Gen X Journey

Lady Gaga hits the metropolis of Brisbane this week with an entourage of 150 and a jumbo jet full of wigs, outrageous shoes and a shitload of controversy.

I know you’re a little shocked–Lady Gaga and controversy in the same sentence, but this time I’m on Lady Gaga’s side.

For some fool of a woman took her 9 year old daughter to the Sydney Gagafest and was shocked by the goings on there. Duh, it’s a concert. Duh, she’s Lady Gaga. Duh, your kid’s 9. Shouldn’t she be doing her homework or playing with Barbies?

Then some bigger fool of a politician in Sydney made a speech IN PARLIAMENT blaming Lady Gaga for the sexualisation of young girls. Yeah, because that’s only happened in the last year that Lady Gaga’s been on the scene.

Look, the time has come for parents to be parents. While it might be cool to have a Poker Face singalong in the car with your kids while you’re driving them to Brownies, you still have to remember who the parent is and what the parenting role involves.

The comment that my daughter and I are like best friends makes me quite cross. Sorry, your kids already have plenty of friends. You are their parent, and for your children, they only have one set. And part of that parent role involves helping your child make the right choices, and sometimes making those choices for them and lots and lots of times those parenting choices you make will not win you any popularity contests with your kids.

You would need to have been living under a rock to not know that Lady Gaga enjoys pushing the envelope. She can hardly dance or sing and outrageous clothing and behaviour are how she gets attention. Whatever works, and work it does. Do I admire her as a performer? Yes. Do I think she’s a good role model for a 9 year old? Definitely not.

So if my 9 year old expressed her desire to attend a Lady Gaga concert, I would carefully consider the choices for about 2 seconds and then say NO. And she would hate me for the rest of the day, they concert would come and go and I would be smug in my knowledge that I had made a good, albeit unpopular, parenting decision.

However if I was an idiot, and maybe thought I was a bit cool, and decided to take the path of least resistance and took my 9 year old to the concert, and it was inappropriate, I would take my child home–straight away. I would also be embarrassed by my dumb parenting decision. My first thoughts would not be to contact the media and complain because my parenting decision was STUPID. But that’s just me.

I don’t think our Sydney MP and I am alone in our concern for the sexualisation of young girls. Heaven knows you can buy a bra for a three year old and a g-string for a 10 year old. You can let your tweenie listen to Lady Gaga. But at the end of the day you control the purse strings. You also hold the balance of power. Yes, yes it’s hard. But go on try it. Say NO. Your kids have been saying it to you for years.

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