Lady Gaga was criticized for her recent video message to students at the Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto, where she stated that bullying should be made into a hate crime. The criticisms include things like, “any message on bullying is good publicity right now – her message is about getting publicity.” A rather unfair statement to say the least! What makes it different for Brad Pitt to use his celebrity status for rebuilding New Orleans, or Sean Penn for using his face to shine a light on starving children? Nothing. Moreover, I don’t know if Brad Pitt ever lost his home in a hurricane or if Sean Penn starved as a child. I do know that Lady Gaga experienced the cruelty of being bullied and therefore, her credibility on the issue is sound.
In Lady Gaga’s Thanksgiving Special, she sang a song that she wrote when she was 15 years old. The song, Hair, reflects her feeling of wanting to belong… of “wanting to have a seat at the table in the cafeteria.” She understands firsthand the feelings of longing to be accepted for who she is… for being a beautiful person inside and out. She shared her story of being bullied at school and how it affected her.
Throughout the television special, Gaga spoke about her parents and grandparents. Her values as a person and entertainer were subtle, yet clear. She wishes acceptance for all, not for only an elite group. Her message demonstrates a person with compassion and a heart first, and then secondly a celebrity who is willing to use her fame to bring light to a problem that has escalated in schools and communities, which has resulted in innocent individuals taking their lives. These needless deaths have left many wounded family and friends behind who will struggle for a long time to try and make sense as to how people can be so heartless.
Bullying is beyond ‘school yard banter’ where it can be dismissed as ‘kids will be kids.’ Bullying is a targeted action of physical and/or emotional abuse. It’s not acceptable, nor should it be tolerated in any form. No child, teenager, or young adult should be subjected to cruelty at the hands of another. Our schools and communities should be safe places for everyone. Bullying is violence and there is no reason to turn a blind eye to it.
My siblings and I were bullied too. Not by our peers in the Catholic school we attended, but by the Protestant kids in the public school. Every day we would rush home trying to make it before they jumped out from the bushes to attack us. And yes, physically attack us. One time, my younger sister and I had to run for help as our older sister was held down and whipped across her legs with a bicycle tire they had cut in half. Why? Because of religion – and it wasn’t like they even understood what Catholicism was! Another time a group of youth held our younger sister down to ‘wash her face in snow.’ It may not sound like much but tell that to an 7 year old child who has teenage boys pummelling her. We were afraid to walk home from school in our own neighbourhood. Those are memories that are not easily left behind.
Lady Gaga is deemed to be eccentric and somewhat freakish. I admit that some of her outfits (the meat dress) are off the wall; however, in my opinion (as a 55 year-old grandmother) I think Lady Gaga is quite brilliant. I love her music. She is a talented performer, singer, and songwriter. She, much like Madonna, knows how to market herself. That doesn’t make her freak – it makes her a smart business woman. And now her message to stop bullying and make it a hate crime makes her a responsible citizen taking a stand for the safety of others. Period.
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