Lady Gaga has announced she’ll be bringing the “Born this Way Ball” concert in New Zealand on June 7.  This reminded me that I had heard she had launched an anti-bullying foundation under the “Born this Way” banner recently. It turns out that the official launch is February 29. So far, all we have is some teaser information on these web pages and Facebook page. At the soft launch event in November, a few details were announced. The Foundation will be a collaboration between Lady Gaga, Harvard Berkman Centre for Internet and Society, the California Endowment, and the MacArthur Foundation.

Even ahead of the official launch – and further detail, you can find plenty of knockers of the Born this Way Foundation. Some suggesting it will just basically repeat the It Gets Better project. The general “concern” being that these initiatives appeal to people working around the youth space, but have very little actual impact on bullying.

That criticism misses the point. As stand alone initiatives, the Born this Way Foundation and the Its Get Better Project won’t reduce bullying. Most tangible progress happens thanks to organisations and people who work “at the coal face”. Some of which get quite bitter about their lack of attention relative to Lady Gaga. However, the reality is that high profile celebrities such as Lady Gaga can shine the light on this issue much more so than those organisations can. In turn, that spotlight makes it easier for organisations and people working at the coal face to make progress.

Whatever the foundation directly achieves - Gaga is a massive star. Young people (and many not so young people) will listen to her when she talks about her bullying experiences.  And importantly, she bounced back from those experiences to be the massive star she is today. This is all good stuff for people working in this field.

And you know – music can be a powerful tool for change. Maybe people will hear Born this Way and respect themselves and others a little bit more.  And then maybe – just maybe – it gets better.

Be Sociable, Share!

•