On Sunday, February 5th, Lady Gaga set the stadium on fire with her intense and fiery Super Bowl 51 halftime performance. She kicked off her performance from the roof of the stadium with "God Bless America" and ended it with a compilation of all her biggest hits. From "Pokerface" to "Telephone," Gaga sang and danced without many mishaps. The entirely solo performance was one of the best yet, leaving fans satisfied and with a deep messaged. She only sang the chorus' of her song and specifically chose to sing "Born This Way's" profound chorus-- "No matter gay, straight, or bi, Lesbian, transgendered life/I'm on the right track baby/I was born to survive." As a prominent LGBTQ spokesperson, she brought down the roof and also sent a great message.
After the performance, the internet trolls immediately took to their keyboards. Gaga underwent multiple outfit changes and when one exposed her mid-drift, haters immediately took to the internet to body shame.
It's 2017 and I can't believe people are still body-shaming. You would think that they would learn. No matter the countless documentaries and commercials targeting bullies, these trolls ignore the implications bullying could have on the victim and say what they think.
However, Lady Gaga is better than the ignorant body-shamers. Even after being told she "needs to do some crunches if she wants to show off her flabby belly" and "was distracted by the flab on her stomach swinging around," Gaga addressed the haters with no lack of dignity. She wrote as a caption under a photo on her Instagram, "I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too. No matter who you are or what you do. I could give you a million reasons why you don't need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you. That's the stuff of champions. Thank you so much everyone for supporting me. I love you guys. Xoxo, gaga." By preaching such kind words, Gaga further radiates her endless positivity into the world and helps to make it a better place.
If I could say one thing to the body-shamers attacking Gaga, I would ask how they could still be so mean? It's 2017. I assumed that we were past targeting ruthless negativity toward one another's bodies. Gaga, a beautiful and undeniably talented women, is way more than her looks and I hope that Gaga's reply to the haters helps others under scrutiny on their body to be honestly and relentlessly themselves. You're beautiful and more than the negativity against you. Thank you Gaga for being you.