love to hate or hate to love
30 September 2008I have such a complicated relationship with Katy Perry. I like her voice, I just wish she would stop using it to sing such enormously crappy songs. I never got into that I Kissed A Girl song (at least, not so much as Cousin Erin, who ran around her office singing it for weeks on end in flagrant disregard for the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy {she works for/ with the Army. I’m still really not sure what she does, actually. Something with money, and infared goggles. Which, at the end of the day, may be more than many of our family members know about my job. Whenever I try to explain what I do, someone winds up thinking that I individually visit every Target store in the country to discuss children’s books. And then I go “But there are 1,647 of them.” And then they stare blankly at me}) and when I was working through my emotions about it with Little Brother Peej I said that I knew I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t sure why, and he said “because she seems to think lesbianism is a tourist attraction? Is that why?” which sounds good, so I’m going with that.
But then this stupid Hot N Cold song came out and I went and effing downloaded it, even though I know it’s bad for me. I would never call myself a feminist because I think that once you start doing that you have to start killing your own bugs and opening doors for yourself and buying your own dinner and I’m not ready to give up in those arenas just yet, but there are some people out there creating things (ahem, Stephanie Meyer) or merely existing (ahem, Sarah Palin) in a way that I think is generally bad for women. And Hot N Cold is one of those things. The opening lines are “you change your mind like a girl changes clothes/ and you PMS like a bitch I would know,” and I can’t even tell you how many things are wrong with that. Wait, yes I can. You’re saying that changing your mind and being emotional are both inherently female qualities and that both are bad. Thanks, Gloria Steinem. I also had a real problem with her cover of Like a Virgin at the VMAs where she changed the words to “Like a Jonas/ With your promise ring next to mine” because, come on, who rags on the Jonas Brothers like that? They’re just a bunch of sexually nonthreatening teenage boys trying to preserve their virginity, when did that become a crime?
Still. I rock out to Hot N Cold all the time, but it makes me want to beat myself for liking it.
I emailed Cousin Erin today saying that I had found her christmas present already- I don’t know why someone thought it would be a good idea to make a Katy Perry doll unless, like Erin, they were planning on getting two of them so they could force the dolls to make out while playing I Kissed A Girl in the background.
5 Responses to “love to hate or hate to love”
September 30th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Feminism is just the belief that women are equal to men and deserve the same social, political and other rights. It’s not a list of things you have to do.
But I agree about the radically backward S & S twins. They are bad for all people, not just women.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I would be totally down with the belief as you state it above if people actually took it to mean that, and didn’t use it as a weapon. (cue Jenna Moroney: “my SEXuality!” I know it’s different, but still…. hee).
September 30th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Well, yes. But like you can’t let the crazies have Catholicism, children’s books or the Mets, you can’t let them have feminism either.
I miss 30 Rock so, so much.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Catholicism I might surrender (losing battle), but you totally have a point on the Mets and kids’ books.
“Do you like Phil Collins?”
“I’ve got two ears and a heart.”
October 7th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Do tell how Stephanie Meyer is bad for women? I haven’t read her books.
Agreed that feminism is just believing that we have the same rights. At the same time, don’t let The Man label you!
Since you are a fan, perhaps you caught this performance : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zxygLwZUPQ&feature=related She apparently is an awful performer! Also, I have a big issue with wearing girly/sexy clothes ironically, because the end result is you’re still showing off your boobs and revealing a dangerous amount of thigh no matter how sarcastic you’re trying to be while doing it.