[View the story "Leaked Lady Gaga demo creates online backlash" on Storify ]Leaked Lady Gaga demo creates online backlash Clip from upcoming album raises questions about cultural appropriation. Storified by The Stream · Tue, Aug 13 2013 17:17:18
A remastered version of the demo can be heard here:
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The following are a selection of lyrics from the demo:
I’m not a wandering slave, I am a woman of choice
My veil is protection for the gorgeousness of my face
Do you wanna peek underneath the cover?
Do you wanna see the girl who lives behind the aura, behind the aura?
She wear burqa for fashion
It’s not a statement as much
As just a move of passion
I may not walk on your street,
Or shoot a gun on your soil
I hear you screaming
Is it because of pleasure or toil
Do you wanna see the girl who lives behind the aura? Behind the curtain, Behind the burqa
Many fans have adopted Lady Gaga’s apparent fascination with the burqa. Using the phrase ‘
burqa swag like Lady Gaga ’, fans posted pictures of themselves in burqas.
facebook.com
facebook.com
31.media.tumblr.com
One tumblr account, however, calls these posts culturally insensitive. It accuses fans of being ‘
Racist Little Monsters ’ and shames them by posting their pictures.
racistlittlemonsters.tumblr.com
racistlittlemonsters.tumblr.com
racistlittlemonsters.tumblr.com
BEHIND THE #BURQA / #ARTPOPracistlittlemonsters.tumblr.com
owlsareraptors.tumblr.com
Others
commented on potential implications of the lyrics.
And then there’s this whole “is it aura or is it awrah" business going on. #TheMoreYouKnowMoment: Awrah, in Muslim culture, refers to the parts of the body that must be covered and it varies depending on who you’re with and what branch of Islam you belong to. At any rate, Stefanie thought she’d throw some cute wordplay into this hot mess.soletstalkabout.com
Gaga’s obsession with muslim women, and veiling in general is strategic and in line with America’s foreign policy, militaristic endeavors and orientalist understandings of the Muslim other. Gaga’s co-opting of Muslim women’s dress, feeds into long standing orientalist fixation with Muslim women’s bodies and their respective “oppressed" status, as measured by her representative white, liberal feminism.racistlittlemonsters.tumblr.com
Some
responded to an earlier leak featuring a different version of the demo, which has since been
discredited .
Lady Gaga - Burqa (Vocal Snippet) by ARTPOPGAGA2013I DO NOT OWN THIS/ Lyrics : Wear it out, harmonize, stability. Disturb the unaware Put it on,conceal your hair. Disturb the unaware, Bitc...
The demo has generated an unprecedented amount of conversation, becoming a worldwide Twitter trend.
flickr.com
![Lady Gaga wears a pink burqa at the Philip Treacy fashion show in 2012. [Source: John Phillips/Getty]](/content/ajam/watch/shows/the-stream/the-stream-officialblog/2013/8/6/leaked-lady-gagademocreatesonlinebacklash/_jcr_content/blog/mainpar/adaptiveimage/src.adapt.480.low.0813 DC LadyGaga.jpg)
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