Woman’s World: Political Pop for No One [Audio Only]
Added 2024-08-07 17:13:24 +0000 UTCLast month, Katy Perry — one of the most cherished names in pop by millennials and Gen Z — promised her musical comeback in the form of a fiery, progressive feminist anthem. What arrived instead was a soulless, alleged-predator-produced declaration of nothing.
Joined by Nikita Dumptruck, we examine our complex relationships with an American icon, the successes and failures of Political Pop, and the unforgiving life cycle of female pop stars.
Comments
I feel like If I Was A Man by Taylor Swift is a decent example of “purposeful pop” in this way. It’s telling a little more than showing but it tells in a way that was clearly written by a man, it’s more relatable that way. Or even She’s Not Just A Pretty Face by Shania Twain, an older example.
Paige Terhune
2025-07-12 08:28:47 +0000 UTCI think the "you're so gay and you don't even like boys" isn't MEANT to be homophobic but is rather like... confused straight allyship? Very 2005-2012. Very facebook. Very lib. "It's okay to call somsone gay as an insult long as they're not ACTUALLY gay because THAT'S bad!" Hell, it's prevalent STILL with the photoshops of Trump and Elon or Putin making out or wearing lipstick like "You're homophobic but actually YOU are the REAL gays you hate! You're even GAYER than a REAL GAY! In Your Face!" And I don't think it's GOOD and people shouldn't do it but I don't think it's born out of malice towards the LGBT+ community, just straight people TRYING (and failing) to be allies and losing the plot along the way. 2009 brain. Which incidentally seems to be the year Katy Perry still thinks she's in.
Ronin Fredricson
2025-05-03 14:44:19 +0000 UTCThis article is also interesting, but most of it is behind a paywall: https://www.businessinsider.com/katy-perry-nuns-los-angeles-convent-sale-feud-timeline-2019-6?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR4svpARNx2kjCUSprKZyKdaS1DqqWA7Fn0erRUDiXx7KyWDWtdD1WXmlqGG2Q_aem_M_mWwA-WX4UNuNe1KWpcgw
Colleen
2025-04-21 09:58:54 +0000 UTCI'm also 31 and remember hating I Kissed a Girl when it came out. I knew I was queer when I heard at at 15, and was already being dismissed, told I wasn't, told it was a phase or something i was saying for attention. The popularity of straight girls my age using other girls as sexual props for male validation sky-rocketed from this song, which made it all feel so much worse to me, and kind of added a million red herrings to my prospects when looking for other queer women; of exploitative performativity that made me feel used. Because everyone wanted to kiss a girl in front of boyfriends or in public, in the club, etc, but then act weirded out and disgusted if I was too into it, or interested in being with them in private. That felt awful.
Quill Scribbles
2025-01-11 16:33:08 +0000 UTC100% this is what I was thinking. I am about the same age as Nikita, and at the time that Lady Gaga was wearing meat dresses to award shows, Katy Perry was shooting whipped cream out of her boobs, making songs about alien sex, while on her quieter days, she was cosplaying sexy-coy Betty Boop on album covers. idk that it was to empower women any more than it was to just be as outlandish as possible to stand out as much as possible
Uzma M
2024-10-02 16:53:35 +0000 UTCoouu — interesting take!
Matt Bernstein
2024-08-20 17:04:23 +0000 UTCThis was SO interesting, such a great episode! One thing I disagree with though is Witness being an experimental album - I think the main problem with Witness is the exact opposite, Katy just hopped on what were the current music trends at the time but imo first she was just not believable in doing so, and second that’s not what her fans wanted. Moody, dark pop is exactly what was in vogue at the time: it was the time of Lorde, Drake, Halsey, The Weeknd. And it was the time of trap music - which again is the exact opposite of the upbeat bubblegum pop of Katy’s previous records. It’s no coincidence that for Witness she worked with some of the big names of trap music - she invited Migos for a featuring, and Tsunami was produced by Mike WiLL Made It (who worked with artists like Gucci Mane, Future, Rae Sremmurd). When Witness came out it felt so forced and disingenuous, and I think this is one of the main reasons it flopped.
Giulia Laregina
2024-08-20 11:35:52 +0000 UTCthis made me laugh and learn in equal measure- thank you for the work you do Matt! 💜 also I know it’s problematic but the song is kind of hilarious I’m sorry
Cecily King
2024-08-12 23:32:17 +0000 UTCi LOVED katy perry when i was younger, and in some ways i found her “i kissed a girl” and “ur so gay” songs to help me realize that its ok to be queer!! idk thats just my experience though
Jasper
2024-08-08 23:00:50 +0000 UTChappy you enjoyed <3
Matt Bernstein
2024-08-08 17:29:53 +0000 UTChey katy girl, it's your world
Matt Bernstein
2024-08-08 17:29:36 +0000 UTCvery fair! and we love busy philipps. as someone who wasn't a woman during katy perry's ascendance, i can't speak to whether or not she empowered me As A Woman. but her gay moments did hit heavy, and they were certainly a mixed bag
Matt Bernstein
2024-08-08 17:28:55 +0000 UTCMy first impression of this song was that it sounds exactly like a rupaul song, in that formulaic sense.
Anna
2024-08-08 00:40:49 +0000 UTCupdate: these pop culture rants are to die for. that was a lot of fun!
Caroline Walsh
2024-08-07 22:35:32 +0000 UTCAfter last week's video I'm here for all the "falling out of a coconut tree" references hahah
Lauren
2024-08-07 21:29:49 +0000 UTCEhhh...I don't know if I would say Katy Perry was "empowering women by being sexy, and hot, and having whip cream come out of her boobs." I think she was doing what all women Pop Stars were doing in the 2000s - being sexy and pushing the limits of sexuality for women, but also having to fit into a highly sexy and feminine mold in order "to sell." There was this time when it felt like each Pop Starlett was trying to be edgier, more overtly sexual, than the other - from Britney's kiss with Madonna to Katie Perry's whip cream boobs, to Christina Aguilera's "Stripped," it was just what pop stars did at that time. I remember hearing an interview with Busy Phillips (an actor), who was pressured by her management into doing Maxim magazine bc "that's what you do if you want to make it." She doesn't really regret it now; she keeps that Maxim edition on her coffee table as a testament to what a misogynistic time and industry she survived through. She says she looks at it and thinks, "Yeah, I lived through that terrible time." Also, was it really empowering women to cater to the male gaze in the ways that Katy Perry did? I know, I know, an age-old feminist question that often divides younger feminists from older ones (and I admit that I am an elder millennial). But, Katy Perry did what all the pop stars did for me at that time (as 20-something at the time of her height of fame) - fueled my eating disorder, made me feel I had to be sexually catering to men, or I was doing feminity wrong, AND entertained me.
L
2024-08-07 21:24:35 +0000 UTCNIKITA’S BOYFRIEND PROM NIGHT HAHAHAHA
Caroline Walsh
2024-08-07 19:12:21 +0000 UTCi saw her in concert back in 2017. one of the most spectacular shows i’ve seen. but since i’ve seen her on American Idol, she’s extremely rude and cold and i really don’t like her! i can’t wait to dive into this episode 💕
Caroline Walsh
2024-08-07 19:05:51 +0000 UTC
