"It's important that people have an ability to contextualize how the violence came to be in the relationship," said Megan Lindsay, research assistant professor at the School of Social Work. With a topic so triggering, how is it possible to convey experiences and ideas Del Rey does without glamorizing it? "There has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me."Ī post shared by Lana Del Rey Del Rey's exploration of domestic abuse and control in unhealthy relationships has long been considered problematic and harmful to impressionable listeners, her social media post invited society to question creative rights - humans make art to express emotions and experiences. "With all the topics women are finally allowed to explore I just want to say over the last 10 years I think it's pathetic that my minor lyrical exploration detailing my sometimes submissive or passive roles in my relationships has often made people say I've set women back hundreds of years," Del Rey wrote. In "Ultraviolence," the title track from her 2014 album, Del Rey sings "he hit me and it felt like a kiss." Her song "Off To The Races" perpetuates outdated gender norms in the lyrics "tell me you own me."ĭuring one of her most recent attempts to address the "culture" that has labeled her work a glamorization of abuse, Del Rey took to an Instagram post on May 21, 2020, digging herself into a deeper hole when she expressed her attitude toward women of color in the music industry.
Domestic violence imagery has made itself apparent in her cover art - the artwork for her 2012 single "Blue Jeans" pictures the singer in a chokehold from a tattooed man.īeyond visual art, themes of romanticizing abuse run through her lyrics as well.
While viewers unbeknownst to Del Rey's past may find the comment bizarre, a look through her career shows she is no stranger to controversy, and her most recent era is nothing but a continuation.ĭel Rey has long been associated with problematic undertones of glamorizing abuse.