July 25, 2008
I kissed a girl…but don’t worry, I’m not gay
Ever since I heard Katy Perry’s song, I’ve been critical and annoyed. I intended to write about it but so many others have already done so, and their views pretty much align with mine, so I thought I’d make a few comments and link to other awesome posts critiquing the song.
I, like many others, see this song as a representation of the casual, non-threatening, “girl-on-girl” performative play that dominates the representations of women’s same-sex attraction or desire. It plays on the exact stereotypes about bi or same-sex female desire that I discussed in my recent post about Tequila’s Shot at Love. The song’s message is that after a little alcohol, I can make out with another female; I may have liked it for a woman’s softness, scent, and feel, but don’t worry, I don’t plan on dating one. Kissing a girl is something “fun” to do, not anything serious that my boyfriend would be worried about–it’s all fun and games and something to do when you’re drunk at the bar.
On many blogs people ask if this is a remake of Jill Sobule’s song from the 90’s, that was very transgressive at the time. It’s not–it’s nowhere near close. Consider:
Sobule:
I kissed a girl, won’t change the world
But I’m so glad I kissed a girlAnd we laughed at the world
They can have their diamonds
And we’ll have our pearls
I kissed a girlFor the first time
I kissed a girl
And I may do it again
Perry:
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 innocentI kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
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’m pretty frustrated that this song is so popular. Its message is not at all daring, and really isn’t at all queer-positive, but instead actually reinforces the status quo vis-a-vis female sexuality (performing as lesbian for male desire, that it’s “hot” for women to casually play around with chicks, but don’t worry, they’ll always come back for a Man), and it is actually a dangerous co-opting and erasure of queer female sexuality.
I was even more annoyed that this song was played at Saturday’s Gay Pride celebration here in Rochester, NY. One interesting thing: almost all the people I saw singing along were…men.
Other Smart posts about this song:
landslide1 @ feministing community
Cortney @ Feminism/Popular Culture
…7/29: I just stumbled on this one I had bookmarked a while ago from show me your wits!
May 6, 2008
Where are all the sexy men?
OK, so I’ve been writing a bit about sexual representations recently. It’s not on purpose, just what I’ve read about recently. I’ll try to get to a new topic soon :-). Yesterday I stumbled on 2 articles that speak to the post I’ve written recently about the disparities in publicly eroticizing men’s and women’s bodies.
The first one speaks to the idea that concepts of ‘sexy’ by default refers to women’s (not men’s) bodies. Forbes.com has an article titled “Hollywood’s Sexiest Celebrities.” Guess what? They’re all women.
My first thoughts were: Is it because when we’re making top lists of sexy people, sexy “people” implicitly and really means “women”? Or is it because Forbes.com doesn’t think any men are sexier than these 15 women? But no, these were taken from an E-poll, not a single person’s choice–and the top male, Matthew McConaughey weighed in at only 41st. What does this say about what or who we consider ‘sexy’? Is it that women are “really” sexier than men? Or is it that “sexy” has been defined in terms of women? I at least think part of it must be that we are provided with sexualized images of women quite frequently, where actual images of celebrity men all sexy, posed, and scantily clad is significantly rarer. So why would we even think of men when asked about who’s “sexy” when their bodies are less than accessible (in magazines or films) and hardly on the radar? Read the rest of this entry »
April 15, 2008
Badu’s Advice for Female Music Artist-Hopefuls is Great Social Commentary
Terrific tongue-in-cheek ‘advice’ from a wonderful, respectable, talented, independent, kick-ass female music artist. Her words speak loads. via 5 Resolutions
April 2, 2008
Another "music video" worth watching
I feel like I’m on a roll with more positive stuff, and I want to take a minute to say how important it is that we acknowledge media, representation, cultural production that “does good.” For one thing, it’s important for being balanced, and another thing, I tend to get down in the dumps when sexism and inequality seems to be so depressingly pervasive. We all need to see, cheer for, and encourage moments of positivity, resistance, and humor wherever we might find them.
So check out this video (after the jump), which presents a more honest version of those crazy love/romance songs, but is also a commentary on the difference between how our culture represents ideal sex and romance and how it more usually happens.
(One song/video disclaimer: not that its “realism” is an acceptable excuse for men not investing the time to be lovers who aim to please and not just be pleased, but take it for the humorous commentary that it is).
March 29, 2008
The Best Music Video I’ve Seen, like,..EVER
Wow, looks like this song isn’t at all new, but it’s new to me, and all I can say is…WOW. Very moving and very right-on. The only thing I would change is…the name. Because I would never say the girls who buy into the message that women are only as valuable and worthwhile as they are “sexy” and are sexually available are “stupid” (or the guys, as the vid is a critique on their significant participation in it too-after all, whose expectations is this all for?)…but somehow “stupid patriarchy” or “stupid culture” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. So WORD! to Pink. Smart is sexy, and I’d say she’s right up there. So, eat this up!
(NOTE: nothing after the jump)
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don't ya wish your girlfriend was smart like me? 