Middlebrow: Katy Perry And The Hot New Trend Of Feminism

Middlebrow: Katy Perry And The Hot New Trend Of Feminism
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 5: (EUROPE AND AUSTRALASIA OUT) American singer Katy Perry poses during an exclusive photo shoot at the launch of her Australian Prismatic tour at Telstra headquarters on March 5, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brett Costello/Newspix/Getty Images)
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 5: (EUROPE AND AUSTRALASIA OUT) American singer Katy Perry poses during an exclusive photo shoot at the launch of her Australian Prismatic tour at Telstra headquarters on March 5, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brett Costello/Newspix/Getty Images)

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In recent interview with Australian morning show "I Wake Up With Today," Katy Perry strapped on her Chanel suspenders and declared that she has finally become a feminist. "A feminist? Uh, yeah, actually," she said. "I used to not really understand what that word meant, and now that I do, it just means that I love myself as a female and I also love men."

This, of course, is a fanciful (and wrong) definition of feminism, which is emblematic of something beyond Perry's apparent lexical confusion. Her overeager desire to suddenly align herself with the "f-word" is indicative of the problems associated with invoking feminism so frivolously (read: literally without even knowing what it means).

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Back in 2012, Katy Perry was not a feminist (or so she told Billboard). In the past two years, however, many a famous lady has been on a crusade to defeat the once profoundly stigmatized word. In the past year alone, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus and even Courtney Stodden have declared themselves feminists. Cyrus, for her part, claimed she was "one of the biggest feminists in the world." The word, once scorned, has now gained such traction that there is concern it has gone so far as to become "trendy."

It'd be wrong to exclude celebrity feminists, by saying they are "hurting" the movement. Perhaps a more accurate way to put it, then, is that celebrity feminists often execute feminism in an imperfect manner. Consider J.Lo's recent video for "I Luh Ya Papi". As an attempted takedown of sexism, it showcases a world where the women call the shots -- there's a bedroom scene with "naked men around for no reason" -- but ends up with J.Lo's "Papi" rapping, whilst using women in leopard print bikinis as furniture. As Emma Gray of Huff PostWomen put it, despite J.Lo's best efforts, ultimately the video ended up making reverse objectification appear absurd, while employing women as props felt like more of the same. But there is certainly something positive in J.Lo's awareness of the double standards in the music industry, even if her critique was flawed.

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As feminism edges further into the sphere of celebrity acceptability, it will become easier -- and perhaps eventually seem required -- for stars to identify themselves as feminists. But there may be some danger in Katy Perry aligning herself with feminism as easily as she pulled on those unnecessary suspenders. As Callie Beusman of Jezebel wrote: that kind of "trendy" feminism would have to exist alongside all of the patriarchal structures it's challenging (and we ought to be wary of things being sold or a pop star being made more popular under the guise of disingenuous feminism).

Yet, beneath that accurate cynicism, there is an indisputable glimmer of hope in the fact the stigmatization of the "f-word" is (at least) starting to disintegrate. Sure, there will be more failed attempts at inverting sexism, misguided campaigns to ban lady adjectives, and misinformation that will leave some poor girls in Australia thinking they're fighting for women's rights by "also [loving] men." But at least the very word has stopped scaring people off in the first place. With growing awareness, especially from highly visible pop stars, there will be more space than ever for the discourse of real change. In the meantime, maybe the next step is sending everyone in Hollywood a solid copy of the dictionary.

Everything Else You Need To Know:

  • When L'Wren Scott committed suicide on Monday, March 17, various outlets reported the tragic story of "Mick Jagger's girlfriend," despite the fact that, in this case, Mick Jagger is "L'Wren Scott's boyfriend." Read about how "the media failed her" over at The Cut.

  • Lena Dunham is "disgusted" with Woody Allen, but she's not going to indict his work. "Annie Hall" is still just really special to her, you know? As she told Marc Maron on his "WTF" podcast: "I feel like people need to understand that you can hold two positions in your mind. You can know that someone's made work that's meaningful to you and also know that they have most likely molested their daughter."
  • New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane's profile of Scarlett Johansson has been (rightfully) skewered for drooling over her and then claiming she lacks substance. Read Slate's take on it here.
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  • Everyone can just relax and just calm down, because Courtney Love knows exactly where that missing plane is and additionally she has access to MS Paint. Update: No one has any real idea were that missing plane is.
  • Kanye West has been sentenced to probation and 24 anger management sessions as a result of battering a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport. This is important because it will bring us closer to the happier, more peaceful Kanye, who is so tragically trapped inside an exterior of anger and fear. Although, that would also be possible if he had been sentenced to 24 delicious ice cream cones.
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