A decade of backlash.
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It has never been an easy time to beLana Del Rey.
Sometimesthe conversation about Del Reyhasovershadowed her actual output.
Her mid-century femininity hit a nerve.
Who could forget the press release touting her as a gangster Nancy Sinatra?
Soon, though, there was abacklash to the backlash: Hadnt plenty of male artists embraced alter egos?
Critics noted this but remained unconvinced.
Its not that theres anything inauthentic about Del Rey, argued aPitchfork writer.
(TheVillageVoicecalled it early-00s singles bar music.)
Still, her image had real juice.
Enough viewers complained thatSNLhad to doa follow-up sketchbegging the haters to chill.
The public did not agree:Born to Diebecame the fifth-highest-selling album of 2012 worldwide.
If Del Rey was really so bad for women, why were so many of them buying her record?
In Cedric Gervaiss throbbing remix of Summertime Sadness, she got her first and only Top 10 hit.
Critics began giving her grudging respect, thenactual praise.
Who cared anymore if someone wasnt real?
That paled in comparison to other sins, like cultural appropriation.
She also joined a group of witches inputting a hex on the president.
Her image became slightly less remote and mysterious; a2017 articleapprovingly noted that she was kinda regular.
Every few months brought a new dust-up.
She got intoa Twitter beef with Azealia Banks.
There was amicrocontroversyover her relationship with a celebrity cop.
And she got defensive when an NPR critic dove intoa deep analysis of her persona.
Del Rey claimed that shed never had a persona.
So of course Del Rey wasted no time stepping in it.
The other artistsfans united against her, pointing out that shed mostly targeted women of color.
Del Reys own fans pleaded for her to delete the post.
A more calculating star might have known it was time to go away for a while.
But it was 2020 who was capable of logging off?
Instead, she dug in her heels.
Her timing was impeccable: That same week, theAmy Cooper scandalturned white womens fragility into a punch line.
When she did a book signingwearing a mesh mask, she was accused of putting lives at risk.
(She claimed it had protective plastic underneath.)
She added, My best friends are rappers, my boyfriends have been rappers.
Thus, the negative feedback loop rolls on.
If its not, we all may be better served muting her for a while.
