lady gaga

What do you think a conversation between one of the most influential pop stars in the world and one of its wisest spiritual leaders would sound like?

There’s no need to guess any longer, Facebook Live having broadcasted a 20-minute discussion between pop superstar Lady Gaga and The Dalai Lama himself, during which they focused on mental health issues among a variety of other important topics.

At the start of their meeting, Gaga tells His Holiness that the questions she is about to ask him were asked by a number of people on social media in order to hear his thoughts.

"Hope is essential to keep the world going." – His Holiness the Dalai Lama #withcompassion #usmc2016 #kindyouth

A photo posted by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on Jun 26, 2016 at 7:30am PDT

“How do you help young people address issues of poor self-esteem, managing eating disorders, addiction, self-harm and suicide,” Gaga starts with a question that will cut to the core for many.

While His Holiness acknowledges that everyone’s situation is different, in terms of their mental health he said the key is to show compassion and kindness in tackling the issue. “Your mental attitude is sound with self-confidence and foresightedness,” he says. He also believes it is up to the younger generation to create a healthier world to live in and a way for future generations to find their inner peace. “Future depends on our younger generations… Past, nobody can change. Future, yet to come. So there is possibility to change,” the Dalai Lama says.

He explains that once we start to show compassion to others, we can start to feel better about ourselves. “You also get the feeling, ‘oh, I am something useful to others.’” He continues, “That brings more self-confidence and a meaningful life.”

Gaga for her part takes it all in with the reverence the Dalai Lama commands whenever he speaks but also with understanding. “So what you’re saying is, caring for others and having compassion, it gives you a sense of purpose, so it helps you to feel less alone and alienated so you know we all belong together,” she responds.

All of this occurred in just the first six-and-a-half minutes of the conversation alone. I won’t ruin the rest for you, just watch the video below if you need a whole lot of inspiration for your day. This kind of dialogue is so vitally important in a world where the discussion surrounding mental health issues is becoming increasingly more acceptable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKfPM1jqdnc

Image: Billboard

In a divisive move, Billboard have named Lady Gaga as their Woman Of The Year 2015. The announcement has been received with reactions of surprise, derision and applause. The first is definitely understandable; following her flop release Artpop in 2013, Gaga as we knew her seemingly fell away. With audiences and headlines no longer enraptured by what had been a phenomenal hit machine, or waiting for her next exhibition – or which foodstuff she was going to wear next. It was like the Haus Of Gaga had shut up shop.

In all honesty, once you’ve been vomited on on stage, it’s hard to know where to go next. And it seems that Gaga came very close to abandoning her career towards the end of last year. In her interview with Billboard, though treatise might better describe it, she describes the point at which she had arrived by the end of 2014; “My stylist asked, ‘Do you even want to be a pop star anymore?’ I looked at him and I go, ‘You know, if I could just stop this train right now, today, I would. I just can’t. [But] I need to get off now because I’m going to die’.”

A dramatic statement that feels appropriate for the artistic soul that Lady Gaga has proved herself to be, but clearly one that she meant. In the interview she comments on how “It speaks volumes to me that I’m being recognised as Woman of the Year in 2015… This is the year I did what I wanted instead of trying to keep up with what I thought everyone else wanted from me.” And despite the undeniable truth that other artists have fared better throughout the year in a commercial sense, or made bigger waves with their releases, there is something compelling in Billboard’s justification for naming Gaga Woman Of The Year.

The publication freely admits that “Gaga’s biggest role this year, though, may have been that of the crusader.” And much of the interview discusses the different projects that she has taken on throughout 2015, once she stepped back from chasing the hits. Also the sense of true accomplishment that came with things like her 2014 album Cheek To Cheek with Tony Bennett, feeding her love of music rather than a love of fame; “I’m not just doing it because I like standards. I am an Italian-American girl from New York who won state jazz competitions in high school for my abilities. I was born to sing with Tony”.

Also mentioning her work with her Born This Way foundation, her small screen debut in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story, and various live performances like her rendition of The Sound Of Music at the Academy Awards. Concentrating on her philanthropic work and celebrating her true musical talent – something which is easy to forget when it’s dressed up in the butcher’s window display – I can’t help but agree with Billboard’s reasoning. And while there is a great deal that is off-putting in Lady Gaga’s theatrical style, and the inescapable performance of her words, her call to “purify this industry” does resonate as coming from a talented artist who has crawled, exhausted, away from the profit driven, creatively downtrodden world of music.

“I call on every artist to be kind to one another, and compassionate. Let us purify this industry again and put our finger in the face of every executive and say, ‘If you are spending money, is it on someone who can really sing? Is it on someone who has a perspective?’ It’s almost funny to see the look on Tony’s face, the way he shakes his head, when I tell him how the industry has become.”

Though you can’t help but wonder if Gaga would have said the same when the world at large was applauding her own perspective and talent. Whether this is one of the “epiphanies” that she mentions in the interview, or whether her own Frankenstein has become embittered by the betrayal of the industry that spawned her?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g4XAyESHos&w=420&h=315]

Though last week was mental health week, it’s important to remember that dialogue about mental wellbeing should never be reserved for only one week. This week, mega-star Lady Gaga opened up about her own mental health and her Born This Way Foundation, which aims to help disenfranchised teens, in an interview with Billboard. We’ll let her do the talking:

“This foundation was born from the years I spent watching my fans grow up. Many of them were really young: 11-to-17-year-olds in very tumultuous times. They would tell me their stories, and many of them were very dark. As I began to care for them and to see myself in them, I felt I had to do something that would remind kids they’re not alone. When they feel isolated, that’s when it leads to suicide.

