Katy Perry Says 'Woman’s World' Is Satire but Her Defense Isn’t Working
With major hits like “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed a Girl” and “Firework” under her belt, Katy Perry had some fans excited for her new album, 143. And sure, her last albums Smile and Witness never reached the top of the charts, but Perry’s musical abilities have long been established, right?
On July 11, she released her new single “Woman’s World” and, for many, it proved a singer needs much more than singing chops to have a hit on her hands.
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In the lyrics, Perry’s faux-feminist anthem seems to stereotype women more than empower them. “‘She’s a sister / She’s a mother,’ Perry sings, as if those are the only two identities she can think of,” wrote The Cut in their review.
The lyrics continue with several platitudes, including a list of adjectives that can only be described as how the male gaze would describe the perfect woman. “Sexy, confident / So intelligent / She is heaven-sent / So soft, so strong,” she sings. Safe to say Perry’s lyrics aren’t thought-provoking, or even empowering, and just feels like a dated surface-level feminist song instead.
These complaints continue in the music video, which was released a day later on July 12. In it, Perry and her backup dancers dance and play around in skin-baring outfits in a construction zone set. In another scene, a bionic Perry fiercely walks around town in a teensy white bikini before stealing a teen TikToker’s female gender symbol-shaped ring light. Yeah, we’re not sure what’s going on there either…
In the comments, and reviews from major publications like Dazed or The Independent, there’s a consensus that Perry’s musical comeback is falling flat.
“This is what a feminist video clip would look like if made by a guy,” wrote one commenter on YouTube. “This feels like a parody of feminism gone wrong,” wrote another.
Following the backlash, Perry responded to the concerns with a video of herself backstage at the music video. “Girlboss s–!” Perry said in the video on Instagram. “You can do it! You go girl, you were born to shine.”
“We’re kind of just having fun, being a bit sarcastic with it,” she explained. “It’s very slapstick and very on-the-nose and with this set, it’s like ‘Oh, we’re not about the male gaze but we really are about the male gaze.’ And we’re really overplaying it and on the nose because we’re about to get smashed which is like a reset for my idea of the feminine divine. It’s a whole new world we go to after this.”
Unsurprisingly, the idea that the single was made for the sake of satire hasn’t landed with viewers either. “When you have to give this much of an explanation, the bit doesn’t work. We need female empowerment, not this!” wrote one commenter. “I don’t think you read the room with this video,” wrote another. “It just looks like an excuse to showcase your rockin’ body. It’s not ‘ironic’ or empowering. Pls do better, and collaborate more wisely next time too. Girls look up to you x.”
To make matters even worse, Perry worked with disgraced music producer Dr. Luke for this single. As a reminder, the producer was sued by fellow singer Kesha for sexual assault in 2014. The case, as well as Dr. Luke’s defamation case against her, reached an undisclosed settlement in 2023.
For many, Perry’s collaboration with Dr. Luke was just the cherry on top of a hypocritical and confusing musical comeback. “Does the satire part also apply to working with an alleged abuser? We’re confused,” wrote one commenter. “A woman’s empowerment song produced by Dr. Luke? ??????” wrote another. Looks like Perry’s got some more cleaning up to do.
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