Lana Del Rey fired back on Thursday at accusations that songs like “Ultraviolence” and “Summertime Sadness” glamourize abusive relationships in her songs.
“I’m fed up with female writers and alt singers saying that I glamorize abuse when I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all seeing are now very prevalent emotionally abusive relationships all over the world,” the singer wrote, in a message shared on Instagram.
“Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, f -** king, cheating, etc can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money — or whatever I want — without being crucified or saying that I’m glamorizing abuse?”
Del Rey denied that her “lyrical exploration detailing my sometimes submissive or passive roles in my relationships” has “set women back hundreds of years.”
She wrote: “I’m not not a feminist – but there has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me – the kind of woman who says no but men hear yes – the kind of women who are slated mercilessly for being their authentic, delicate selves, the kind of women who get their own stories and voices taken away from them by stronger women or by men who hate women.”
Del Rey insisted her songs about relationships are “honest and optimistic.”
The singer ended her missive by sharing the news that her new album will be out Sept. 5.