Blahna Del Rey or Lana Del Rage? Local Ladies Weigh In on Lana Del Rey

Hawking a hypocritical brand of feminism, Lady Gaga last year told Howard Stern that women shouldn't have sex until their twenties. But most 13-year-old fans won't receive that message from her scantily clad stage gyrations. Whether you buy into or resent Del Rey's image, at least she's consistent. If she wanted everyone to like her, she'd grant more interviews, go on tour, and talk about why she's dressing like Betty Draper. Her shrouded personality, avoidance of usual arenas for live performance, and blatant disregard for feminist politics have helped secured her bizarre rise to fame. Pulling our leg or not, Del Rey's handlers are PR geniuses.

Nicole Nodland

Conclusion: Lana Del Rey is perfectly acceptable and people should quit whining about her

"The music industry is the equivalent of a group of gossiping soccer moms in suburbia," says publicist Tatyahna Cameron, 20. "Who cares who got their lips done? Sensationalism will always be there because people will always have too much time on their hands. In a year we'll be talking about some other 'controversial' chanteuse with flowers in her hair."

"I was going through a breakup when Lady Lana came onto my radar and in times of heartbreak any distraction is welcomed," says video director Heidi Petty, 28. "I fell into an LDR K-hole of interviews, blog controversy, lost love, and porn lips. Love her or hate her, nobody can deny her appeal, or we wouldn't be talking about her."

Ironically, this whole Lana Del Rey hullabaloo has illustrated the impotence of music critics. Despite the barrage of negative press, her barely week-old record Born to Die is topping charts and selling by the thousands. So tweets Del Rey herself: "Thank you for making the record #1 in 11 countries. Your sweet words have softened the effect of even the harshest reviews. I adore you."

From the array of responses we received, we can't say whether or not the feeling is mutual. But we have no doubt that there'll be a line around the block at Amoeba Music tomorrow. Whether it'll be made of true fans, curious rubberneckers, or sinister voyeurs, is of course, impossible to say.

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