On Lady Gaga's "Pooch": An Open Letter to the Haters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"http:\/\/gty.im\/633951488 If you watched the Super Bowl, then you most likely saw Lady Gaga's amazing halftime performance full of her quintessential crazy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Lady Gaga's "Pooch": An Open Letter to the Haters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"http:\/\/gty.im\/633951488 If you watched the Super Bowl, then you most likely saw Lady Gaga's amazing halftime performance full of her quintessential crazy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ashley Willis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-06T23:04:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/508\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-06-at-5.56.47-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"589\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"322\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ashley Willis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ashley Willis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/\",\"name\":\"On Lady Gaga's \\\"Pooch\\\": An Open Letter to the Haters\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-06T23:04:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-06T23:04:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/#\/schema\/person\/1d52be2d25ecb2155b1339c48b8e46f0\"},\"description\":\"http:\/\/gty.im\/633951488 If you watched the Super Bowl, then you most likely saw Lady Gaga's amazing halftime performance full of her quintessential crazy\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"On Lady Gaga’s “Pooch”: An Open Letter to the Haters\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/\",\"name\":\"Ashley Willis\",\"description\":\"Encouragement for those in the trenches of motherhood and marriage.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/#\/schema\/person\/1d52be2d25ecb2155b1339c48b8e46f0\",\"name\":\"Ashley Willis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/947d2c6f453f05ca6357c152949eadf3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/947d2c6f453f05ca6357c152949eadf3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ashley Willis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/author\/ashleywillis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On Lady Gaga's \"Pooch\": An Open Letter to the Haters","description":"http:\/\/gty.im\/633951488 If you watched the Super Bowl, then you most likely saw Lady Gaga's amazing halftime performance full of her quintessential crazy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"On Lady Gaga's \"Pooch\": An Open Letter to the Haters","og_description":"http:\/\/gty.im\/633951488 If you watched the Super Bowl, then you most likely saw Lady Gaga's amazing halftime performance full of her quintessential crazy","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/","og_site_name":"Ashley Willis","article_published_time":"2017-02-06T23:04:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":589,"height":322,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/508\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-06-at-5.56.47-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Ashley Willis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ashley Willis","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/","name":"On Lady Gaga's \"Pooch\": An Open Letter to the Haters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-02-06T23:04:48+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-06T23:04:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/#\/schema\/person\/1d52be2d25ecb2155b1339c48b8e46f0"},"description":"http:\/\/gty.im\/633951488 If you watched the Super Bowl, then you most likely saw Lady Gaga's amazing halftime performance full of her quintessential crazy","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On Lady Gaga’s “Pooch”: An Open Letter to the Haters"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/","name":"Ashley Willis","description":"Encouragement for those in the trenches of motherhood and marriage.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/#\/schema\/person\/1d52be2d25ecb2155b1339c48b8e46f0","name":"Ashley Willis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/947d2c6f453f05ca6357c152949eadf3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/947d2c6f453f05ca6357c152949eadf3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Ashley Willis"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/author\/ashleywillis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":1780,"date":"2017-02-06T18:04:48","date_gmt":"2017-02-06T23:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sixseeds.patheos.com\/ashleywillis\/?p=1780"},"modified":"2017-02-06T18:04:48","modified_gmt":"2017-02-06T23:04:48","slug":"lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ashleywillis\/2017\/02\/lady-gagas-pooch-open-letter-haters\/","title":{"rendered":"On Lady Gaga’s “Pooch”: An Open Letter to the Haters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

http:\/\/gty.im\/633951488<\/p>\n

If you watched the Super Bowl, then you most likely saw Lady Gaga\u2019s amazing halftime performance full of her quintessential crazy outfits, stunning voice, awesome dance numbers, and jaw-dropping acrobatics. It was even patriotic! I am not a fan of all of her music, but I loved it and felt totally comfortable watching it with my adolescent boys. I\u2019d call it a win. But, when I scrolled through social media afterwards, I was shocked to see so many pics and comments about Gaga\u2019s supposed \u201cpooch\u201d. Really? A pooch?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sigh.<\/p>\n

And, what\u2019s even worse is these nasty comments aren\u2019t coming from guys\u2013they\u2019re from women.<\/strong> Women!<\/p>\n

Why, oh, why do we do this, Ladies? We are our own worst critics.<\/p>\n

And, let me just say, that is hardly a pot belly, or pooch, or flab, or whatever other derogatory name that you want to call it.<\/strong> It\u2019s just skin that is supposed to fold when you\u2019re bending down or dancing your heart out for like 20,000 minutes. Sheesh!<\/p>\n

It just makes me mad and sad and frustrated and a whole host of other feelings. I don\u2019t have daughters, but if I did, I wouldn\u2019t want them to see any of this backlash.<\/strong> I wouldn\u2019t want them to think that they have a pooch because a little skin folds when they lean over. \u00a0And, even if they did have a pooch, I wouldn\u2019t want them to hate themselves for it. \u00a0<\/strong>Bless their hearts\u2013they already have enough criticism coming at them.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/sixseeds.patheos.com\/ashleywillis\/5-practical-steps-for-moms-when-dealing-with-mean-girls\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Ladies, I\u2019m sure most of you are like me and probably didn\u2019t even think twice about Lady Gaga\u2019s supposed pooch, and you, like me, probably thought she looked very fit and amazing. \u00a0I mean, wasn\u2019t it awesome that she was able to flip and sing and dance all in one performance?<\/p>\n

But, Friends, if you got on your social media and hated on her \u201cpooch\u201d, then I just want to point out something that we all need to remember. \u00a0We can\u2019t hate the magazines for airbrushing and altering the supermodels too much, if we\u2019re going to plaster pictures and rude comments about skinny people\u2019s \u201cpooches.\u201d That makes us just as superficial.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s the same impossible standard where no woman can be good enough or pretty enough or fit enough. And, we don\u2019t want to do that to our daughters, our sisters, our mothers, and ourselves.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s stop this madness about Lady Gaga\u2019s \u201cpooch.\u201d She rocked it and dropped the mic. Boom. Game over.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"