Chola: Lady Gaga and “Born This Way”

Don’t be a drag, just be a queen
Whether you’re broke or evergreen
You’re black, white, beige, Chola descent
You’re Lebanese, you’re Orient
Whether life’s disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
‘Cause baby you were born this way

- Lady Gaga, "Born This Way"

Let's talk about this.

So Lady Gaga’s smashing, self-empowering single “Born This Way” came out a while ago, accompanied by a whatthefucktastic music video that involved boatloads of metaphors and tributes, more imagery than you’ll find being discussed in an English graduate student’s thesis, and more of Gaga running around in shiny faux leather bras and panties (how cutting edge and original).

The single has come under some scrutiny, however, because of its use of the words ‘chola’ and ‘orient’ (among other things). I’m really more concerned with the usage of the word chola, in terms of the fact that is coupled with the idea you should be proud to be of “chola descent,” because to me, that makes chola a type of race, as opposed to a label/lifestyle, which then equates all of the female hispanic community to being of “chola descent,” perhaps then implying they are all cholas.

But wait! Because before we can even go into that argument, we need to figure out what Lady Gaga is talking about. Stupid me, when I heard ‘chola,’ I thought if it in the urban-slang sense that is most commonly used today and the way my people I know use it. Let’s turn to the ever so dainty Urban dictionary to proffer up some definitions:

1. A chola is a firme hyna (latina) that wears a lot of makeup: thick eyeliner, liquid eyeliner on top going out of your eye dark brown or red lipstick and eyebrows drawn on or really thin. We mostly have permed hair with hella gel or straight and arched on top. We kick it with people in our own barrio and not really claiming a color mainly your raza. (Brown Pride) or (Barrio)and wear baggy or tight cloths with nike cortez shoes. 

2. hardcore latina gangbangers. They usually have thin, arched, angry looking tattooed-on or penciled-on eyebrows, brown or dark red lip liner, 'Monroe', eyebrow and nose piercings, tats, Converse or Nikes, flannel shirts, lots of gold jewlrey (with their name and crosses), crunchy gelled or moussed hair either down or gelled in a high perfect ponytail either straight back or gelled in a design, and they go out with cholos.

So basically, a Latina with strong gang associations. This more often than not the way ‘chola’ is used today.

But, perhaps, not how Lady Gaga used it!

Says one person on a Lady Gaga message board, in response to all those silly people who are such tightasses as to get offended by the use of chola, “I hope you realize she is alluding to the Chola Dynasty of Southern India.” As obvious proof, they offer up a link to a wikipedia article on the Chola Dynasty.

First of all, that’s not proof of the fact that Lady Gaga intended to refer to those who have descended from an empire that, according to the convenient wikipedia article, ended its reign in 13 AD. Proof would be Lady Gaga explicly stating, “When I use the term ‘Chola Descent’ I mean those people who are descended from or have cultural roots in a South Indian dynasty.” That’s proof, sir. Otherwise I could go around proving beer is not an alcoholic drink because it comes in the same bottle as root beer.

OH WHAT’S THAT YOU SAY THAT WOULDN’T WORK?

No shit.

But let’s operate under the assumption, for a second, that Lady Gaga is actually quite the history buff and has a certain level of appreciation for a history of Indian dynasties. And she really might.

That being said - is it still right for her to use the term ‘Chola,’ even if it is being used with the intent to instill cultural pride and a feeling of self-empowerment for Indians, when in present day the word is more strongly associated with the Latina gang banger image (and even then, that’s really an image more specific to certain areas of the United States; in other Latin-American countries, the term is read as even more offensive)?

Are we censoring her by telling her ‘you can’t say that’? Well, what if she said the N-word? And I’m not equating chola to the word ‘nigger’ which is a way more charged and offensive term, which is why I’m using it to make this point. What if she said ‘Nigger descent’? And then claimed, oh, I was using it in the 18th century sense, when everyone just tossed the word around and it was no big deal. But you can’t do that, we might say, because the word means a different thing today.

Of course, that isn’t entirely applicable to the case of ‘chola,’ because we’re talking about two different definitions as opposed to one changing definition as in the case of nigger. But Lady Gaga is a huge pop cultural icon and should understand that in pop culture, chola exists, not in relation to the Chola Dynasty of 13 AD, but as a way to label Latina women in what is generally a negative way.

