Lady Gaga’s ‘meat dress’ on display at DC museum

Lady Gaga's infamous raw meat dress that she wore to MTV’s 2010 Video Music Awards is going on display in Washington D.C. 

The dress is one of 250 artifacts that make up the "Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power" exhibit at the National Museum of Women in Arts, reports Entertainment Weekly. 

The exhibit is part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland's national tour tracing the evolution of women pioneers in rock 'n' roll and their impact on music, reports MSN Music. 

Curator Meredith Rutledge-Borger told AP that the exhibit is part political statement, since it features "first ladies of rock" who are outspoken on women's rights, gay rights and other issues through their music.

"This really is the center of our political life," Rutledge-Borger said during the Washington opening. "Bringing this exhibit here kind of redefines what's important in our history and political life … at a time when there's talk of women being under attack in politics."

The touring exhibit will also feature items from rock history's most famous ladies including Cher, the B-52s, Donna Summer, Stevie Nicks, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna, reports MSN.  

For Gaga, the meat dress wasn't just about shocking fans. She told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres in 2010 that she wore the dress to protest the U.S's ban on gays serving openly in the military. 

"If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones. And I am not a piece of meat," she told DeGeneres. 

The raw meat dress won't be rotting and stinking on display, though. It has been dried and repainted to match it's original color.