fail: katy perry

i've been trying to write a post about katy perry's new song "i kissed a girl" for about two weeks now and every time i try to sit down and do it, i go off on these crazy tirades that take me far away from where i began. as destiny would have it though, my friend gave me the heads up on some reporter at the chicago sun times writing an article about how katy's song is the new summer anthem and asking for readers' opinions. i wasn't going to respond, but then my friend made me feel it was my queer duty. did i want some college co-ed responding instead about the merits of kissing random girls for free beer at frat parties? not really. so here's what i wrote up and sent to the reporter:


Before even getting into the specifics as to why "I Kissed a Girl" is so problematic, it seems necessary to note that the other song responsible for making Katy Perry popular is her "Ur So Gay," which details her woes of having an "emo" or "indie rock" boyfriend whose masculinity, and later sexuality, falls into question because of both his clothing style and taste in music. As a celebrity who has not gone on record as being anything but straight, we should question Perry's obsession with queer culture and her unapologetic capitalization of it through her music. Straight performers getting rich off of the experiences of queer folks should be as inflammatory as any other kind of exploitation. As far as "I Kissed a Girl" goes, the song is blatantly ignorant in its trivialization of sexual experimentation and of the lives and practices of queer women. This isn't to say that girls kissing girls, regardless of their sexuality, needs to be considered Earth-shattering events, but more so that reducing it to a naughty "game" aimed at getting a boyfriend's attention - a game that, mind you, isn't even worth Perry obtaining her girl crush's name - is just belittling for the many queer women who find significance in kissing other women! The video for the song makes any possibility of its subversion completely impossible by its rendering of girl-on-girl action down to the tired scenario of outrageously feminine women clad in lingerie and fishnets, applying each others' make-up amidst their flirty gyrations. While this demographic of high femmes, or queer women who express their femininity overtly, exists within queer communities and should be rightfully celebrated, it leads me to question whether or not mainstream music and media produced by straight people, Katy Perry now included, will ever actually attempt to represent the breadth of sexual and gender identities within queer women and lesbian communities. I'm not optimistic.

i know there's a ton more to say, but i was trying to keep my comments succinct and comprehensible to mainstream audiences. if she gets back to me and wants to use any of it, i'll press the problem of "trying on" another girl and/or queerness for a night and the ease and privilege straight girls have in giving it a go. also, props to my bestie charlotte for actually growling over that line when i sang it to her on the phone.

for reference:
"i kissed a girl" - video
"i kissed a girl" - lyrics
"ur so gay" - video
"ur so gay" - lyrics