"born This Way"

[Guest someone or other]

Does anyone else find this song incredibly problematic, if not a huge "love you" to trans folks?

I'm beautiful in my way,

'Cause God makes no mistakes

I'm on the right track, baby

I was born this way

And then she tries to make up for it by throwing this in at the end:

No matter gay, straight or bi

lesbian, transgendered life

Not to mention the racial slurs and such... I was just wondering what others' thoughts on this were.

[Guest kelise]

I'm not seeing your issue. I love this song. (plus it came out on my birthday)

I AM beautiful in my way

God DOESN'T make mistakes (I am not a mistake)

I AM on the right track baby

I WAS born this way!

[Guest someone or other]

I guess I interpret her wording as discouraging folks from transitioning, and coming from a white, able-bodied, cisgender woman who fits society's standards of beauty exactly, it sort of rubs me the wrong way.

[Carolyn Marie]

Hon, I looked at the lyrics again to make sure I didn't miss something. I'm as mystified by your comments as Kairi. While there has been a little

controversy about the drag queen references, most commentators, as well as I, see it as her way of including the entire spectrum, as well as

Gay and Lesbian.

I saw no racial slurs in those lyrics, and the first set of lyrics you posted are, in my eyes, a wonderful affirmation that we are God's children as much

as anyone else.

I love the song.

Carolyn Marie

[Guest kelise]

I assure you, Gaga's got nothing but love for us. She owes her fame to the play she got in gay clubs. She has a special affection for Drag Queens, well, because many of them perform as her, and they help get her music and image out there long before anybody had even heard of her.

It's the first mainstream song in history to name us directly. For that alone she deserves our thanks.

[Guest Deandra]

I don't see anything wrong with this song. I love it!

[Guest KimberlyF]

Love her music, but I just didn't care for this song.

And yet, the idea that a hit song would just mention a transgendered life in my life makes me want to cry. And my wife downloaded it right away which made me happy too.

Kim

[Guest someone or other]

I guess I'm overly critical (too much queer theory will do that to you). Sorry to be such a downer! I will say, though, that "chola" and "orient" are not exactly PC. =/

[Guest Orva26]

Okay I don't have a problem with the song. You shouldn't expect a pop star to be divulging deep into transgenderism anyway!

Even the line:

Don't be a drag just be a queen

Doesn't bother me at all. Look at its meaning people! Its basically saying don't fall into a sterotype, just be yourself. That's a lesson that gets mentioned here ALL THE TIME! Now to my knowledge a good amount of drag queens aren't actually trans, rather they are gay or straight MEN who dress extremely over the top for entertainment purposes but here's the kicker. People KNOW what drag queens are and with pop music you kind of have to go with what people know about.

Overall I think the message of the song is a good one. Plus it has given me major respect for Lady Gaga. I'm not big into pop at all actually find most of what I ran into to be mindless dribble but then she comes along and BAM! Makes a pretty deep song.

[Guest Doodlen]

I was wondering about this song too. I really like it, but I was always wondering if transpeople really could relate to it. She includes us in the "no matter gay straight bi transgendered" line (something like that) but if the message of the song is that you were born the right way and all isn't that somethings transpeople can't relate to?

There is, of course, taking the lyrics to mean mentally instead of physically, so that makes sense.

Either way, I still love the song, still love Gaga.

[Guest Leeny]

I guess i can see why some people may interpret the song differently and might get negative feelings. But to me this song is pure love and i love her for making this wonderful piece. I just get such positive vibes from it and i feel loved, spoken to in so many ways. <3

I think she tells us, that we are all worth being loved and accepted as who we are, nomatter our appearance, disabilities etc. and what anyone believes is right or wrong. She also touches the subject of being bullied or worse for just being who you are and that you should be strong, continue to live, cause you arent wrong in any way. I dont believe in god, but she says the words i would have told any religious person who is being closeminded, then goes ahead to tell someone they are wrong cause of some writing, believe etc.

[Guest tiffany_marie]

I applaud her for the song.

Cant say her music does anything for me though.

Just not my cup of tea

[Guest Cole Turner]

I love the Song and it makes me feel confident as a Transgender. The song says don't fall into Stereotypes, Labels, just be yourself, Born the way you want to be.

[Guest Melanie Dawn]

I'm not seeing your issue. I love this song. (plus it came out on my birthday)

I AM beautiful in my way

God DOESN'T make mistakes (I am not a mistake)

I AM on the right track baby

I WAS born this way!

/thread!

this is exactly what it is.

[Guest DésiréeG]

I'm not seeing the issue either. born this way" doesn't mean "don't transition." To me it means: I was born with the brain of a female and the physical body of a male so I have to transition. I was born with this issue. It's a slap at all the people who say this is a choice.

I do have an issue with the orient and cholo lines though, as the words seem to have been chosen for meter and rhyme rather than for PCness, which does somewhat undercut the message of the song. I usually hate pop music (I'm a metalhead from long ago) but even I can't resist the catchiness of this tune.

[Guest Risu]

I applaud lady Gaga for her attempt. It is a good song and its nice that someone mainstream acknowledges us in a positive light. For me the song is too simple and over hyped. While it speaks and in some cases empowers her LGBT audiences I don't think its going to make "normal" people stop and think about their perceptions of the LGBT community. Too simplistic and not revolutionary enough for me and didn't Madonna do something similar anyway? Oh well, I hope that maybe this will start a trend in this region of world and lead to more powerful and inspirational LGBT positive music in the mainstream world. Meanwhile... Dana International is a transsexual singer from Israel who has videos in English, Hebrew, French, Russian and gibberish on you tube. GaGa is far from the first to sing mainstream music pro TS, L or G. Dana is very famous in Europe. She represented Israel in 1998 in the Eurovision song contest and was voted winner! And will be representing Israel again this year! I would reccomend her song Diva or Ding Dong. Diva can be found in english and with subs, and Ding Dong is a mix of Hebrew and English but is mostly english and good as well. So, Back to GaGa, thank you for this. It is appreciated, please keep it up. Good song and I hope for more, and possibly something more profound. Let's open minds instead of speak only to minds who are already open

[Guest Nicodeme]

I guess I interpret her wording as discouraging folks from transitioning, and coming from a white, able-bodied, cisgender woman who fits society's standards of beauty exactly, it sort of rubs me the wrong way.

This.

All the way.

Let's not forget her blatant transphobia after certain accusations regarding her anatomy.

[Guest Melanie Dawn]

This.

All the way.

Let's not forget her blatant transphobia after certain accusations regarding her anatomy.

Link to a quote please.

[Guest kelise]

This.

All the way.

Let's not forget her blatant transphobia after certain accusations regarding her anatomy.