Sunday, July 13, 2008

And I like it

It's a guilty pleasure. I really like "I Kissed a Girl" by Katie Perry. It has a really good beat. And it's kind of a fun, naughty song.

The problem is, I find myself singing it softly in the grocery store, in the airport security line, in Starbucks. Then I realize that I'm singing, and what I'm singing, and I look around frantically, to see if anyone has heard me and mistaken me for, er, a girl who kisses other girls...and likes it.

The funny thing is, this song would never have made it on the radio if the genders were reversed and if it was sung by a boy:
I kissed a boy and I liked it
The taste of his cherry chapstick
I kissed a boy and I liked it
I hope my girlfriend don't mind it
Why is that? Why can a girl sing about kissing another girl and we love it, but no one would ever - has ever - heard a song about a boy kissing another boy. I don't know whether I should be insulted from a feminist point of view (is it OK for a women to be an object, a plaything and not for a man?) or a social one (do we favor lesbians over homosexual men?). Maybe I'm reading too much into the song.

In the meantime, I'll continue singing it (softly) to myself and hope no one comes to conclusions about my feminist or social points of view, based on the song I'm singing.

2 comments:

Martha said...

I agree with the catchyness (is that a word and/or spelled correctly?) of this tune. She sang it on So You Think You Can Dance? the other night. I was drawn to the music, but then remembered what she was actually singing about and was conflicted about if I should like it or not :) Plus I was a little disturbed by the fact that the entire performance was clearly recorded, so I aws annoyed with that the whole time :)

X Curmudgeon said...

I understand that Katie Perry was in a Christian rock band before going out on her own, and that her daddy is a preacher.

So, are her parents proud of her success, or are they disgusted with her song? (Do they feel so wrong, but feel so right?) (Hey, she does say she has a boyfriend in the song.)

It is a tough song to get out of your head.