Controversy
AllMusic concluded "the problem is not with Katy's gender-bending, it's that her heart isn't in it; she's just using it to get her places, so she sinks to crass, craven depths". Slant Magazine agrees, saying the song "isn't problematic because it promotes homosexuality, but because its appropriation of the gay lifestyle exists for the sole purpose of garnering attention — both from Perry's boyfriend and her audience".
Adam Holz of PluggedinOnline, a division of Focus on the Family, wrote an article entitled "A Tale of Two Katys" about the singer's image transformation from a Contemporary Christian music artist to one of the "girls gone wild". He criticizes the song for being the latest, "high-profile message to young women and men that our sexuality is a malleable commodity that can be reshaped at will". Holz also argues that Perry's message carries with it "no need to worry about who might get used or objectified in the process", causing Perry to live "down to a damaging, demeaning stereotype".
In some areas of the world, the song's lyrics have kept it from reaching the Top 40 or even being released at all. The song is banned in Singapore. Though the Toronto Star describes it as "a lesbian-friendly tune", whether homophobia fuels negative reactions to the song or the song itself appears to divide critics. Slant and other critics suggest that Perry may be homophobic, especially given her single "Ur So Gay", which makes "I Kissed a Girl" seem like "a classic example of the 'Guys kissing is gross, girls kissing is hot' line of thought," which promotes hypersexualization of queer women and demonization of queer men. MomLogic.com writer Vuv-A-Licious agrees, asking "What's the big deal? ...When this tune is playing and my son and daughter are dancing, I will be trying to dance along, or trying to acknowledge that they may one day dance to the beat of a different drummer than me".
In an August 2008 interview with British national newspaper Daily Mail, Perry's mother, Mary Hudson, an evangelical Christian preacher, was reported as saying that she disliked the song, stating: "It clearly promotes homosexuality and its message is shameful and disgusting..." However, Perry took to her official blog stating that her mother's supposed comments were completely fabricated, while also saying her parents love and support her and attend many of her shows.
Regarding the question of her own sexuality that the song has raised, Perry told Santa Barbara magazine "I like to kiss boys, but there is no doubt in my mind if Angelina Jolie or Gisele Bündchen came a callin', who wouldn't pucker up?" In an interview on the blog The New Gay, Perry admitted she has never actually kissed a girl and is heterosexual. She is quoted as saying "Yeah, it’s fantasy, it’s a song about curiosity." However, in a separate interview in 2010, Perry stated to a female interviewer that she has kissed several girls. Also, in the May/June 2011 issue of Vanity Fair, Perry admitted that the reason she didn’t discuss it honestly at first because a couple of “sleazy” male journalists made her uncomfortable, she stated: “So I said no, I hadn’t experienced it, even though I had, because I didn’t like where the guys were taking the interviews".
During December 2008, openly bisexual singer Amanda Palmer performed a skit at several concerts where a Perry look-alike made her way to the stage and began singing "I Kissed A Girl", only to end up being groped, kissed, and fondled by Palmer and comedian Margaret Cho. The skit ended with the two forcing a bound and gagged Perry into a faux wedding with Palmer. On her blog, Palmer mentioned that the piece was meant as a protest against Proposition 8, and claimed to wonder if Perry was exploiting homosexuality to sell her music.
In February 2009, Márcio Barros, a substitute English language teacher in a Distrito Federal, Brazil public school was fired after he used the song in a class activity among students aged 12 to 14. He was accused of promoting "homosexualism" and alcoholic beverages usage through the lyrics of the song. The Secretary of Education supported the decision of the head of the school.
Read more about this topic: I Kissed A Girl
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