Gaga's Telephone: A Female Empowerment Anthem

Pop Phenom Lady Gaga and Beyoncé joined forces on the song “Telephone”. The video marks the second collaboration between Gaga and Beyoncé. The video was everything we have become accustomed to expect from Lady Gaga. The nine-minute music video, more like short film, picks up from her previous music video “Paparazzi” after gaga kills her lover and is headed to jail.

 The raunchy video caused quite the stir. Upon looking past, the scantily clad women and quizzical outfit and life choices, we see the deeper meaning the video holds. While in a more flamboyant fashion than we are used to, “Telephone” depicts the story of countless of women, who are confined by the expectations society places on them. We can use the prison as a metaphor for the imprisoned female identity. The video in fact is rather empowering towards women, as it assures women that it is okay to not to conform to gender norms.

Everything in the video serves a purpose, especially the clothing. Each female prisoner behind the bars looks unique, and different to what society expects women to look like in public. Their sexuality is on full display, but they seem helpless, tired and held captive by society's need to dictate who we are as women.

The theory of semiotics which refers to the production and interpretation of meaning. Its basic principle is that meaning is made by the deployment of acts and objects which function as "signs" in relation to other signs. We can use this theory to analyze "Telephone". The first thing we see is oddly dressed female prisoners and Quentin Tarantino-esque visuals. However, after the novelty of the video wears off and we begin to analyze the video more deeply, we attach signs and meaning. Quite frankly without the music video, I think the song would serve as "just another sing-along”.

We see a naked gaga covered with 'Crime Scene: Do Not Cross' police tape. As Meghan Vicks- an essayist and self-proclaimed “little monster” troupe leader- mentions we can see the likeness of how our society fears the criminal female. Vicks describes the criminal female as any female that doesn’t adhere to rules placed on them based on their gender, and how such a woman terrifies our society. This aligns with gaga’s real life personality, from her red-carpet appearances in a giant egg to wearing a dress made entirely out of meat.

 In the video, we see the transformation of gaga, from being trapped to the liberation, ironically from Beyoncé who is known to sing songs that promote girl power. We have heard of countless of stories where women have done crazy things after being pushed too far by our obnoxious and chauvinistic society, with examples of reality TV shows like "Secret lives of stepford wives".This makes us empathize slightly with the killings of the men in the diner

 

We are used to seeing women objectified on TV, like the infamous ad of Paris Hilton eating a burger in a bikini while washing car wash. So, when we see gaga eating the ice-cream in a rather unsexy manner, it seems as if gaga is turning the tables on imagery of women eating food seductively.

Near the end of the song, when gaga and Beyoncé breakout dancing clothed in superhero outfits covered in the American flag. This appears to be a celebration of a diverging America, one which deviates from gender constructs and where women can be superheroes too.

(Note: please don’t kill your partner!)