established our bond, or the lie I should say, for which we kill. We are nothing without our image. Without our projection. Without the spiritual hologram of who we perceive ourselves to be or rather to become, in the future. When you are lonely, I will be lonely too. And this is the fame.”

What’s interesting about Lady Gaga, and what makes me love her, is that she is not just a pop-star with an image. She is an image–she epitomizes the postmodern idea that simulation and visual media can substitute for the real. There is no “real” Lady Gaga–she loudly proclaimed last night that the one thing she hates more than money is truth.

And yet, somehow, she constantly reminded us last night of the true and harsh realities of the world we live in. She talked about homeless LGBTQ youth, about societal pressures to be thin, and about people who feel they have no place in society–and proclaimed her show as a place where all the problems in society could come to die, proudly telling us that her Monster Ball is a safe-haven for all the freaks in the world. She blended her fake world with reality in order to subvert that reality.

If it were anyone else, I would have found a lot of the things Lady Gaga said last night to be cliche, and expected a lot of people in the audience to grimace. But when she said things like “I want you to walk out of her tonight not loving me more, but loving yourselves more,” the only response she got was resounding cheers. I was amazed at just how many people really do look to Gaga as affirmation of the fact that it’s okay to be weird and out of place–she’s really struck a chord.

A lot of pop stars are about image. But in embracing that fact and making it clear to her audience that she is simply creating an image for them, she has somehow been able to create the ultimate escape for her audience. It’s as if the very fact that she has been able to win us over with her fake world of acceptance and equality makes that world seem possible in real life.

PS: Gaga is also awesome and does a ton of charity work. She really does try to change the world we live in–she’s not all talk.

Dina also writes for From the Rib

is this the country club doll? no...this is the homeless doll.

I’m not kidding. The same people who brought you Rebecca Rubin,  Jewish doll by day, eco terrorist by night, are now introducing Gwen, the Homeless Doll.

Now, I’ve had my problems with the American Girl Dolls in the past. Mainly, I feel that in a lot of ways, though they may be trying to introduce young girls to the concept that, “hey, everybody is different” they are in many ways stereotyping diversity (”You’re Jewish? Do you come with candlesticks and your bubbie’s blanket, too?). But this new doll is just something else completely.

On the one hand, I think spreading awareness about homelessness is definitely a positive thing. We tend to think of the homeless as drug-addicted bums, but especially in this economy that’s not always the case (each year, 1.35 million children experience homelessness in the US – making up 50% of the homeless population over the course of the year). Which may be why this doll looks the way she does (i.e. she is somebody who could sit next to you in English class).

So maybe, just to give Mattel the benefit of the doubt, this was an attempt at social awareness and starting a dialogue about the state of homelessness in our country. But they didn’t do a very good job at it. Andrea Peyser described this doll pretty well in her article for the Post, writing:

In the history books that come with every American Girl doll…you learn that Gwen’s father walked out on the family. Her mother lost her job….Mother and daughter started bedding down in a car…For $95 — more than your average homeless person would dream of spending on a rather mediocre baby substitute — Gwen Thompson can be yours. A mixed message if ever there was one.

btw - what a strange slogan. wtf is an inner star and where am i following it? American Girl WHO RUNS YOU AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

I think that’s the thing that gets me the most – none of the $95 price tag is going towards helping the homeless in any way. That’s truly the element that makes this feel like exploitation to me rather than a lesson in social awareness.

Also – what makes a doll homeless? If we’re NOT relying on stereotypes here – which I assume we’re not because the point of his doll hypothetically is to raise awareness and prove that homeless people are just like you or me – what are we talking about here, how can this be developed any further? Clearly a homeless doll is a stereotype in and of itself.

This doll makes people feel uncomfortable – probably because it’s so far outside of the idealistic realm we like our dolls to represent (hello – barbie and body standards for one). We like our dolls to be pretty and perfect and have beautiful lives that almost never represent our own lives in any way. So here is a doll that represents something real (although how well she represents that something is pretty debatable), that could possibly teach a child a lesson (if used correctly as a teaching toy…and that’s a big if) rather than instill lessons of unhealthy body image.

If this didn’t feel like exploitation or a weird type of tokenism it could possibly be a good idea.