Lady Gaga
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music and image. To some, this dichotomy contravenes the concept of outsider culture. Writing for The Guardian, Kitty Empire stated that the dichotomy allegedly "allows the viewer to have a 'transgressive' experience without being required to think."
Public image
Contrary to her subsequent outré style, the New York Post described her early look as like "a refugee from Jersey Shore" with "big black hair, heavy eye makeup and tight, revealing clothes." Gaga is a natural brunette, however she bleached her hair blonde, because she was often mistaken for Amy Winehouse. She often refers to her fans as her 'little monsters' and got a tattoo with that inscription as a tribute. She has another six known tattoos, among them a peace symbol, which was inspired by John Lennon who
she stated was her hero, and a curling German script on her left arm which quotes the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, her favorite philosopher, commenting that his "philosophy of solitude" spoke to her:
Toward the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashions of Lady Gaga and recording artist Christina Aguilera, noting similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up. Aguilera later said she was "completely unaware of [Gaga]" and "didn't know if it [was] a man or a woman." Gaga released a statement in which she welcomed the comparisons, due to the attention providing useful publicity, saying, "She's such a huge star and if anything I should send her flowers, because a lot of people in America didn't know who I was until that whole thing happened. It really put me on the map in a way." Comparisons continued into 2010 when Christina released the music video of her single "Not Myself Tonight". Critics noted similarities between the song and its accompanying music video with Gaga's video for "Bad Romance".
Gaga attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her gay fans and is considered to be a rising gay icon. Early in her career she had difficulty getting radio airplay, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community. I've got so many gay fans and they're so loyal to me and they really lifted me up. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them. It's not an easy thing to create a fanbase." She thanked FlyLife, a Manhattan-based LGBT marketing company with whom her label Interscope works, in the liner notes of her debut studio album, The Fame, saying, "I love you so much. You were the