Porker Face or the face of a revolution?

Forget dresses made of meat and that ridiculous giant egg, Lady Gaga has gone through her most controversial make over yet. She’s gained 25lbs in weight over a seemingly short period of time, and the media is kicking up a right fuss about it.

“Today I join the BODY REVOLUTION. To inspire bravery. And BREED some motherfucking COMPASSION,” Lady Gaga responds to the controversy surrounding her recent weight gain. Although Lady Gaga’s ‘littlemonsters’ website has always been on my ‘avoid-at-all-costs’ list, I ventured there to see exactly what the 26 year old outlandish singer feels about the latest media frenzy in her honour. To my surprise I find myself, for once in my life, feeling what I can only describe as admiration for her.

The backlash comes after Gaga’s recent performance in Amsterdam, where photos were released of her new, fuller figure shown off in just a meat corset and fishnets. Although many popular publications have come to her defence to support whatever personal decisions that have led to the undeniable weight-gain, there has of course been a worryingly negative response. Despite the fact that some amusing nicknames have surfaced (Porker Face seems to be a favourite) nobody seems to be thinking about how this is going to affect her indisputably large fan base. How is it appropriate to label Gaga as fat when the 25 lbs she’s gained have only bumped her up to a healthier, normal weight?

Conversely, looking at some of Lady Gaga’s previous comments referring to her body shape paints a slightly different picture. Only this year she tweeted “Eating a salad dreaming of a cheeseburger. Pop singers don’t eat. I was born this way.” Unfortunately she holds a position of considerable power, and saying things like “pop singers don’t eat” conveys a negative and influencing message that could be attributed to her own battle with bulimia and anorexia. Her mantra of accepting who you are that came with her 2011 album ‘Born This Way’ crumbles if she doesn’t accept this herself, and thankfully she seems to have decided that she doesn’t have to keep up whatever image is deemed socially acceptable even underneath her bizarre and eccentric clothing.

Celebrities being criticised for their appearance is nothing new, but Gaga has taken her issues and transformed them into something positive for the legions of impressionable “little monsters” that hang off of her every word. She recently released photographs depicting her in just her underwear, captioning them with “Bulimia and anorexia since I was 15.” This essentially drives home exactly how harmful the press’ reaction could be. Her new campaign labelled the “Body Revolution 2013” urges the public to adore their bodies and accept whatever imperfections we have. A cynical mind such as my own sees a thinly-veiled self-promotion, reaffirming Gaga as the pro-natural-beauty spokesperson she tries so hard to be seen as, but even I can’t deny that what she’s doing can change a lot of lives. I’ve witnessed people close to me who have struggled with things such as their sexuality and I’ve seen how this marketing ploy has helped them come to terms with a lot of things, simply by believing that they were ‘born this way’. If Lady Gaga’s latest crusade can do this on a larger scale with the pop icon leading by example, I can do nothing but support the message and hope that she doesn’t slip back to her size-zero ways.