Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl

Reader 62 wrote: I've had Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" from the album One of the Boys stuck in my head for a good day or two now. When I first heard it I was blown away; a song about lesbians on Top 40 radio?!

Not quite. The song is not so much about a recently outed lesbian's first sexual experience as it is a glorification of the "straight women who get drunk and make out with each other at parties" phenomenon ("I got so brave, drink in hand/Lost my discretion"). The song's protagonist kisses a girl "just to try it", and you know she's not a lesbian because she expresses concern and "hope[s her] boyfriend don't mind it".

I guess I have mixed feelings about this song and its message. On the one hand, Perry's singing about a random drunken hookup with a girl whose name she doesn't know. She is not at all ashamed to say she liked it, but makes sure to emphasize that it "ain't no bid deal, it's innocent" and that it "don't mean I'm in love tonight". This emphatically removes her experience from the realm of same-sex romance and makes it difficult to stick a "pro-lesbian" label on the song.

BUT.

"I Kissed A Girl" is a powerful statement about women's right to claim their own sexuality, whatever flavor it might be. Perry is unrepentant and states that her "experimental game" is "just human nature". And there's certainly something a bit revolutionary about a #1 Billboard song featuring a female artist going on about how sexy women are ("Us girls we are so magical/ Soft skin, red lips, so kissable/ Hard to resist so touchable/ Too good to deny it.")

I don't think Perry is going to win any awards for furthering the cause of gay and lesbian visibility and acceptance. She has, however, undeniably made her mark on the public conversation in a way that even just a few years ago would probably have been impossible. really catchy. :) Grade: B Worth a listen so you, too, can be involved; it's also