Katy Perry defended over ‘I Kissed a Girl’ lyrics despite people realising how ‘problematic’ they are
Music is something that people listen to so they can vibe and relate to the lyrics, but an old Katy Perry song has been equally called out for being 'problematic'.
Of course, it’s none other than her famous 2008 hit, ‘I Kissed a Girl’.
You might remember when the song was dropped as it raised a lot of eyebrows at the time.
Perry wore various dresses, heels and tights for the music video and was surrounded by women who were dressed the same as she sang about ‘cherry ChapStick’.
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While some members of the LGBTQ+ community weren’t happy about the lyrics, due to a number of stereotypes regarding women on women relationships and bisexuality in general, some hailed it as an anthem that helped them come out.
Taking to Reddit to debate whether the raunchy track has aged well, considering Perry’s significant LGBTQ+ following, there were mixed reviews.
On one hand, people said they could appreciate that it was 2008, and bisexuality was often shown to be female promiscuity, or a fetish for both men and women, without any commitment to actually exploring their sexuality.
Remember the lyric 'you're my experimental game'?
However, some thought it was also quite damaging when Perry sang the line ‘I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it’, which implies that she is being unfaithful.
In the comments, one person claimed that while it’s not great lyrically, it’s better than the alternative music we’ve been handed over the years.
They wrote: “It's a bit catchy with some yikes lyrics but it is what it is. Barely even registers on the fetishizometer compared to a lot of the s**t cishet dudes engage in.”
Someone else explained that they didn’t like the song due to its controversial messaging: “Performative bisexuality by a woman who was discussing her own experimentation with her sexuality. This results in it feeling male gazey to a lot of people but also very queer to many others... and sometimes even both.”
However, others believed it was all we were given to celebrate being openly queer, with one user writing: “That was in my youth and it was pretty much the only modern openly gay song available at its time.
“Of course, standards of acceptability change, but when there isn't anything else available...”
Another agreed that it changed how we spoke about sexualities through mainstream music, adding: “Even when it came out, reactions were pretty mixed. The lyrics definitely play on the 'Straight girls kiss other girls to experiment' stereotype.
“But it was also incredibly rare then for mainstream pop songs to have LGBTQ themes at all, and hearing it on the radio was definitely significant for many young queer people at the time, myself included.”
Did you know that Kesha was in the music video too? I bet you didn’t.
Perry also recognises how far behind the times her lyrics were and told Glamour that if she could, she’d edit it to reflect how she feels today.
In 2018, she shared: "We've really changed, conversationally, in the past 10 years. We've come a long way. Bisexuality wasn't as talked about back then, or any type of fluidity.
"If I had to write that song again, I probably would make an edit on it. Lyrically, it has a couple of stereotypes in it.
"Your mind changes so much in 10 years, and you grow so much. What's true for you can evolve."
Topics: Katy Perry, LGBTQ, Music, Celebrity
Britt Jones