[pullquote quote="That kind of venom is what I attracted when we first came out. Everyone called me a fake even though I'd been in bands for a decade." credit="Shirley Manson on Lana Del Rey"]Despite the plethora of negative backlash after her controversial Saturday Night Live performance, the “gangsta Nancy Sinatra,” Lana Del Rey, defended her performance and told KROQ in an interview, “I personally liked my performance. I like what I do. I like how I sing. I’m just a little bit freaky.”

Shirley Manson, who gave her theories to why women are not being adequately represented in alternative rock in another interview with KROQ, agrees with Del Rey.

In a brief interview with Vanity Fair to promote Garbage’s upcoming album, Not Your Kind Of People, Manson said that she felt she was judged similarly to Lana Del Rey at the beginning of her career. She also voiced her respect for pop provocateur, Lady Gaga.

[pullquote quote="She's beautiful. She's really talented. She's the real deal, and I think that's threatening to people. She clearly has an aesthetic and clearly has worked hard before she got to this point in her career."]In an interview with Vanity Fair, Manson reaffirmed her feelings on the regression of modern femininity in rock music and said that she has sympathy for the often-targeted Lana Del Rey. In fact, she feels their musical journey shows similarities.

“I’m looking at what’s happened with Lana Del Ray, and I feel sympathy for her,” said Manson. “That kind of venom is what I attracted when we first came out. Everyone called me a fake even though I’d been in bands for a decade—everybody was really on our back. We weren’t “real,” whatever that f**king meant.”

In an interview with KROQ, Lana Del Rey gave her definition of what “real” is.

“By the very definition of authentic, it means you are real,” said Del Rey. “And I really have done everything that I said I did do. I think the kids know that. The rest is just a story that somebody else made up.”

In response to what the  “driving force” is “behind the Lana backlash,” Manson said it’s because Del Rey is the “real deal.”

“She’s beautiful. She’s really talented. She’s the real deal, and I think that’s threatening to people,” elaborated Manson. “She clearly has an aesthetic and clearly has worked hard before she got to this point in her career. She has a past? God forbid, they lambasted her for having a musical past. It’s good she’s failed and she had the wherewithal to try again. Shouldn’t we be applauding her for that?

Manson also has a “lot of respect” for Lady Gaga for her artistic sensibilities.

“I love her and have a lot of respect for her,” said Manson about Gaga. “She came around at a time when we all needed something like her. She was fun but she brought a little bit of much-needed art-school pretension to what had become a little like watching auditions for Broadway.”

[Source: Vanity Fair]