But here’s what I think is the real issue of the case - looking at the people who are defending Gaga in her use of these words:

“What a load of BULL...IT IS BLOODY OBVIOUS SHE'S NOT MAKING RACIAL DIGS! SERIOUSLY, WHY WOULD LADY GAGA MAKE A SONG HAVING A GO AT A BUNCH OF RANDOM GIRLS! I DON'T GET WHY PEOPLE READ INTO STUFF SO MUCH! SHE'S TRYING TO SING ABOUT A NICE SUBJECT LIKE WE ARE ALL BORN THIS WAY AND SHOULD BE TREATED EQUAL NO MATTER WHAT YET EVERYTHING HAS TO BE BLOODY TWISTED!”

“Why don't you stop commenting on everything! How are they easy to make a rhyme? she took time writing and producing this song! Making sure that everyone could feel included in it. You're obviously going overboard. Orient and Chola are only derogatory if you use them that way. She obviously wasn't! You must be a Britney fan. Right?”

“If you just took your hater shades off (I don't know what else to call it), along with all those other people against gaga, and SEE how this woman talks about her fans, and see the LOVE she has for her little monsters, then you would understand.”

“why are people getting so worked up over those lyrics she just telling you that no matter any race you can overcome anything. jesus christ people grow the eff up”

This is the problem. This is why racism exists today. I’m not calling Lady Gaga racist and I’m not calling her supporters racist, but I think someone could make an argument that did so. Here’s what I have to say. Fuck everyone who says "stop making a big deal guys focus on the love of the message it's not racist or offensive" Because people like that, with those view points, are the reasons that acts of less-visible but still very harmful racism are existent in places like our own government. The fact is words like chola have existence beyond whatever your intended meaning is. There are certain connotations and social images associated with a word like chola. Lady Gaga can’t be excused for ‘not meaning it that way’ because then anyone can get away with acts of racism by saying ‘oh it’s a joke’ or ‘oh I didn’t mean it to be offensive.’ What you mean as opposed to what someone interprets are two very different things that are both equally important; you cannot just dismiss those people who do not agree with your vision. ‘Those people don’t see that it’s really about love! Their opinion is not valid!’ That’s where the real silencing comes in.

I don’t care how much love Lady Gaga has for her fans. That is irrelevant to the point, other than that the blind worship people have for her encourages them to disregard the possible racist connotations her song presents. Intentions and meaning only go so far. Art is risky in that once you produce it, it’s no longer yours. It’s free to interpretation, even if that means it is interpreted in such a way as you may have never planned.

And the Lady Gaga fans win. Because either you’re on their side, or you just don’t have any side at all - if you find this song to be racist, then you just don’t understand and need to “grow the eff up.” You have no side because your opinion is not valid.

People need to realize racism is not just old prejudiced white men in bed sheets burning down the houses of black men and women. Those acts of racism are easy to define, and so it’s easy to compare all racist acts to such an archetype, so that we almost have a scale by which to evaluate what’s racist and to what degree. But the really frightening racism is the type that exists in a more coded way, the type that does not blatantly scream ‘I hate these people.’ It’s sneakier and uses different issues and different language to talk about the same thing, and it’s very dangerous. Because that’s the type that seeps into our government.

I’m not saying Lady Gaga hates hispanic people. I think she does try to keep an open mind. But the fact that she would think it acceptable to use the phrase ‘chola descent’ is indicative of a racial, prejudiced society, one in which the racism is so seeped within our society that we’ve internalized certain doctrines that we take to be normal and inoffensive when, on the contrary, they can be quite offensive. So that even Lady Gaga, ‘mother monster’ and torch-bearer of all things that had their lunch money swiped from them in grade school, would not stop to question the true, underlying meaning of what certain words mean in our society today.


Comments were taken from these websites:
http://www.mylatinovoice.com/music-and-arts/13-music/2637-lady-gaga-a-racist-born-this-way-stirs-controversy.html
http://www.ladygaga.com/forum/default.aspx?tid=476787&cid=454