October 1, 2010 -- Vegparadise News Bureau

Burning the Koran or wearing a dress fashioned from raw meat--what's the difference? Both deeds are designed to attract the attention of the media, anger a large number of people, and become the subject of the next day's and week's discussions.

Face it, Lady Gaga and her fans may think so, but she's no prime cut. When she was honored at the MTV Music Video Awards ceremony with eight prizes including video of the year for "Bad Romance," she was festooned with slabs of raw meat that barely covered her assets. Her performance left a bad taste in the mouths of many viewers.

This unabashed meaty display followed another when this half-baked bovine entertainer posed for the cover of Vogue Hommes Japan where she displayed her two briskets and her tenderloin barely shielded by meat. She balanced a fillet of flesh at the top of her head as if to say, "This is the latest in headgear for the fashionable lady." The story in Vogue was titled "Lady Gaga 'The Naked Truth.'"

Surprising was to read the statement by Ernesto Elias of MTV Music and Talent who had the choice task of escorting the Gaga one throughout the MTV Music Video Awards Ceremony. Despite the fact she was wearing 50 pounds of sirloin, her Gaga misfit did not cause him to gag, even though she was facing the heat of the bright lights at the Nokia Theater.

"I actually was able to get a picture taken with her and kinda touched it. It was just your regular old feeling of meat," he said. Elias didn't say which cut he touched. "At first, it kind of looks fake, but at a closer glance, I could tell it was real," he added.

Even Lady Gaga's skyscraper platform shoes were encased with chunks of meat wrapped around them and held together with butcher's twine.

Receiving 13 nominations, Lady Gaga marched to the stage three times to receive awards, each time wearing different costumes. One of the costumes was described by a fashionista as looking "like a large black trash bag."

Appearing on Ellen DeGerenes' talk show, Lady Gaga (née Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) blathered her reasons for wearing her cowed-meat getup. "It is certainly no disrespect to anyone that is vegan or vegetarian," she said. "It has many interpretations. For me, if we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights … we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones." She added, "And, I am not a piece of meat."

Our response to her statement: maybe, you are not only what you eat, but also what you wear! If you want to be treated with respect, don't show up looking like someone's top sirloin dinner.

Ellen, a vegan, is to be commended for her reserve and for not commenting or criticizing Lady Gaga's costume. She even presented Ms. Gaga with a more compassionate choice: a vegetarian bikini and skirt made of lettuce, kale, and broccoli that the entertainer could wear the next time she wants to make a statement.

Since PETA found a dire need to address Lady Gaga's performance at the awards ceremony, the organization issued the following statement that skewered her crass display of flesh:

Lately, Lady Gaga has been having a hard time keeping her act "over the top." Wearing a dress made out of cuts of dead cows is offensive enough to bring comment, but someone should whisper in her ear that there are more people who are upset by butchery than who are impressed by it--and that means a lot of young people will not be buying her records if she keeps this stuff up. On the other hand, maybe it was fake and she'll talk about that later. If not, what's next: the family cat made into a hat? Meat is the decomposing flesh of a tormented animal who didn't want to die, and after a few hours under the TV lights, it would smell like the rotting flesh it is and likely be crawling in maggots--not too attractive, really. The stunt is bringing lots of people to PETA.org to download a copy of our Vegetarian Vegan Starter Kit so I guess we should be glad.

Vegetarians in Paradise is truly astounded by the power and influence of Lady Gaga. In May 2010 Time included Lady Gaga in its annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. In June 2010, Forbes named her fourth on its list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential celebrities in the world; Forbes also ranks her as the second most powerful musician in the world. Hopefully, her fans will not follow her lead in couture.

To try to understand why someone would choose the name Lady Gaga, we decided to consult our American Heritage Dictionary for a definition of the word "gaga." We found the following entry:

1. Silly; crazy.
2. Completely absorbed, infatuated, or excited: They were gaga over the rock group's new album.
3. Senile; doddering.

Our conclusion: perhaps, the name choice was a good one, but this Gaga has a lot to loin.

Vegetarians in Paradise suggests this tri-tip message to our readers. Let's hold a steak-out of Lady Gaga. Don't refuse to buy her CDs and downloads, and don't burn her records or photos. Instead, join us in some virtual reality where we chuck her beefy hindquarter on the barbecue.