Lady Gaga’s has praised Pink for using the MTV Video Music Awards to share an inspiring story about her six-year-old daughter Willow’s self-image issues.
Pink went on stage at the glitzy event, which was held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Sunday (27.08.17), to collect the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award from Ellen DeGeneres.
And the 37-year-old star took the opportunity during her acceptance speech to share a heart-warming story about her young daughter – her child with her husband Carey Hart – who questioned her mother about her looks, prompting Pink to reassure her that beauty is not something that needs to define a person.
The ‘Just Give Me a Reason’ hitmaker said: "Recently, I was driving my daughter to school and she said to me, out of the blue, ‘Mama, I’m the ugliest girl I know.’
"She was like, ‘Yeah, I look like a boy with long hair.’ And my brain went to, ‘Oh my God, you’re six. Where is this coming from? Who said this? Can I kick a six-year-old’s ass?’
"Her eyes glazed over. But then I said, ‘I really want to know why you feel this way about yourself.’ And Willow replied, ‘I look like a boy.’
"I told her that when people make fun of me, that’s what they use, that I look like a boy … I have too many opinions … My body is too strong. Do you see me growing my hair? Do you see me changing my body? Do you see me selling out arenas all over the world? So, baby girl. We don’t change. We take gravel in a shell and we make a pearl, and we help other people to change … You, my darling girl, are beautiful and I love you."
Gaga, 31, watched Pink’s speech and was very inspired by the way she dealt with such an awkward situation for a mother and believes her readiness to share the parental experience with such a huge global audience is a sign of how the world is changing when it comes to issues of self-esteem and body image.
Speaking to GLAMOUR, the ‘Born this Way’ singer said: "When I started out 10 years ago, things were very much about everybody being super-perfect and glammed up [and] everything being clean and beautiful and a sort of very particular perception of a woman. I was always very against that; everybody always thought I was dressed weird or artsy or too creative. And then over the years everyone artistically loosened up in their own ways.
"Now I see all kinds of avant-garde visuals and very unique senses of style for a lot of women. I think that’s how we’ve changed, and I don’t think I was the only person to do that. There were many of us, and it’s nice to see. It’s important for women to feel like they can break away from any particular image. Pink talked about that at the MTV Video Music Awards. I really like what she said about her daughter."
Gaga hopes that things continue on the same path and that as the years go by there is more equality for women in the world.
She added: "I hope that we can continue a process of healing, as well as a process of continuing to help each other. More education for women. More jobs for women. More equal opportunities for women. More women to be taken seriously. And I think more than anything we wish to be heard and not to be shut down. I think this is a good thing to think about for any community; what is important is that our voices be heard and not swallowed in an abyss of history."
Lady Gaga praises Pink’s MTV VMAs speech
