Gwen Stefani's Conservatism Is No Surprise to Longtime Fans
Stefani is a celebrity who has gotten away with being apolitical. Her star rose when being the sole woman in a band was feminist enough.
Few people were cooler than Gwen Stefani in the ‘90s and early ‘00s.
In 1996, Stefani and her No Doubt bandmates had the year’s biggest hit with “Don’t Speak.” The song spent 16 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 and was a ska Trojan Horse, if you will.
“Don’t Speak” stood out on Tragic Kingdom, the band’s third studio album. Consumers who purchased the album for the band’s hit single were treated to a ska smorgasbord, with songs like “Excuse Me Mr.” that mirrored previous albums like The Beacon Street Collection.
During this era, all eyes were on Stefani.
Of course, women like Debbie Harry of Blondie and Shirley Manson of Garbage held their own as frontwomen in all-male bands, but something about Stefani stuck.
To give credit where credit is due, Stefani is an innovator. She’s spoken often of her fashion roots—creating outfits with her mom and discovering her style through tailoring. She took that foundation to No Doubt, gaining attention for her eclectic, DIY stage ensembles.
As “Don’t Speak” conquered the airwaves, Stefani’s style stood out more and more. At events, she regularly donned a bindi. Associated with India’s core religion and culture, a bindi is a colored dot representing the third eye chakra placed on a woman’s forehead.
Stefani has no personal connection to Indian culture and religion. In fact, she speaks frequently of her Italian-American Catholic roots. Stefani took her bindi inspiration from Lajwanti Kanal, the mother of No Doubt’s bassist, Tony Kanal. Now great No Doubt lore, Stefani and Kanal dated between 1987 and 1994.
This may not have been the first time Stefani used a woman of color to enhance her image, but it was the first time she did so in the public eye.
And because it was 1995, we ate it up.
Margaret Cho warned us
Margaret Cho posted an essay on her website that criticized Stefani.
It was 2005 and nearly a year after Stefani released her first solo album, the bombastic Love.Angel.Music.Baby. The album took Stefani from frontwoman to pop diva, with special thanks to “Hollaback Girl,” which spent eight weeks at No. 1 and is arguably her best-known track outside of “Don’t Speak.”
But back to Cho.
Her essay scrutinized the way Stefani promoted Love.Angel.Music.Baby. and how that promotion affected Asian Americans. Leading up to the album’s recording, Stefani got into Japanese culture, particularly the Harajuku district in Shibuya, Tokyo. The neighborhood is famous for its youth-driven fashion, something Stefani latched onto.
One can see this influence on the album, especially in the very straightforward song “Harajuku Girls.” But, being influenced by a culture is different than fetishizing one, which Stefani did with the album’s promotion.
Oh, Harajuku girls, you got the wicked style
I like the way that you are
I am your biggest fan
“Harajuku Girls”
OK, so. We just talked about Stefani’s bindi era. Well, she went a few steps further and hired four Japanese women to follow her around. The women did not speak and were named Love, Angel, Music and Baby by Stefani.
“…I don’t want to bum everyone out by pointing out the minstrel show,” Cho wrote.
In the essay, Cho made it clear her feelings were complicated.
“Even though to me, a Japanese schoolgirl uniform is kind of like blackface, I am just in acceptance over it, because something is better than nothing. An ugly picture is better than a blank space…”
Nearly a decade later, Cho’s essay resurfaced. During this time, audience standards became higher over what they would not tolerate from public figures. In 2012, after an 11-year hiatus, No Doubt reformed and released Push and Shove.
The band was clearly not ready for these new audiences.
The album was a disappointment for both critics and fans. Bringing even more negative attention to Push and Shove was the music video for “Looking Hot.” Having nothing to do with the song’s core content, the video portrayed Indigenous Americans cartoonishly, enforcing harmful stereotypes.
After receiving instant backlash, the band removed the video and released a statement, claiming the members “consulted with Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California…”
The American Indian Studies Center at the University of California said, “Hold on. Not so fast.”
They swiftly responded with an open letter.
We also want to make clear that, while No Doubt’s apology claimed to have consulted “Native American studies experts at the University of California,” to our knowledge, no such person from UCLA was consulted about the video prior to its release. Nevertheless, in furtherance of our educational and collaborative mission, we extend to you an invitation to engage with the American Indian Studies Center and the Los Angeles Indian community, as we see this unfortunate incident as presenting an opportunity for growth and mutual understanding.
Angela R. Riley, director of the American Indian Studies Center
From there, things just got worse.
GOP Gwen
Bright, red flags surrounded Stefani nearly a decade ago.
Fresh from her divorce from Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, Stefani found new love with fellow Voice judge, Blake Shelton. Those already familiar with how Stefani’s identity evolves with her dating life knew what was ahead. Our ska queen was headed toward a country makeover.
In 2016, Stefani and Shelton released “Go Ahead and Break My Heart,” a country duet featured on Shelton’s tenth studio album, If I’m Honest. The single peaked at No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 13 on Billboard’s Hot Country. Not necessarily a hit, but the track gave Stefani enough steam to go deeper into her country persona.
And you know what’s associated with country music? Conservatism.
During Donald Trump’s first presidential term, Stefani was caught hanging out at an Oklahoma bar with Shelton and former House Speaker Paul Ryan. This meeting happened approximately one year after Stefani and Shelton started dating, with Stefani spending more time in Shelton’s native Oklahoma.
