Lana Del Rey: A Romanticization of Abuse

               I love Lana Del Rey. She has been one of my favorite singers for the majority of my life. I listen to her pretty much every day, Hover, in spite of my love for her,  I am still able to recognize that some of the messages she puts out are very problematic. She has many fans who are as young as ten years old. I believe that the messages she sends are especially not good for all the little girls who listen to her.
             For one, Lana seems to have a infatuation with the "aesthetic" of Lolita. For background information, Lolita is a novel about a pedophile who marries a woman only to get at her 12 year old daughter. He then takes her away on a road trip across America to fulfil his sick pleasures. Lana mentions her in many of her songs. Multiple songs depict the story of a young girl and a much older man refered to as "daddy". Their relationship is almost always depicted as toxic and abusive. There is an obvious inequality in power which is intentional. She even compares herself to her in her liking for older men. This makes me wonder, did she even read the book? Does she truly know what she is promoting? I know for certain that it is not something good to put into the minds of her young listeners.
              Lana also romanticizes domestic abuse in relationships in her music. A song which stands out to be in particular is Ultraviolance. The name on it's own speaks for itself.  The lyric which still blows me away is "He hit me and it felt like a kiss". I don't know if she is speaking from her own experiences but either way, glamourizing something like that is not okay. This song depicts her love for him throughout all the abuse he inflicts. She professes her love to this unknown man and says "he hurts me but it feels like true love" Whether she is being serious or not, I don't thing its a good thing to put out into the world. Things like this could give many young girls the wrong idea about what a healthy relationship is supposed to be.

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