Lady+Gaga

=  LADY GAGA ; Kelly McCauley =

 “I’m already crazy. I’m a fearless person. I think it creeps up on you. I don’t think it can be stopped. If my destiny is to lose my mind because of fame, then that’s my destiny. But my passion still means more than anything.” — Lady GaGa / April 05, 2010 It is overwhelmingly evident that Lady Gaga is definitely passionate about something. Internationally recognized for her unique musical style, exceptionally ‘creative’ presentation and vividly distinct personality, it is safe to say Lady Gaga is a major entertainment figure of our generation. After her bloody VMA performance that shocked viewers everywhere, it is clear she has come a long way from her quaint, sheltered Catholic lifestyle in Manhattan…

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known as the provocative ‘Lady Gaga’, was the eldest born to Joseph & Cynthia Germanotta in Yonkers New York on March 28, 1986. This current American singer, songwriter and performance artist grew up in a very strict Catholic Italian family in an exceptionally wealthy area of Manhattan. Always with a passion for music, she had the ability to play piano by ear at age 4 and was playing in concerts not long after. Along with other big names, such as Paris Hilton, Lady Gaga attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private Roman Catholic institution in New York City. Throughout her time there, she studied classical piano, and sung in a classic-rock high school band. When asked about her high school years, Gaga always talks about being a ‘freak’ or feeling like she had to work hard to ‘fit in.’ Others describe her as being extremely dedicated, disciplined and studious as well. Despite getting accepted early admission to New York University at age 17 with intentions of pursuing her interest in music and songwriting, Gaga eventually opted to drop out two years later. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Gaga explains this decision by saying “Once your learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself.” Subsequent to her time at NYU, Gaga supported herself as a waitress and made her musical name by dancing in clubs and singing at various dive bars on the Lower East Side. In time she found herself involved with drugs and performing at drag bars. Her bizarre entertainment style and unique passion was a large pill for her father to swallow. There was a stretch of time where they didn’t speak because of his reaction to her work. In an interview with her in Cosmopolitan magazine she says, “I’m an outsider. I’ve always been delusionally ambitions to the point where people don’t understand me.” In this case, even her own family struggled to comprehend her rare passion. Although initially signing with Def Jam Records at age 19, Gaga was eventually dropped and found her way to Interscope Records where her career ultimately sky-rocketed. It was here that the name “Lady Gaga” was born. While attempting to come up with an appropriate stage name, she was inspired by the Queen song, “Radio Ga Ga.” In a strange series of events, a text message saying ‘radio ga ga’ was auto corrected to ‘LADY gaga’ and it remained the same ever since. Soon after signing with Interscope, Gaga landed a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV. It was during this time, Lady Gaga found herself working with many of her childhood idols and inspirations. Britney Spears, New Kids on the Block, Fergie, Akon and the Pussycat Dolls are only a few big names she has had the privilege of collaborating with. It wasn’t until 2008 that Gaga was finalizing her debut album ‘The Fame’ in Los Angeles California. The genres incorporated on this album consisted of everything from ‘Def Leppard drums’ to electric dance. To assist in her commencement of ‘The Fame’, the ‘Hause of Gaga’ was formed. The Hause of Gaga is the term Lady Gaga uses to address her creative team. At first formed by her close friends, it has now expanded into a major publishing company for her music. It is the Hause of Gaga that collaborates to generate outfits, stage sets, themes and sounds. In many interviews, Lady Gaga refers to them as her go-to people when she has imaginative bursts. ‘The Fame’ was a huge success and peaked in the top five albums in many countries including the United States and United Kingdom. ‘Just Dance’, the albums lead single, also found itself on the top of many charts throughout the world. Gaga performed internationally with The New Kids on the Block in fall 2008 before she began her North American ‘Fame Ball Tour’ on March 12, 2009. Following this tour, Gaga released the Fame Monster, only consisting of eight ‘darker’ tracks. This was an exceptionally rewarding year for Lady Gaga as she received five Grammy nominations and walked away with three awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Dance Recording. Along with being a rapidly growing musical sensation, Lady Gaga is also a very generous contributor and charity worker. In an interview with Oprah she discussed her then upcoming performance, ‘The Monster Ball’ where all of her proceeds would go directly to aid those affected by the disaster in Haiti. Furthermore, she has recently joined Cyndia Lauper and MAC cosmetics to construct the VIVA Glam campaign to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS to women. This program has raised over $160 million dollars and had an immense impact of educating women throughout the world of the severity of the AIDS virus. Lady Gaga is an exceptionally motivated and unique individual. Her vivid personality on stage is only a narrow representation of her genuine being. Gaga is exploding with creativity and passion. She describes herself as a visual person who puts tremendous thought into her every performance. Many would illustrate her as ‘provocative’ and ‘artificial’ but she argues strongly on the contrary. She doesn’t act the way she does solely to grab attention, she wants to send a profound message to her fans. When Oprah asked what that message was, Gaga proudly stated, “ I want my fans to be able to free themselves, be proud of who they are, celebrate all the things they don’t like about themselves.” Considering herself a freak as well, Gaga says she will celebrate with them. Her authentic connection with her fans is a major contributor to her success and will allow her to continue that success in the future. She is undisputedly a one-of-a-kind woman and encourages others to discover and celebrate their individuality as well. It is impossible to eliminate all negative myths and stereotypes that craft artificial stigmas surrounding stars in the spotlight, but Lady Gaga proves to be a true artist and sincere person. Succeeding her interview on ABC, Barbara Walters told her, “Your not at all what I expected, you’re much, much more.”

