Celebrity Shock

Young star Britney Spears fell under the extreme pressures of the media spotlight and had what can only be referred to as a mental breakdown. Britney Spears was under the spotlight when she was first signed to the music industry in 1997, and released her first single "Baby One More Time" in 1999. Britney Spears was a prominant figure in both popular and mainstream culture, and although what followed from this chart topping first single was a great success, she also faced many struggles. Britney Spears started to spiral into a whirlwind of depression from 2006. Although musically she was still having a great deal of success, releasing a number of albums, it was personal issues and unconfortable encounters with the media and paparazi which pushed her over the edge. On February 17th, 2007 Britney went to a back street hair salon and was filmed by paparazi shaving off her hair. This was seen by her fans and the media as a cry for help. Trying to shed her skin and turn over a new leaf, an attempt to release herself from all the stress of being a worldwide star. During her downfall, Britney lost full custody of her sons, and was put into a rehabilitation center due to alcohol and drug abuse. Britney was then placed under temporary conservatorship of her father James Spears and attorney Andrew Wallet, which gave them complete control of her assets.

Britney Spears on the road to recovery in 2012. . .

Nicki Minaj stated that Britney Spears Is a major influence on her career, commenting, "the fact that she came back out with just so much fire inspires me, and it inspires young women and people all over the world. It just inspires you. A lot of my fans feel like they are the underdog and feel like they are the people who aren’t ever accepted for themselves, or who are laughed at or poked fun at forever. It just goes to show that once you keep at whatever it is you’re doing, people may not like you, people may not love you, but they will have to respect you at the end of the day. And that respect is all that matters."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britney_Spears

Little Monsters

“What I’m really trying to say is I want the deepest, darkest, sickest parts of you that you are afraid to share with anyone because I love you that much.” Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga has the worlds largest fanbase on both Twitter & Facebook. Her views on youtube for her music videos are also chart topping with 300million views of her video, Bad Romance.
This mornig my little 8 year old sister…scremed to the tope of her lungs ‘ ! I LOVE LADY GAGA TILL DEATH!’ over and over agin HISTERICLY and crying because she saw a lady gaga video…now she cant talk HEY BUT I LOVE HER TWO HAHAHA.”- Lady Gaga Facebook fanGaga single handedly represents the independant woman and is a dominant & devoted feminist representative. Her fans are the most adoring of all fans & it seems that through her stage presence and her mere actions, she believes in & loves every single one of them. "Look what I did last night. Little monsters forever, on the arm that holds my mic."

Lady Gaga gave MTV the opportunity of a lifetime when they were able to interview her & revealed the most personal & deepest parts of herself to the nation. The interview, so perfectly named "Inside The Outside" gave viewers an insight into a parts of Lady Gaga which they never thought they'd see, exploring her strong family relationship & her musical roots which started from a very young age.

Born This Way Foundation

http://bornthiswayfoundation.org/
Lady Gaga and her mother Cynthia Germanotta, have created a foundation to encourage and help todays youth to provide them with a safer environment to grow up in.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/opinion/kristof-born-to-not-get-bullied.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=generalc

Here is a link to an article reviewing the launch of the Born This Way Foundation by NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

A Culture Of Resistance

Lady Gaga is a huge representative of the resistance towards social norms and male dominance. She stands alone fighting against a patriarchal run society with the extremeties of her fashion demonstrations.

Another dominate female example of this resistance to male dominance is American Singer Nicki Minaj. Who can be closely linked to the likes of other extreme and world famous artists such as Lil Wayne & Drake. Nicki Minaj is famously known for her brash lyrics & her ever changing style.


Nicky Minaj caused uproar when an old photograph of her was leaked onto the internet, showing the girl she once was. Nicky Minaj has had vast amounts os surgery and body modification in order to look the way she does now, from a bottom implant to a boob job, Nicki Minaj has had it all. This vast change in Nicky Minaj's image can be linked to the theory of the "male gaze" by Laura Mulvey. Women are seen as objects of desire for men, therefore the way in which they present themselves and the way in which they are represented in the media, reflects this desire.

Similar to Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj also does a great deal of charity work & for the fourth year in a row has changed "black friday" to "pink friday" in order to raise money for breast cancer. As both artists are representing themselves alone and fighting for better things, this reinforces their independance as females, that they do not require the dominance or stability of a man in order to provide for others. In some respects they are the alpha "females" of todays popular culture. http://mypinkfriday.com/charity

http://necolebitchie.com/2010/07/06/nicki-minaj-talks-diss-records-friends-gimmicks/

Alter Ego One Too Many

We are already aware that Nicki Minaj has an extreme personality, however it appears there is not just Nicki Minaj that oozes these extremities. She has created alter egos for herself. These alter egos consist of COOKIE, HARAJUKU BARBIE, NICKI MINAJ, NICKI TERESA, ROSA, MARTHA ZOLANSKI and ROMAN ZOLANSKI.

Roman Zolanski is Nicki Minaj's most recent alter ego which features on her new album "Pink Friday Roman Reloaded" Nicki minaj quotes that Roman is her twin brother and he only comes out when she is angry, claiming that Roman was born inside her like a demon. Nicki Minaj had a very chaotic and troubled upbriging, due to her parents constantly fighting, which led her to create these alter egos in an attempt to escape reality and become something else, using fantasy as her reality.

 "The new album is going to have a lot of Roman on it ... And if you're not familiar with Roman, then you will be familiar with him very soon. He’s the boy that lives inside of me. He's a lunatic and he's gay and he'll be on there a lot."


This use of alter egos by Nicki Minaj can be seen as a similar cry for help as we know came from Britney Spears. Both stars are attempting to escape from the harsh pressures of reality, and by creating alter egos Nicki Minaj is living life as another person, as a way of protecting herself from the pressures of the media.  This can be further analysed and linked to the theory of gatekeeping, whereby a person limits the information they give to others, restricting themselves from what they let others see and learn about a person. 


Here are some examples of Nicki Minaj's alter egos, starting with the 
Harajuku Barbie. . .

 

Martha Zolanski (fairy godmother)

Roman Zolanski

Nicki Teresa