Lana Del Rey Live Performance: A Postfeminist Analysis
This paper proposes a concept for a Lana Del Rey live performance rooted in the imagery of "Born to Die" and analyzes it through two theoretical lenses: Rosalind Gill's seven features of postfeminism and Richard Dyer's notion of stars as specific images. The performance design — featuring American flag backdrops, gendered costume juxtapositions, a mechanical bull, and surveillance-themed staging — is interpreted as a postfeminist reclamation of sexual power. The essay argues that Del Rey's fabricated, highly sexualized persona allows her to internalize and redirect the male gaze, appropriate masculine symbols, and assert female individualism and empowerment within the structures of patriarchal popular culture.
- Performance Concept Overview: Proposed stage design blending Americana and gendered symbolism
- The Body, Beauty, and Sexual Power: Del Rey's body as postfeminist source of power
- The Gaze: Internalization and Control: How Del Rey controls and redirects the male gaze
- Surveillance, Irony, and Independence: Surveillance imagery and ironic reclamation in performance
- Stars as Media Texts and Structured Polysemy: Dyer's theory applied to Del Rey's constructed persona
- Manufactured Identity and Postfeminist Reclamation: Del Rey's self-invention as postfeminist act
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What makes this paper effective
- Seamlessly integrates two distinct theoretical frameworks — Gill's postfeminism and Dyer's star theory — applying both to a single, unified performance concept rather than treating them as separate analyses.
- Grounds abstract theoretical claims in concrete, specific performance choices (the mechanical bull, rocket launcher imagery, costume juxtapositions), making the argument accessible and well-illustrated.
- Maintains a consistent analytical voice that neither uncritically celebrates nor dismisses Del Rey's persona, instead treating it as a deliberate, ironic construction worthy of serious cultural analysis.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied cultural criticism: it takes an existing theoretical framework (Gill's postfeminism) and uses it as a checklist-style scaffold, moving systematically through multiple features and mapping each onto specific elements of the proposed performance. This technique shows how theory can guide the design and interpretation of a creative artifact simultaneously.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief creative proposal describing the performance concept, then transitions into a contextual essay that provides the theoretical justification. The essay moves from body and beauty, to the gaze and sexual hunger, to surveillance and irony, and finally to Dyer's star theory and identity construction — building cumulatively toward a concluding claim about postfeminist reclamation of power.
Performance Concept Overview
Drawing from the imagery and themes celebrated in "Born to Die," the proposed live performance presents a pastiche of patriotism. An oversized American flag provides an ideal backdrop for a set of songs, during which Lana dons a series of outfits that invoke several different elements of American culture and history — including cowboy- and western-inspired fringed leather jackets and skirts, elegant but classic denim, and a 1950s retro look complete with old roller skates. Lana also uses a variety of headdresses and accessories, including her iconic flower crown and a Kentucky Derby-worthy hat. All outfits and sets juxtapose classically feminine aesthetics, such as the flower crown, with traditional symbols of masculinity including guns and sporting gear. Throughout the set, Lana dances provocatively with both male and female dancers and rides a mechanical bull and a motorcycle on the stage.
Works Cited
Dyer, Richard. "Stars as Specific Images." Chapter 6 in Stars. New Edition. BFI Publishing, 1998.
Gill, Rosalind. "Postfeminist Media Culture." European Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 147–166.
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