Shelton’s response went the apolitical route, saying, “I don’t do politics.”
Stefani took a similar route, only her response came four years after the photos were taken.
"I've been around forever. I started my band because we were really influenced by ska, which was a movement that happened in the late '70s, and it was really all about people coming together,” she told Paper in 2021. “The first song I ever wrote was a song called 'Different People,' which was on the Obama playlist, you know, a song about everyone being different and being the same and loving each other. The very first song I wrote."
There are three issues with this statement:
Stefani didn’t even co-opt ska correctly. The genre formed in 1950s Jamaica and moved to the United Kingdom thanks to Caribbean migrants, now referred to as the “Windrush” generation. In her quote, Stefani referenced 2 tone, the 1970s movement that combined Jamaican ska and the UK’s emerging punk scene.
No Doubt fans know Stefani did not want to be the lead singer. At 17, she performed background singing duties, with John Spence providing lead vocals. When Spence took his life in 1987, Stefani stepped in.
It says nothing political.
Stefani is a celebrity who has gotten away with being apolitical. Her star rose when being the sole woman in a band was feminist enough. In 1995, singing “I'm just a girl, all pretty and petite/So don't let me have any rights” on the radio seemed revolutionary and not just regular life for women.
Stefani allowed “Just a Girl” to speak for her for years, hiding her from political responsibility. But she no longer needs to hide in a very conservative political climate.
Did you see what Gwen did?
I receive at least three messages whenever Stefani makes major headlines. That’s because Stefani has been one of the few key public figures who helped me feel more accepted since adolescence.
Growing up, I was teased for dressing differently. A pragmatic, anti-status quo child, I thought high-priced brands and fleeting trends were frivolous. Seeing Stefani being praised for her unique fashion sense gave me the message “It’s their problem they don’t like it, not yours.” So, I drew on my limited style—sports tees with flannel thrown over, like a good ‘90s adolescent—and used Stefani as inspiration to fill in the gaps.
Over time, it became widely known that Stefani was the compass for my music and fashion tastes. I even did a dramatic reading of “Just a Girl” in my high school drama class. But people change, and sometimes it’s not for the better.
The irony in Stefani’s situation, however, is that she has changed because she never changes. By taking on Shelton’s personality, she continues the cycle of having a man influence her interests and personal views.
So, when Stefani made headlines in December for pushing Hallow, a Catholic prayer and meditation app, I received a few messages.
Hallow CEO Alex Jones (not that one) emphasizes the app is for everyone, however, it attracts a certain core base. A base that was angry when the brand partnered with a pro-choice Liam Neeson and a base that ran to the app to pray for President Donald Trump after the July 2024 assassination attempt. By doing an advertisement for Hallow, Stefani ultimately aligns herself with the core user base.
Stefani’s fans know who she is by now, as she has told us repeatedly through interviews and lyrics. Throughout her career, she has been vocal about having traditional values. In “Simple Kind of Life,” she aches to be a bride, even donning a wedding dress in the video. In “Six Feet Under,” she hears her biological clock ticking loudly.
Stefani is also not shy about how much she likes money. “Rich Girl” is literally an ode to her lavish lifestyle and “Harajuku Girls” references her “expensive taste.”
You know which party caters to the wealthy and helps protect that wealth?
That’s why I’m never surprised anytime somebody sends me news about Stefani being conservative adjacent. Decades of eating up interviews and memorizing lyrics have prepared me for that moment.
In doing this, I have learned Stefani does not change. Why would she want to? She’s rich, hot and protected by that bubble. Her cultural appropriation has only moderately hurt her career. She brushes off criticism by gaslighting us, suggesting it’s not appropriation, but rather appreciation.
"Everything that I did with the Harajuku Girls was just a pure compliment and being a fan. You can’t be a fan of somebody else? Or another culture? Of course you can. Of course you can celebrate other cultures," she said in a 2014 Time interview.
Over time, Stefani’s anti-accountability stance has become more bizarre than misguided. In 2023, she had the most absurd response to an interviewer I have ever read. Writing for Allure, Asian American writer Jesa Marie Calaor recaps an exchange with Stefani during their interview:
"I said, 'My God, I'm Japanese and I didn't know it.'" As those words seemed to hang in the air between us, she continued, "I am, you know." She then explained that there is "innocence" to her relationship with Japanese culture, referring to herself as a "super fan."
Calaor does a beautiful job of balancing her reporting with how Stefani’s words affected her personally.
“Like Stefani, I am not Japanese. But I am an Asian woman living in America, which comes with sobering realities during a time of heightened Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate,” she wrote. “I am a woman who has been called racial slurs because of her appearance, feared for her father’s safety as he traveled with her on New York City subways, and boiled with anger as grandparents were being attacked and killed because they were Asian. I envy anyone who can claim to be part of this vibrant, creative community but avoid the part of the narrative that can be painful or scary.”
Calaor’s lived experience painted a somber contrast to Stefani’s fantasy. And still, Stefani faced limited consequences other than internet ire.
She’s still booking concerts, still gets headlines for her fashion sense, is still a regular judge on The Voice and headlined Coachella with No Doubt in 2024.
She doesn’t have to change because she never faces any real accountability. In doing so, she can become bolder in reminding us who she really is.
A special thank you goes out to Cami Sorensen for requesting an essay on this topic.
I almost squealed when I saw that you were writing about this. Was very interested to see what you said!
a brand partnership with a Catholic prayer app is crazy