IDS Activists and Viva Glam Spokesmodels Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper's Slightly NSFW Interview

MAC's commitment to AIDS activism is no joke—they're one of the world's biggest corporate donors to AIDS-related charities and research. The MAC AIDS Fund has donated more than $150 million dollars over the years, and works with corporate partners and nonprofit groups (like God's Love We Deliver) to bring real relief to people living with HIV and AIDS.

'Forgive Me for Being Blunt': AIDS Activists and Viva Glam Spokesmodels Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper's Slightly NSFW Interview . Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga were announced as the new spokeswomen for the MAC Viva Glam campaign. As spokespeople, both Lauper and Gaga have designed signature lipstick colors (Gaga's is an icy, bubblegum pink; Lauper's is a warm, striking red), on sale for $14 each. All proceeds go to the MAC AIDS Fund.

Past Viva Glam spokeswomen have included Mary J. Blige and Fergie, with some celebs more committed to the cause than others. It sounds like Gaga and Lauper (and, really, can you think of a more perfect paring?) might be the best duo yet. Not only do they both represent a target demographic at specific risk for HIV infection, they're both very passionate and a little loopy—which makes for earnest activism and very fun, bold interviews.

"They're the real deal," says Nancy Mahon, a senior vice president of MAC Cosmetics and executive director of the MAC AIDS Fund. "They're really interested and engaged, and they really want to make a difference. They are really using their celebrity status to get the word out, and they appeal together to any girl or boy from the age of 7 to 73. There's equally as many 12-year-olds that love Cyndi Lauper as gay men in their 70s who love Lady Gaga."

The idea, though, is to appeal specifically to women: the rate of HIV has tripled in U.S. women since 1985, and more African-American women between the ages of 18 and 35 die from AIDS-related complications than from any other illness, according to the MAC AIDS Fund. (MAC also announced yesterday that they're donating $2.5 million to female-focused AIDS efforts.)

In November I sat down to talk with both women about the meaning of AIDS activism, their hope for the Viva Glam campaign, and why lipstick can change the world. Excerpts from our interview are below:

Cyndi, you’ve been involved in this from the very beginning. How has the public interest in this cause changed over time?

CL: Well it’s not the public interest; it’s the effect of this disease on the public. It was always perceived as a gay disease but it is not … Now it's morphed. It's young women, African-American women—and my demographic, 39 to 60, women who are divorced or widowed or alone and need someone, and become so overwhelmed because they've been starving for so long that they make a mistake. So the thing with this lipstick—our hopes are that you can put it on and remind yourself, Did you take that condom with you?

LG: My mom gave me my first lipstick. My favorite moments with my mother, growing up, was when she would roll her hair and then give me a roller and say, "Here’s your blush and here's my lipstick," and we'd end up with the same colors in the end but mine would be over here [points to the side of her cheek] and hers would be perfect. I want mothers to buy this for their daughters. I want you to buy it for your best friend—

CL: Like a rite of passage, when you get your first lipstick, and your mom can tell you, "You know, you can contract a disease. Don’t put the lipstick on and not remember."

LG: Lipstick in a way is a sexual symbol. It's your femininity, and it's seen in society as a seductive instrument—it's a way to lure a man or to lure a woman. But when you give that to your daughter, say, "Listen, this is it. It's a tool. This is your femininity. I wear it and you will wear it too, but let me explain to you what it defines, and what you have to do to protect yourself." And what we want to do this year is put the emphasis on something that you're purchasing, and not only saving the life of the women that the money is going towards, but saving your friend's life that you’re giving it to. We want the lipstick to be a reminder: "Hey, where’s your condom. Is it in your purse?"

Lady Gaga, do you feel that women in your generation are uneducated and almost uninterested in AIDS?

LG: It's still perceived in many ways as a gay disease—and it's not. What I've experienced is the phone calls from friends of "oh, my God, I went out last night," and "what did I do?" and "I shouldn’t have," and it's not funny. And we need to rip into each other as women when that happens. Forgive me for being so blunt but it's not talking about [sex] on the phone with your friends anymore. It's a really serious issue. I sing about sex all the time, I'm very sexy in all my videos, I'm very provocative. But I'm smart, and you’ve got to be smart.

CL: Right now in the Bronx and in D.C. the African-American young women who are affected—the highest rate of death among 18 to 25 is AIDS, and that's outrageous because in this country, in this day and age, it doesn't have to be this way. People think that they're exempt, and no one's exempt.

What do women and girls need to feel empowered in their sexuality?

LG: You need friendships, really good friendships with friends who tell you the truth.

CL: And support. And you need to have a condom with you—

LG: At all times when you’re going out.

CL: Give each other the lipstick. Make it like a little cause: "Here, protect yourself."

LG: Give it to each other.

CL: Respect and protect. Happy people don't self destruct—Harvey Fierstein said that.

LG: You know, instead of saying "did you use a condom?" say "did you have the lipstick with you?"—if you’re ashamed to ask in that way, let's, like, make it into a code. I really want women, please, to swear on your own lives that you're going to carry that with you through the night.

There have been a lot of investments in the female condom. They've made it a lot better recently. Have either of you tried it?

CL: No, I never did. I've been married for 20 years.

LG: I'm excited to test it out, and I'm looking forward to our lipstick colors being on condoms all over the world. ( newsweek.com )