People Don't Think

So Wednesday I was on facebook and I saw this strange drawing of Lady Gaga with a cleft. Um what?!? I really didn't know what it was. It was published by New York Magazine. So I go to their website and find this: "On May 23, Lady Gaga will release her third album, Born This Way, which the humble star promises will be “the greatest album of this decade” and “something so much deeper than … a fucking meat dress.” Since Gaga is all about transformation and the shock of the new, we asked trendsetting fashion and theatrical designers, illustrators, and cartoonists to try to top said meat dress." There is a slide show and in this slide show is the image I saw on facebook. The artists were paid a commission to reimagine Lady Gaga. When I saw this image again after explanation it literally made my stomach turn. This is the image Mr. Tim Hensley came up with:

Seriously?!? This is his way of topping the meat dress? A birth defect through elective surgery? You've got to be kidding me. Nobody chooses to have a birth defect, and if it's "elective surgery" (as stated on the drawing), then it's certainly not a birth defect. Children have to go through surgery, sometimes multiple surgeries to get this repaired. Not only to correct their appearance so they will be accepted by society, but also for functionality. Does he realize that children with clefts have feeding, speech, nasal, dental and hearing problems? I don't know what this guy was thinking! Being born with a cleft is no joke, but I guess this guy thinks it is. I'm really not to sure... like was this meant to be funny? Well, it certainly didn't work, what he succeeded at was pissing a lot of people off! The cleft community is protesting. They started by posting their objections on the New York Magazine facebook page then it started on the New Your Magazine Website. Not sure when it happened, but between the time I logged off Wednesday afternoon until this yesterday morning, New York Magazine deleted all of our comments and published this statement: Note: After consulting with the artist Tim Hensley we've decided to take down his drawing and he is donating his fee to a cleft palate charity. We offer our sincere apologies to the community.


Seems to me like this is just their way of shutting us up. I hope the apology really is sincere. I know some cleft organizations have been notified of it, including Smile Train, AmeriFace and Children's Craniofacial Association. There's even a Protest New York Magazine facebook page. Some cleft Moms I know have been contacting CNN, Fox News and their local news tv and radio stations. It was aired in Atlanta, you can watch here. I don't have that much time on my hands, but I do have the time to blog about it and spread some awareness.