In a bizarre and unexpected twist, pop super star Lana Del Rey is being smeared as “racist” over an Instagram post in which she slammed modern-day feminism. The singer says woke activists have twisted her thoughts on femininity “into a race war.”
“The culture is super sick right now,” said Lana Del Rey in response to the backlash she received over a recent Instagram post.
It all began last week, when Del Rey said female artists sing songs about “being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating, etc” while her critics accuse her of “glamorizing abuse” in her lyrics.
“Question for the culture,” Del Rey said to her 16.5 million Instagram followers. “Now that Doja Cat, Ariana [Grande], Camila [Cabello], Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating etc — can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money — or whatever I want — without being crucified or saying that I’m glamorizing abuse??????”
“I’m fed up with female writers and alt singers saying that I glamorize abuse when in reality I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent emotionally abusive relationships all over the world,” the Grammy nominated singer said. “With all of the topics women are finally allowed to explore I just want to say over the last ten years I think it’s pathetic that my minor lyrical exploration detailing my sometimes submissive or passive roles in my relationships has often made people say I’ve set women back hundreds of years.”
“Let this be clear, I’m not a feminist,” added Del Rey, “but there has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me — the kind of woman who says no but men hear yes — the kind of women who are slated mercilessly for being their authentic, delicate selves.”
Del Rey’s remarks were met with jeers as her critics appeared to be riled up by her use of the phrase “women who look like me.”
“Thanks for being so warm and welcoming,” said Del Rey sarcastically in a follow-up post calling out the so-called “feminists” who were outraged over her initial comments.
Watch below:
Del Rey doubled down, saying she’s firm in her stance that her initial post had been about “the need for fragility in the feminist movement,” not race. “When I mentioned women who look like me, I didn’t mean white like me,” Del Rey said. “The culture is super sick right now,” the singer continued, adding that “they want to turn my [Instagram] post, my advocacy for fragility into a race war.”
“So I just want to say to all of the other women out there who are like me, good girls, good intentioned, who get fucked up the ass constantly by the culture just because you say what you really mean, I’m with you,” she added.
Del Rey went on to say that the backlash she has received over the last few days “really makes you reach into the depths of your own heart and say, ‘am I good intentioned?’ and of course, for me, the answer is always yes.”
“I barely ever share a thing, and this is why,” she added. “I’m not the enemy, and I’m definitely not racist, so don’t get it twisted. So God bless, and fuck off if you don’t like the post.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.