The music of US pop tart Katy Perry is impossibly, annoyingly catchy, whilst the lyrics clearly position the star as a heterosexual with very firm ideas about what it means to be ‘male’ or ‘female’. This positioning allows Perry to sing lyrics which provoke ideas around sexuality without fear from the public that she may actually BE a deviant, or worse, a queer. Is this helpful in opening discussion about sexuality and gender, or does it close down communication and reinforce tired stereotypes?
I argue that the majority of the songs of Katy Perry reinforce notions of Heteronormity/Heteronormality; the social structures which encourage people to identify as ’straight’ and discourage them from having an alternative sexual orientation or gender identity.
An example of heteronormality is described in this essay, quoted below
Regardless of how an individual behaves in other contexts of his/her life, every time he/she encounters a new person (outside specifically GLB settings), that other person will assume that the individual is heterosexual (heteronormality). The GLB person will thus have to decide once again whether to correct that assumption and deal with whatever reaction the other person might have or to let the assumption persist and thereby present himself or herself as a heterosexual in that encounter.
In her ‘hilarious’ song ‘You’re So Gay’, Perry paints a clear picture of her attitude to the ‘camp’ male. The lyrics associate homosexuality with specific personality traits and music/clothing tastes that Perry deems unlikeable. The crux of this song is that the pitied male she is singing about isn’t a homosexual at all, he just doesn’t conform to her masculine ideal/stereotype.
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.
Chorus
You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys
Perry further reveals her thoughts on gender in the song ‘Hot and Cold’ in which she sings
You change your mind
Like a girl changes clothes
Yeah, you PMS like a bitch
I would know
Here she compares this specific male to what she believes are ‘female’ attributes such as in interest in fashion.
At this point, I may have painted Perry as perhaps a little less informed than the ordinary pop star. She challenges this in debut her song ‘I Kissed A Girl’
I 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
Here Perry makes the bold statement “I kissed a girl and I liked it” before quickly justifying her deviance with “Just to try it”. Perry is quick to confirm her heterosexual status by informing us that she has a boyfriend; she wouldn’t like to be thought of as a lesbian.
It is worth bearing in mind a fact from Perry’s heavily publicised background; her father is a priest. Such teenage ‘rebellion’ clearly sells records, whilst remaining comfortably in the mainstream. Whilst the undeniably catchy songs of Katy Perry are ‘pop’ music and thus supposedly ‘a bit of fun’, it is remarkable that Perry is happy to present herself so thoughtlessly in order to make a buck.
I hope that if Perry is lucky enough to be granted a second album, her, or more likely her writers will consider their narrow minded views on gender, sexuality and identity and stick to writing danceable pop music that doesn’t offend. These labels are outdated and it should be acknowledged that these constructs do not allow for fluidity in the identities that we each portray each and every day.
For the record, I too kissed a girl. And i liked it.
Michael
Very good writting!