What is glitch aesthetics? 

Steven Shaviro’s concept emphasises how digital disruptions shift normative media expectations, creating the space for alternative media and perspectives. This is primarily done through fragmented visuals, image distortion, and non-linear narratives (Shaviro, 2017). 

Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” (2011) subverts heteronormativity through glitch aesthetics and excess. The music video, directed by Nick Knight, combines surreal visuals and symbolic storytelling to create a feminist and queer utopia where it “doesn’t matter” if someone is different. The digital editing and manipulation of bodies and environments, paired with abrupt shifts in tone and style, make the video a world of “continual agitation” (2017, p. 55), thus reflecting Shaviro’s glitch aesthetics. They contrast conventional media forms, which symbolise a rejection of restrictive societal norms and binaries.

Born This Way — Official Music Video. Performed and written by Lady Gaga, directed by Nick Knight

A prevalent theme in Gaga’s 2000s pop discography was challenging expectations and norms and fighting oppression. Her music and the videos accompanying them were calls for acceptance, as shown in her videos “Paparazzi” and “Telephone”.

Caetlin Benson-Allot argues that Gaga’s work demonstrates how refusing narrative integration can introduce “feminist glitches” into visual digital media, using disruption to critique heteronormative and patriarchal order. The “digital stutter” is a metaphor for these feminist glitches, representing the oppressive established systemic control and stereotypical representation (2013).

The feminist spectacle is evident in the exaggerated, heavily stylised visuals—from the intergalactic, cosmic setting to Gaga’s androgynous or revealing styling, and the incorporation of queer bodies highlights fluidity in gender, sexuality, and identity. Furthermore, the lyrics and visuals reinforce the idea of liberation from systematic oppression, encouraging self-acceptance and celebration of queer identities. This drives against heteronormative practices in mainstream media and represents the shift the digital age has on inclusivity and representation.

Gaga wrapped in chains, symbolising control and oppression.

References:

Benson-Allot, C. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Sound and Image in Digital Media. “Going Gaga for Glitch: Digital Failure @nd Feminist Spectacle in Twenty-F1rst Century Music Video.” Oxford University Press. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199757640.001.0001. [Accessed 26 November 2024]

Shaviro, S. (2017). Glitch Aesthetics. In Digital Music Videos (pp. 51–75). Rutgers University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1pwtdmg.5

Hafiza Khanom | 33758006