I love music. From Tchaikovsky to T-Pain, my iPod has it all. I also love to sing. I’m not all that good at it, and my off-key crooning is usually confined to my shower or car, but nevertheless I enjoy it. It puts me in a good mood.

On my way home this afternoon, I was listening to my usual pre-set pop radio station when a relatively new song called Extraterrestrial by Katy Perry and Kanye West came on. I’d heard it before, but never paid much attention to anything other than the catchy beat. It wasn’t until today that I realized what the lyrics were actually saying. For those of you who aren’t fans of top-40 radio, here’s a partial transcript. You can also listen to the song here.

“They say be afraid
You’re not like the others
Futuristic lover
Different DNA
They don’t understand you

Your from a whole other world
A different dimension
You open my eyes
And I’m ready to go
Lead me into the light

Kiss me, ki-ki-kiss me
Infect me with your love and
Fill me with your poison

Take me, ta-ta-take me
Wanna be a victim
Ready for abduction

Boy, you’re an alien
Your touch are foreign
It’s supernatural
Extraterrestrial”

Infect me with your poison? I wanna be a victim? Really?

Of course misogynistic lyrics are nothing new – women have been objectified and called “bitches” and “hos” in rap lyrics for years, but what I find most disturbing about this particular set of lyrics is that a woman is actively and with conviction insisting she wants to be a victim. A victim of what, you might ask? Well, perhaps I’m reading a bit too much into this, but it sounds eerily like the articulation of a female rape fantasy played out in lyrical form.

Ms. Perry recently admitted to the British tabloid OK! she has no desire to be a role model and would prefer kids look up to girls like (*gag, choke, vomit in mouth*) Miley Cyrus.

You have GOT to be kidding me.

Too bad she doesn’t really have a choice in the matter. She’s a role model (albeit not a very good one) whether she wants to be or not, and she should know better than to think she’s not culpable just by saying she doesn’t want to be. Shame on you, Katy.

Songs like “Extraterrestrial” and Rhianna’s “S&M”, where the songstress states “the pain is my pleasure” and describes how excited she becomes by whips and chains (surprising given the brutal and widely publicized beating she received from ex-boyfriend Chris Brown), leave me wondering what a conscientious feminist is supposed to do? Can I like these songs and still claim to be fighting patriarchy? Can I sing along without compromising the part of myself that hates the message the lyrics are promoting? Of these things I’m not sure. But what I am sure of is that my daughter won’t be listening to them.

These women know they are influential. They know their lyrics reach millions of teen girls and young women on a daily, if not hourly, basis. They also base their entire careers on the notion that the cultural products they produce will resonate with people, and Rhianna has experienced first hand one of the ugly and painful products of patriarchy. So why on earth are they loudly and proudly proclaiming their desires to be brutalized by men?!

Perhaps they don’t claim to be feminists, and that’s perfectly fine, even appropriate given the content of their music, but that doesn’t get them off the hook when it comes to promoting violence toward women. We’ve come to expect it from many male artists in the popular music industry (i.e. 99% of male rappers), but I find it tragic that even a former victim of such violence now seems to be promoting it, even glamorizing it.

If Katy wants so badly to be a victim, I’m pretty sure she’s gotten her wish. She’s yet another victim of the hegemonic, patriarchal ideology that has relegated women to nothing more than objects of male sexual pleasure. I sure hope she’s happy.

Katie E also writes for Figuring out Feminism

I’m sure that anyone reading this has heard Katy Perry’s new hit, “Teenage Dream” on the radio or TV.  I have to admit, it is a very catchy song, but like many pop songs out there today, it does not portray the right message, and it doesn’t quite sit well with me.

Let’s break it down:

The song is about a girl who was “a wreck” before she met this really tough, sexy guy, because, of course, all she needed was a man in her life to make her feel better.  Later on in the song it even says she found her “missing puzzle piece.”

Other lines in the song inlcude:  “Let’s go all the way tonight/No regrets, just love.”  The biggest theme in this song is sex, which is obviously what this lyric is about.  I feel that this supports having sex without thinking about the consequences.  Being in love doesn’t protect against STDs or unwanted pregnancy, which are things that you would probably regret in the future.  There are many lines that repeat the idea of not thinking about the future, such as, “We can dance until we die/You and I/We’ll be young forever.”

I also think that this song isn’t a very accurate description of a good relationship.  Katy sings that “this is real,”  but the only things she says about this guy is that he thinks she’s pretty, he thinks she’s funny, and he’s sexy and exciting.  Is that all it takes to make a good teenage relationship?

One of my biggest concerns with this song comes from the line, “Let you put your hands on me.”  Because she uses the word “let,” does that mean she doesn’t really want him to put his hands on her, and that she only “lets” him because that’s what he wants?  Because she wants to be his teenage dream?   Does this mean that a teenage boy’s dream should only consist of a girl who will “let” him do with her what he wants?

This whole song is only based on love, sex, youth, partying, and drinking, and these should not be the only aspirations of a teenage girl.  This song describes completely reckless behavior without acknowledging the terrible consequences that could arise.  This line of thinking should not be anyone’s “teenage dream.”  I understand how exciting it might be to have a boyfriend, and that right now it feels like that is all that matters in the world, but we need to change this kind of thinking.  Instead, girls should dream of becoming confident and smart young women who make informed decisions about the things that they choose to do in their lives.  Girls should aspire to be something great for themselves and the world, not just somebody to roll around in bed with.

