Lana del Rey defends herself against claims of ‘glamourizing abuse’

Lana del Rey’s last album Norman F*cking Rockwell! was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys and the eponymous title track was nominated for Song of the Year, but that acclaim doesn’t mean the singer has forgotten her detractors. The "Born to Die" singer took to Instagram on May 21 and posted a long statement that could have been a joyous announcement about a new album dropping September 5th but instead turned into a criticism of “female writers” and “alt singers” for attacking her music as “glamourizing abuse.”“I’m just a glamourous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent emotionally abusive relationships all over the world,” she wrote. “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.”

 

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A post shared by Lana Del Rey (@lanadelrey) on May 21, 2020 at 12:26am PDT

Calling herself “not not a feminist,” she goes on to say that there has to be room in today’s feminism for someone like her, and that her songs and lyrics are an expression of some of the trauma she has experienced in the past. Back in a 2014 interview with Fader, she'd stated that feminism wasn’t an “interesting concept” to her.[video_embed id='1919630']RELATED: Prince Harry pranked by hoaxers posing as Greta Thunberg[/video_embed]Some of the trauma she referenced was included in her hit song "Ultraviolence" and the line, “He hit me and it felt like a kiss,” which is a nod to the 1960s hit by The Crystals of the same name, which Lana herself told Pitchfork that she doesn’t like anymore. “I sing ‘Ultraviolence’ but I don’t sing that line anymore,” she said in 2017.It’s easy to see things from Lana’s point of view, since for centuries women have had to navigate each romantic relationship in a way that is safe for them and that's unique to each person. There isn’t only one way to be a strong feminist, and sometimes being passive is a strategy. But the internet had thoughts about the way she chose to start off her long rant because it involved other famous females of colour.“Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani, and Nicki Minaj and Beyonce have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, f****ing, cheating, etc – can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful or dancing for money – or whatever I want – without being crucified or saying that I’m glamourizing abuse??????” she wrote off the top of her Instagram post.Twitter was none too happy to see her calling out women of different ethnic backgrounds, especially since, as one fan pointed out, many of those women have received death threats for singing their songs.Whether you agree with her or not, she did cap off the statement with an announcement that she has two more books of poetry on the way, to be published by Simon and Schuster, and that, thanks to her personal commitment to help with reparations, the proceeds of the books will go to Native American foundations. She also says she expects some of the thoughts and feelings explored in that Insta-post will find their way into her new album, expected to drop this fall.[video_embed id='1961701']RELATED: Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber deny chart fraud accusations from Tekashi69[/video_embed]