Lady Gaga Makes An American Quilt

Lady Gaga For President!

*Watch the speech here* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4rGla6OzGc

By Chris Cole

After watching Lady Gaga's speech "The Prime Rib of America" about repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, that occurred at a rally in Portland, Maine on Sept. 20, 2010, I saw why Gaga is an activist, and not just a singer. I also saw how she's this woman whose work is sewn together by a common thread.

My eyes teared up a bit watching Gaga's nearly 20-minute speech on my computer, and I also felt angry because today at a temp job, this guy in flip flops and capris came into the library looking for a book, and one of my co-workers said "he looks so gay" and I shrugged my shoulders like "who cares?" and then the flip-flopped guy walked past us again and my co-worker said again "gay" under his breath, but sort of audible. I couldn't believe it. This co-worker is a nice guy who I'm very friendly with, but obviously he's homophobic, and for what reason I don't know. There could be deep-seated reasons for it. Just to make clear, I am gay and my co-worker doesn't know this, and I wanted to tell him, "Well, what if I told you I was gay, how does that change our relationship?"

So, I was thinking of this situation while watching Lady Gaga's speech and I felt empowered, which has always been Gaga's ulitmate goal. Seeing the title of Gaga's speech, "The Prime Rib of America," I immediately saw what an artist she is, not just a pop music artist, but a political artist. Her speech was in regards to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which allows gay men and women to serve in the military, but only if they keep their sexual orientation secret. They're not free. Gaga built her speech around food metaphors and consumer metaphors. She called the government and people who encourage "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" "cafeteria americans" who put the food that they want on people's plates, instead of people having the choice to eat an "all you can eat buffet." Also Gaga said "equality is the prime rib of America," and then she linked back to the meat dress she wore at the MTV Video Music Awards, Sept. 12. Her exact words were "Shouldn't everyone reserve, shouldn't everyone deserve the right to wear the same meat dress that I do?"

One of the strongest statements of the speech and the clear mantra is "If you don't like it, go home," which Gaga said is the name of the new policy she wants to replace "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which will send home the straight, homophobic soldier, instead of the gay soldier.

The same group of soldiers who appeared as Lady Gaga's guests at the MTV VMAs, who were discharged because they admitted that they were gay, were present on stage at the rally. Their presence strengthened Gaga's speech even more, and it was a reminder of how Gaga's mission is sewn by a strong, thematic thread. Her controversial "Alejandro" music video featured soliders who wore fishnet stockings and high heels with their military uniforms. The video was Gaga's first public statement on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The "Alejandro" video, her VMA appearance and this recent political rally all tie in to her upcoming album titled Born This Way. All of this marks why Gaga is a genius making her art active and relevant. Her music has always been about empowering the gay community, from "Boys, Boys, Boys" to "Telephone." (Note: even the "Telephone" music video centered around a food metaphor where Americans choked on their own poisonous food inside a classic Americana diner. It's definitely not just a coincidence). In the end, Gaga has taken her thread of promoting equality and sewn it into a very colorful and very strong quilt. An American quilt.