California Girlz

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term “female chauvinist pig“, it refers to those women trying to achieve gender equality by being as promiscuous and sexually “liberated” as men are. Not only do they end up objectifying themselves even more, they are unsuccessful at achieving any sort of equality. In fact, it contributes to sexism in our society even more. A female chauvinist pig “owns” her sexuality by being “comfortable” in provocative clothing, when in fact they are just making it easier for men to see them as a sexual object. This female “sexually liberating” theme is so obvious in California Gurls that it becomes soft-porn for men and it makes women (especially Katy Perry) look stupid.

The video takes place in a Candyland, the closest resemblance to California (supposedly). Snoop Dog looks down at all the sweet half-naked women covered in cotton candy, who are microscopic compared to him. This is a clear example of women being portrayed as objects, therefore inferior to men, which is what makes them so great for entertainment. The setting of the video resembles the board game “Candyland”, a form of entertainment. And Snoop Dog is just there to be entertained. Things don’t look too shabby in Candyland for women either; there’s candy everywhere and they are semi-naked all of the time with cherries covering their nipples. Really, life could not be better. It looks like they are taking charge of their land and they do whatever they want for fun; although it is even more fun for Snoop dog who is watching all of this fun caramel stuff from up top. Then there’s the hot finale: Katy Perry places the bottles of whipped cream on her breasts and she attacks everyone with whipped cream, while her breasts are about to pop out.

The hot finale, Katy Perry naked on a cotton candy clown, and the sexual content in the lyrics, make up this soft-porn film for men. It makes your popsicle melt for Christ’s sake, even Katy Perry admits to it! So is this really what women call owning their sexuality?

Katy, when you are playing the part of Snoop dog, and you’re looking down at half-naked men covered in cherries who make your vagina melt…then you can give me a call.

market me!

Sexism in the music industry can be seen in a lot of ways—lyrics that objectify women, women being seen as sluts if they sing about being promiscuous while men are seen as “just doing what guys do”, female musicians being held to higher standards of male musicians, etc. Amanda Palmer, for instance, is an artist who has faced the beast we call sexism with Roadrunner Records, the label she was signed to. When the video for her “Leeds United” video was being made, Roadrunner told her that they thought she looked too fat in the video and that they wanted to cut out shots of her belly so that the video would be more likeable. As she said on her blog, Amanda thought that she looked hot in the video, so she wouldn’t budge and change the video just because her record company thought that she couldn’t look “hot” if she looked a smidgen chubby.

the fab Amanda Palmer

The sexism in the music industry can also be seen in who is popular and who isn’t. Amanda Palmer has a lot less fans than, say, Katy Perry. While Miss Palmer has 18,993 fans on Facebook at the time of writing this article, Katy Perry easily trumps her with the 1,960,536 fans that she has. Amanda Palmer comfortably sings feminist-sounding lyrics that denounce such things as feeling like you need to have a significant other in order to be happy (in the song “Ampersand” she proudly proclaims, “I’m not gonna live my life on one side of an ampersand), Katy Perry sings things that are definitely far-off from being feminist, including her conclusion that women aren’t good if they’re attracted to other women (this is pretty obvious in “I Kissed a Girl” when she sings that “it’s not what good girls do”).

Katy Perry

Now, I will admit that I do enjoy Katy Perry’s music sometimes. However, that doesn’t change how depressing it is that the music industry will do all they can to promote a musician who has lyrics that are demeaning to women, while a musician who has feminist lyrics is often given the shaft (Amanda Palmer’s record label has done more to be unsupportive of her than just what happened with the “Leeds United” video—for one example, they did very little to support her tour to promote her Who Killed Amanda Palmer album, which you can read about in old entries on her blog).

Is it because a woman is seen as threatening if she has feminist lyrics in her songs? Is it just easier to market a song that has sexist or misogynistic lyrics than it is to promote a song that doesn’t? Judging from the kind of music that is popular nowadays, it seems that these are the opinions of most people in the music industry. Also judging by the artists in mainstream music who seem to hold feminist opinions but do not publically identify as being feminists—Lily Allen, anyone?—you could come to the conclusion that, if their record labels do have these opinions about feminism, the artists simply don’t publically identify as feminists because their record labels recommend against it.

Readers, our lesson about the music industry today can be summed up easily with three words: It. Is. Dumb. Let’s hope the future of music shines a lot brighter than this.

Yes, two churches down south are debating whether dogs can go to heaven. Via their signs. Fascinating stuff. 

So, I don’t know what Jesus says, but when I look into my dogs eyes as I promise to take him for a walk, or when I’m angry and I shout, or when I’m sick and he stays with me, I know for sure he’s got a soul. 

But anyway, this inspiring debate inspired me to find more church signs. I’ve seen some around (I live in OHIO after all) that are pretty entertaining. But these win: 

Remember this one? Katy Perry and I Kissed a Girl inspired…

How about: I sent out a lot of unnecessary hate into the world, then I went to hell. 

Or borderline anti-semitic signs!

Hannukah is pretty much spelled how it sounds, actually. Those double n’s are tricky, I guess…how about the almost silent “t” in christmas? I think we need to get a second grader up in here and settle this.

Or how about church signs with sexual innuendoes?

And what it all comes down to…

So true. Have that problem all the time. 

Next time you pass a church and they have a winner like this out on the lawn, take a picture. I want to start a collection of these. They make me giggle. 

*FYI: I’m not against Christianity. It’s a cool religion and has great values: it’s just the hypocrites and the people who don’t interpret it very well (in a literal or misconstrued way) that I have the problem with. Cool Christians: Rock On!