Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Open Forum: Is Katy Perry a Hater?

Katy Perry is a singer/song writer who is most notable for her singles, "Ur So Gay", released in 2007, and the worldwide hit, "I Kissed a Girl" which made charts in 2008. Her material has been criticized as being homophobic and misandric.

The lyrics to "I Kissed a Girl"

This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion
It's not what, I'm used to
Just wanna try you on
I'm curious for you
Caught my attention

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
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

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

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
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

Us girls we are so magical
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable
Hard to resist so touchable
Too good to deny it
Ain't no big deal, it's innocent

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
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

The Lyrics to "Ur So Gay"

I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf
While jacking off listening to Mozart
You bitch and moan about L.A.
Wishing you were in the rain reading Hemingway
You don’t eat meat and drive electrical cars
You’re so indie rock it’s almost an art
You need SPF45
Just to stay alive

You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys
No you don’t even like, no you don’t even like, no you don’t even like boys
You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys
No you don’t even like, no you don’t even like, no you don’t even like boys

You’re so sad maybe you should buy a happy meal
You’re so skinny you should really super size the deal
Secretly you you’re so amused
And nobody understands you
I’m so mean cuz cannot get you out of your head
I’m so angry cuz you’d rather my space instead
I can’t believe I fell in love
With someone that wears more make up and

You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys
No you don’t even like, no you don’t even like, no you don’t even like boys
You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys
No you don’t even like, no you don’t even like, no you don’t even like

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
La, la, la
La, la, la
Oh, oh, oh
Do, do, do, do, bop, bop, bow
Do, do, do, bop, bop. day
You’re so gay, you’re so gay

You walking around like you’re oh so debonair
You pull them down and there’s really nothing there
I wish you would just be real with me

You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys
No you don’t even like, no you don’t even like, no you don’t even like boys
You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys
No you don’t even like, no you don’t even like, no you don’t even like
You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys
No you don’t even like, no you don’t even like, no you don’t even like
No you don’t even like, no you don’t even like, no, no, no, no, no, no

http://www.katyperry.com

http://www.myspace.com/katyperry

So, what do you all think? Homophobic?, Sexually liberated exploration? Misandric?

Share your thoughts!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Share your thoughts!"

OK!

I say Katy Perry should learn how to write songs, and stop ripping off Vanity 6 ("He's So Dull").

For that matter, take her album off the shelves, and replace it with a reissued version of the Vanity 6 album! LOL

Tc said...

I'd never even heard of her till "I Kissed a Girl," and I first heard that song in a gay bar.

I dunno. One hit wonder, probably. And it was only the beat, and the naughtiness, that made "I Kissed a Girl" worth listening to.

Queers United said...

Scott - I am not familiar with vanity 6.

Thom - It is interesting that gay bars play her stuff, i mean its good, but its obviously homophobic and violent. She isn't a one hit wonder, because her "ur so gay" song was very popular as well. She is just getting more famous with her crap lyrics.

Anonymous said...

"I kissed a girl" feels like it was written by a heterosexual man for masturbation fodder.

It doesn't even pretend to be gay.

It feels pretty retrograde as far as feminism and homosexuality go.

Sofia said...

I second what Anonymous said.

T. R Xands said...

Eh, I agree with Scot, she does need to learn how to write songs.

I can't stand "I Kissed A Girl". It feels so...I don't know, FAKE. Like it's written for 13 year old boys or something. One of the local gay-based programs in my area praised it for bringing making homosexuality/bisexuality more mainstream and acceptable and I couldn't believe it.

And reading the lyrics to "Ur So Gay", I don't know about homophobic but they are kind of retarded. It's like she's trying to be all witty and cute but failing.

I may be biased because I just don't like Katy Perry but those were my thoughts...

S. said...

"Scott - I am not familiar with vanity 6."

QU - Vanity 6 was a short-lived girl group, created and produced by Prince. They only released one album, in 1982.

Anonymous said...

First, I love to discover words that I did not know and had to look up "Misandric"... you don't hear that word as much as misogyny for sure! I have only heard her current "hit" song... catchy... but I haven't read too much into it.

Queers United said...

t.r. - it seems homophobic she is wishing this ex-bf? death

scott - thanks, its before my time but im glad to get a lesson in pop culture =)

bridge - i love learning new words too, actually part of my love for writing this blog is learning in the process. trust me i am no queer dictionary, i love doing the reading and bringing it to readers here.

Anonymous said...

When i heard "I kissed a girl" I had two thoughts. 1) cool that a song about bisexuality made it to the radio. 2) it reinforces the "bi till graduation" stereotype of high school and college girls who make out with other girls as an immature phase that they grow out of.

"ur so gay" is pretty awful, hoping her boyfriend dies from sm. and she's calling him "gay" like i heard people say back in the 90s about anything that was stupid, which i found offensive back then. I'm way out of high school now so I have no idea--is it still around? i hope to God this song didnt bring it back if it went away!

Queers United said...

mike - when i first heard the title of "I kissed a girl" i thought it was gonna be cool as well. Except if you hear or read the lyrics it is evident she insinuates that there is something wrong, "it felt so wrong".

and "ur so gay" is disgusting and blatantly offensive IMO.

Anonymous said...

My partner has said she had to deal with young men like in the song Ur so gay and she can understand the angsty young girl song.

We both laughed at the I kissed a girl song and we both figure she has a few years til she has it together enough to come out. I see a femme in the making.

Queers United said...

Anonymous - I don't think she is bi-curious and going to come out, I think she just meant to be provocative and "naughty" to get money.

Anonymous said...

Ugh, she just annoys me to no end. She's always complaining about something. ("I Kissed a Girl"--hoping her boyfriend doesn't find out about her little "adventures" and promoting the side of America that views girls kissing for attention as sexy, "Ur So Gay"--mad that her boyfriend doesn't like her as much as he "should" so she's trying to be all adorable by showing that he engages in the typical stereotypes of a gay man, and "Hot N Cold", that her boyfriend doesn't like her again.)

She used to be a Christian singer, and I bet that her parents are going insane now. I hope she drops off the face of the earth. Besides, it's obvious that she's copying Zooey Deschanel and Emily Blunt's looks.

Anonymous said...

Don't take the song, or yourself, so seriously. We're so wrapped up in PC these days we forget that music is for entertainment.

Lighten up. Geez - it's ironic that *some* gay people can be so uptight, you should be more tolerant if anything!

Anonymous said...

No point getting worked up. It's a catchy pop-song that kind of borders on the childishness that I always found in that Russian band TaTu, with those two girls, I think they aren't really lesbians. It's all tending to a crowd of girls in puberty, i think, more than guys.

But really, I'm more concerned by all the sexist Rap and Slutty pop music out there, than this outwardly older girl going back through puberty for money.

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