 **Trait & Skill Approach**  Aside from her internationally recognized top of the chart music, Lady Gaga is also widely known for her incredibly vivid and ‘strange’ sense of style coinciding with her a-typical personality. The trait approach in psychology is defined as the use of a limited set of adjectives or adjective dimensions to describe and scale individuals. This seems like a narrow method in which to define a population, especially one consisting of individuals like Lady Gaga. Carl Jung was a main contributor to this trait approach when he engaged the terms extroversion and introversion in order to describe personality. According to Jung, “extroversion refers to an orientation toward things outside of one’s self, whereas introversion refers to a tendency to turn inward and explore one’s feeling and experiences.” After watching a Lady Gaga performance, one may be quick to assume her to be completely extroverted due her unprecedented and peculiar entertainment ethic, however after doing extensive research into her background I hold a different position. Jung argued that a person can be both introverted and extroverted, however one can hold more dominance than the other. In the case of Lady Gaga, it appears her enthusiastic, energetic social able extroverted side is present when she is on stage, and her quieter, more personal self is apparent otherwise. In interviews with Oprah, Barbara Walters, Ellen and Cosmopolitan magazine, Gaga was described as surprise to all of them. She herself acknowledges the difference in her personality on and off stage, “My friends joke that I’m dead until I get on state, I’m dead right now as you’re speaking to me.” When speaking during interviews her voice is quiet and humble. She describes her fairly normal childhood and constant desire for creative success as anyone else would. Nevertheless, the minute she steps on stage, she explodes with an entirely different performance energy. She engages in tantalizing and considerably erotic dances in strangely provocative costumes. One performance that stands out significantly is her performance of her hit song ‘Paparazzi’ at the 2009 Video Music Awards. In this particular act she pretends to die a bloody death that some considered to be disturbing and ‘satanic’, but ultimately it is a stunning portrayal of extroversion. Another way to break down Gaga’s personality via the trait approach is with the ‘Big Five Personality traits’. Agreeableness and openness greatly apply to Gaga to the extent of her being cooperative and friendly as well as imaginative and artistic. Proof that Lady Gaga is high in agreeableness is apparent during one on one interviews, especially when she addresses her dedication and appreciation of her fans. She discusses her unconditional love and gratitude she has towards them and intensely stresses the message she wants to send. Her vulnerability is clear when she reflects on her childhood where she says she felt like an ‘outsider’ and a ‘freak’. She seems warm and trusting when she relays the message that she wants to ‘free her fans’ from that feeling and allow them a space to be uniquely themselves within her music. Evidence that Lady Gaga is extraordinarily high in openness is unequivocal the second she steps outside. Her attitude toward style and appearance is strong and she uses that to her advantage. In an interview on March 31, 2010, Gaga states, “When I meet celebrities and they’re in casual clothes, I’m always like: ‘Whaaat?’ I don’t mean to be judgmental, but it would do them better to be who they really are, all the time. This is really who I am all the time. When I get out of a car and there are 30 fans waiting for me, I know I’m dressed the way I should be. There’s a reason they have that emotional reaction.” She has been spotted wearing a completely transparent dress with nothing but plastic bubbles for coverage, a Kermit the Frog ‘suit’ and various revealing leotards. Her creativity exceeds her bizarre attire and is also evident in her music videos and live performances. Along with her ‘Hause of Gaga’ she puts a great deal of thought and effort into everything she does. Her ideas are continually flowing and she says sometimes she has to be tamed down.

