Kind of a popular topic lately, isn't it ? Lots of song,
lots of talk. Usually, I'd welcome that, being an obvious
proponent of gay right and all the related jazz. But I'm
angry. Why am I angry about all the song and all the
talk, you ask ? Because it's all backwards.
Regarding rights and acceptance, it's become obvious
that western society seems to be marching backwards
hell-bent on wronging some rights. Don't believe me ?
Well, let's have a look at exibit A, a song called
"I kissed a girl"... Not by Katy Perry, but by Jill Sobule,
in 1995.
I like this song. It's happy. It's positive. It's all about
self-discovery and finding the right life, the right person,
regardless of gender conventions. It's about love.
No
overblown drama, no angst, just a happy little bit of
love.
Key phrase: "I kissed a girl, won't change
the world, but I'm so glad I kissed a girl"
See, that's a good one because it sums it all up. It's
no big deal. It won't change society. It's just what
some of us silly humans need to be happy. This is the
right message.
Now, as much as I'd like to avoid it, let's have a look
at exibit B. You know what's coming, I know
what's coming, let's cut to the chase.
Quite a different affair, isn't it ? Even the video shows
the differences clearly. No playful silliness, no bright
colors. Instead, we get our standard "sinful decadence"
setting and bodies moving seductively in slow motion
while the almost-threatening club beat stomps away.
And what does Miss Perry tell us about it all ?
| No, I don't even know your name It doesn't matter, You're my experimental game Just human nature, It's not what, Good girls do Not how they should behave My head gets so confused Hard to obey |
Key phrase: "I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it"
Yep. She even... Actually, scratch that. This is
clearly a designer piece. Marketing. Not the
effort of a musician. So....
They even had the nerve to include that boyfriend
line, just in case that, heaven forbid, somebody actually
thinks that we have a real lesbian on our hands. Eww,
no ! Who'd like a girl who doesn't fuck boys ? We
clearly can't have that.
The implications are clear.
Thirteen years after Jill Sobule got it all damn right,
we're back to looking at lesbian relationships as
nothing more than a forbidden kink. A porn movie
fantasy. "Woah, look at what a naughty, naughty slut
I am, boys".
Way to go, Katy. Way to go, Capitol Records.
I hereby congratulate you for your valiant efforts
in setting both the movements of gay and women's
rights back by at least thirteen years. Your contri-
butions to the ongoing effort of reducing women
to vapid and disposable sex objects have inspired
many.
I'm sure that all the homosexual (and bisexual and
heterosexual, for that matter) women of the world
will be eternally grateful for greedy assholes like you
and your crafty ways of making tons of money by
spreading their sexist and condescending image of
women.
If any of these women happen to be inclined to express
their gratitude with the aid of torches, pitchforks and
possibly baseball bats with huge nails driven through
the top... Would you mind a guy who's just itching
to tag along ?
4 comments:
LOVE this blog entry. I haven't heard anything this insightful in a long time, especially not in a blog, where common topics include "OMG" and "LOL".
Thank you so much for sharing.
And thank you very much for the kind words !
It's weird. So many people are so willing to buy into this crap. Not to mention that Katy Perry is trying to be this on the fringe singer with tattoos and the Betty Page look, but she's really angry and throws this hate around at people for no reason.
Like in Kissed a girl, lesbian relationships are yucky except for hookups to be kinky. There's Ur So Gay, a song about a guy she thinks is gay or something, and the entire song is her being angry at him for not being "man enough". Then there's hot and cold, where she just whines about how another guy doesn't want her.
It sounds like her personality, or at least her persona, is all about how she wants everyone that she loves to love her back unless they are just some dirty lesbian hookup. Ur so Gay, Hot and cold, and uh fuck I try to not to listen to her but they're all "I like you but you're a faggot".
Katy Perry is a terrible singer/lyric writer.
First of all, thanks for your comment!
I think that a lot of that songwriting that happens with Kate Perry is formula. Angry "Grrr, men suck" stuff tends to sell surprisingly well, all the way back to Gloria Gaynor (against whom I hold no grudge, she didn't know what she started/revigorated).
And I'm actually afraid that all the anger against the supposedly-unmanly man is part of that formula. I mean, if you look at the political climate globally and particularly in the USA (which is obviously the creamy center of the target audience), you will find that homophobia is still going strong. And it's more polarizing then ever. So it's not that hard to imagine that some f'ed up producer would actually put homophobia on the list of things people identify with.
And this is just starting to get into lyrics that cater to attitudes of positively horrible human beings. Maybe I should blog more and make that a series.
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