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Ex-Sonic Youth member originally criticised the singer in an early draft of her book
Former Sonic Youth musician Kim Gordon has discussed recent comments she made about Lana Del Rey in an interview with author Bret Easton Ellis.
Gordon recently appeared on Bret Easton Ellis' podcast, discussing, among other topics, a deleted extract from her recent memoir.
Gordon released Girl In A Band in February. An early draft included an extract that suggested that Del Rey "doesn’t even know what feminism is". It also urged the singer to "off herself".
The extract read: "Today we have someone like Lana Del Rey, who doesn’t even know what feminism is, who believes women can do whatever they want, which, in her world, tilts toward self-destruction, whether it’s sleeping with gross old men or getting gang raped by bikers. Equal pay and equal rights would be nice. Naturally, it’s just a persona. If she really truly believes it’s beautiful when young musicians go out on a hot flame of drugs and depression, why doesn’t she just off herself?"
Now, Gordon has explained that the comments were fuelled by Del Rey's public falling out with Kurt Cobain's daughter, Frances Bean, after she promoted suicide as glamourous. She also suggested that her book had made Del Rey "even more famous".
Gordon told Ellis: "Initially it was about just seeing something in the paper about, um — or online, I say the paper — about saying something about rock and rock stars should just like kill themselves with drugs, and Frances Bean had really reacted to that and I felt really actually weirdly protective of Frances. And I just started thinking about well, I mean obviously Frances, does she really think that’s her? It’s a persona. She’s just saying this.
"So I was basically just trying to point out that it was a persona and I just offhandedly said what I said, just kind of laughingly... I guess I could have articulated the whole thing a lot better... I've only really seen one video with her hanging around with these older biker dudes and I just think that if the music was more interesting then I would like it, but it's so conventional. That's why it's popular, because it appeals to broad bases."
In the same interview, Gordon criticised the 'girl power' pop movement of the late '90s, saying: "I remember I was actually disturbed by the Spice Girls because they took the word girl power and it was used in the most ridiculous way. And Coco was two or three or something, so she hadn’t been exposed to the spice girls but yah I wasn’t really into it because Britney Spears, I mean some of its fun but then its like, really the music I cant listen to."
Gordon also commented on Chrissie Hynde's widely criticised remarks about rape victims, saying: "She doesn’t realise that she’s written this book and people are going to read it. It’s one thing to have this dialect in your mind but as far as I can see, I think a writer should have protected her a little more, like let’s maybe articulate that a little more. But maybe that’s her stance for herself and she isn’t looking at herself like she’s this icon and she’s supposed to be responsible, and you can’t just ruminate."
