Daily Times

Lady Gaga wrote an essay for Harper’s Bazaar about the difficulties of womanhood stemming from the leaked Access Hollywood video where Donald Trump’s “locker room talk” shocked the country.

The piece, titled “Lady Gaga – Portrait of a Lady,” recounts the strong female influences in Gaga’s life, including her Aunt Joanne who died at age 19 from lupus. Gaga titled her fourth album Joanne, in her honour. She also reveals that Joanne’s tragic life was also marred by sexual abuse in college.

“I thought about Joanne as I was watching the news during the election about the scandal surrounding the Access Hollywood tape,” Gaga writes. “Here we were, in 2016, and the fact that the sort of language that was being used to talk about women was everywhere – on TV, in politics – was eye-opening. I felt depressed and hurt by it because that’s what that kind of language does.”

For Gaga, Michelle Obama’s speech in New Hampshire about the tape was a hopeful source of inspiration. “Being a lady today means being a fighter,” Gaga wrote. “It means being a survivor. It means letting yourself vulnerable and acknowledging your shame or that you’re sad or you’re angry. It takes great strength to do that.”

Gaga was an active supporter and campaigner for Hillary Clinton throughout the election cycle. The singer performed at a New Hampshire midnight rally alongside Jon Bon Jovi on the eve of the election in support of the Democratic nominee.