There are a lot of kids that I could talk about. One I’ve become very good friends with is this girl, Emma. She has cerebral palsy. She’s in a wheelchair. I met her on the [2013] Born Brave Bus, when it followed the Born This Way Ball Tour, and we shared a very deep connection about the pain she was in. There were all these people around: cameras and journalists wanting to capture the moment between us, and I said to everyone, “Could you leave us alone?” I just wanted to be alone with her and ask her if she was OK. She was in her chair, kind of hunched over, but still with this very brave smile on her face. I swore I was in the presence of maybe one of the greatest people. Moments like that make you go, “Everyone should learn from this person. This person knows what it means to self-empower through adversity, this person knows what it means to be strong when you’re not.”

Gaga should be commended for the amazing work she’s doing with kids, and it’s even taking place directly in her music. Til It Happens To You came out in September of this year, and is a true story, drawing upon the sexual assault she experienced when she was 19. Check the video below, and read the full interview here.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWBrN7QV6Y]

Following multiple recent public outcries regarding sexual assault, including the acclaimed and widely publicised performance art piece by Emma Sulkowicz (‘Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight)’), Lady Gaga has added another voice to the already very raucous discussion regarding sexual assault legislation in New York. Co-authoring an opinion piece with Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo, she pushes for legislation to further prevent instances of sexual assault on New York college campuses. An absolute powerhouse artist that needs no introduction, Lady Gaga has spoken out in the past about issues of social activism – including the notorious oration outside the White House in support of LGBTQIA rights – but her stance in this essay, urging the passing of Governor Cuomo’s ‘Enough Is Enough’ Bill is a personal one, having spoken about her own experience of sexual assault as a young adolescent and her having taken inspiration from these experiences for her ARTPOP track ‘Swine’.

With only a little over a week left for Cuomo to actually enact this ‘Enough is Enough’ legislation, his choice of an ally in Lady Gaga may come as a surprise to some, although hardly an uninformed choice. Lady Gaga spouts some powerful words on the subject, emphasising that sexual assault “victims are not only deprived justice, they are denied the opportunity to tell their stories publicly”. Denouncing the current futility of sexual assault legislation as “unacceptable” and “heartbreaking”, she stands in strong support of the bill, which “will tackle this crisis head-on”. But we can hardly do her essay (which is equal parts moving and incisive) justice, so read the full text below for yourself:

“Every fall, young men and women head off to colleges across the country, dreaming of bright futures and the experience of a lifetime. They’ve worked hard for the chance to become a part of their new campuses, and they set out full of hope and excitement. 

Unfortunately, for thousands of these students that dream turns into a nightmare because of the unacceptable epidemic of sexual violence that is currently plaguing colleges and universities. It is a shocking reality that many in academia, government, and society in general still refuse to acknowledge. 

We all have a responsibility to make sure that the strongest possible laws are in place to safeguard our students. Thankfully, New York has an opportunity to stand up for its students and take the critical steps toward facing this crisis head on. The bill currently before the New York State legislature will address the issue of sexual violence on college campuses, giving the state the nation’s strongest laws to target campus sexual assault. This is a campaign that will protect students, and it’s exactly what we need. 

Today, too many college students experience sexual assault, too few of the assailants are prosecuted, and too often the survivors lack the resources they need to recover. In New York, fewer than five percent of rapes that occur on college campuses are reported to law enforcement and just 16 percent of survivors receive support from a victim services agency. 

Making a bad situation worse, college officials sometimes fear negative publicity against their school if assaults are reported to the police. Instead of involving law enforcement, these cases are often handled as campus disciplinary issues and many offenders avoid meaningful consequences. A 2010 investigation by the Center for Public Integrity found that just a quarter of the individuals responsible for sexual assault were permanently removed from campus – and in some cases, that figure was as low as 10 percent. 

As a result, these victims are not only deprived justice, they are denied the opportunity to tell their stories publicly. Being able to speak about such difficult experiences openly is fundamental to easing a survivor’s recovery and to removing the shame that still shrouds sexual assault.    

This situation is unacceptable. The likelihood that college students are not getting the assistance and support they deserve is heartbreaking, and the knowledge that sexual predators are left free to attack again is criminal. This bill will tackle this crisis head-on, because the status quo needs to change. 

Sexual assaults are not just violations of local campus rules – they are crimes that must be treated as such. Victims must know that they have the right to call the police, and they must be supported in their recovery, regardless of whether that could mean negative publicity for their school. 

Last year, the Governor’s office asked the state’s public university system to step up on this issue.  They did. Now, every public college student in New York is protected by a strong policy against sexual assault. But without changing New York’s laws, private colleges don’t have to live up to the same standard. That’s why the state legislature must pass the proposed bill. Without it, students at private institutions are more likely to be left at risk. 

We have a responsibility to the young men and women of this country to stand up against sexual violence everywhere. Everyone – from lawmakers and educators to advocates like Born This Way Foundation and the students themselves – need to join forces on this issue. Together, we must create the scaffolding necessary to foster the mental, emotional, and physical health of all young people. 

By passing legislation such as the bill currently before the New York State legislature, we can turn the tide on this issue so that students can realize their dreams on campuses that are safe spaces. That’s why we are joining together to take a stand against sexual assault on college campuses. Quite simply, enough is enough.”