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**Humanistic Approach The concept of humanism emphasizes the personal worth of an individual and the centrality of human values, therefore the humanistic approach to personality reflects particular concepts of ethics and one’s personal worth. It is in this approach that creativity, spontaneousness and active nature are taken into account when analyzing one’s personality. The idea of self fulfillment despite despair and failure is also recognized and touched upon. Carl Rogers was a main contributor to this approach with his ideas regarding responsibility, growth and inner control. He strongly believed people develop in a positive direction until they eventually reach their full potential. This approach can be applied to Lady Gaga in more ways that one. First off, from a very young age she recognized her dream of becoming a performer and fought her way to the top. Despite being temporarily banished by her father, and being dropped from her initial record deal, Lady Gaga was able to construct and maintain beneficial ties to aid in her success. Although she seemed to have struggled to find her niche in high school, it is that misunderstood uniqueness and creativity that now drives her flourishing career. In an article in Cosmopolitan magazine from April 2010, she talks about a former love that clearly didn’t believe in or support her. “I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song, and that he hoped I’d fail.” Instead of allowing this type of response to damper her ambition and ruin her goals, it fueled her to make an even bigger name for herself. Nothing was going to stop her from achieving what she knew she wanted. **  The concept of becoming ones self was a major player in Carl Roger’s theory. He accentuated the paramount importance of coming to terms with our ‘own nature’. He stated that a healthy personality has the ability to trust their own capacities and recognize their differences from others. Through Rogerian Therapy he hoped to get individuals to be proud of simply being themselves and disregarding the expectations of others. Based on his preachings, Carl Rogers would be proud of who Lady Gaga is. She is an image of individuality and self-worth. Rather than dwelling on her differences from others, she celebrates them and encourages others to do the same. It is no surprise she is variant from any other celebrity right now. She is confidant and domineering enough to allow her genuine self to prosper through her music and personality. When faced with conflict and dejection, Gaga acted through optimism rather than aggression. This is what Rogers would describe as maintaining her own humanity.

 Ultimately it is Lady Gaga’s unparalleled originality and inventiveness that sets her apart from other musical icons of our generation. Her immense passion for her cause and love of her fans sets the stage for her success. She has quickly made a big name for herself, going from dancing in drag clubs and dive bars to taking home three Grammy awards and topping billboard charts around the world. Based on the Big Five Personality traits, Lady Gaga should be considered high in both openness and agreeabless, as well as possessing certain aspects of extroversion and introversion. She is also an exceptional reflection of the goals of humanism. After looking into her history and analyzing her experiences, it turns out Lady Gaga is much deeper than the bizarre characters she depicts on stage, she is a genuine artist and aspires to be a role model for her young fans. “A glamorous life is different to a life of luxury. I don't need luxury. For years I was practically broke, but I was still very vain and glamorous. And I still am.” Lady Gaga