Jackson Free Press

A lazy, bumbling, painfully apathetic character almost always appears in future-dystopia comedies. He or she represents what humanity will become if we decide to stop holding society and culture accountable for their effort to lull the public into a state of submission. In pop music, it seems we've already reached that point. Less than 10 years after a platinum-selling album with a few hate-fueled lyrics led to an open discourse on homophobia, Katy Perry's success has shown that the public has stopped caring.

It was in 2000 that many people across the nation were up in arms about Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP." The record featured undeniably hateful lyrics with multiple slurs toward homosexuals. However, emerging from this widespread outrage was something resembling an intelligent dialogue. At the very least, people were forced to face their personal feelings and stereotypes about gays. With the conflict everywhere from MTV to the national evening news, the topic was impossible to avoid.

At some point between then and now, however, something happened. The same pundits who led boycotts and denounced Eminem as a hatemonger in 2000 seem to have unplugged their radios in 2009. The fact that Katy Perry, the current "it" artist, put out a stereotype-filled single called "Ur So Gay" without major uproar proves this point.

Both Eminem's and Perry's songs no doubt set the gay-rights movement back a few steps. However, Eminem used hateful slurs to hold a mirror up to society, and he constantly assured the public he did not believe what his lyrics touted. Katy Perry, in contrast, lacks this purpose, not to mention intelligence. Releasing a song called "I Kissed a Girl" with a straight face and nary a nod to the inanity of the subject speaks volumes to this matter.

"Ur So Gay," on top of its implication that homosexuality makes one less of a man, features a laundry list of homosexual stereotypes. In the first verse alone, she questions the sexuality of men who wear H&M scarfs, listen to Mozart, read Hemingway, don't eat meat, drive electric cars and wear SPF 45 sunscreen. Why did we vehemently attack Eminem for using homosexual slurs if we're not even chastising Katy Perry for giving an irresponsibly over-generalized description of men at which to aim them?

Why is it that Katy Perry gets a free pass? Is it because she's a woman? People might figure that a young female can't be a homophobe. Is it her girl-pop genre of music? It definitely doesn't elicit the proactive rage from the listener that rock and hip-hop evoke from time to time. People have never taken the genre seriously as a social force before, so why start now?

Eminem without a doubt took gay bashing to a regrettable new low by suggesting to teenagers that it was OK to casually use hateful slurs. Katy Perry has done something just as despicable, though, by describing to teenagers in no uncertain terms homosexual appearances and interests. It would be sad if young men became too insecure to pick up a book. Likewise, it would be tragic if young girls came to view any literate young man who believes in green technology as sexually confused.

Previous Comments

ID

146360

Comment

As someone who is not gay, yet often suffers from homophobic insults because of my appearance and/or mannerisms, I wasn't offended by the lyrics of this song. I just read them in response to this article. I see how one could be offended, but I believe in just depends on context and the personal viewpoint of the artist. I think she "gets away with it" due to her other hit song praising lesbian encounters. It seemed the song was bashing a man because of his pretentiousness, not due to behaviors that make him seem "gay." Apparently, she loves this individual, with all of his, and maybe even because of, his "gayness," but seems frustrated because he is more concerned with his culture than with her. If there is homophobia here, it seems it could result as a side effect, as someone could potentially associate scarfs, Mozart, and Hemingway with gay people, although I don't think that was the intention of the artist. People that would listen to this song and find new fuel for their homophobic rampage are beyond hope anyways. I could actually see men in the gay community singing this as an anthem expressing discontent with their own relationships to other men. I think there are much more relevant instances of homophobia in society to get pissed off about than this song.

Author

DrumminD21311

Date

2009-04-27T18:52:05-06:00