A different tune

Pop music has found a new voice – and, it’s queer

- Barry Rodgers

For a queer kid at the age of 19, the only lip balm worth mentioning was cherry flavoured. That’s primarily because in 2008, Katy Perry introduced the world to cherry chapstick in her catchy single, I Kissed A Girl. The song sensualised bisexuality in a way that had never been attempted before. So automatically, her detailing of that fleeting, fruity lip-lock with a girl gave me reason to believe that being out and proud was, in fact, “normal”. Fast forward to 2019, and Perry’s lyrics – you’re my experimental game/just human nature/it’s not what, good girls do/not how they should behave – is undoubtedly problematic. Don’t get me wrong, the song was groundbreaking at the time – it was bold, confident and in your face. But, the fact that she wrote off her same-sex kiss as “not what good girls do” seemed like she was ashamed of the act. But knowing that Perry comes from a conservative Christian background, it doesn’t surprise me then that the angle was, ‘Oh, I’m so rebellious.’ If Perry had to edit out a couple of the stereotypes from the lyric, it would have been a legitimate anthem for queer inclusion.