Katy Perry’s highly anticipatedWoman’s Worldsingle from her upcoming album143has been released, with amusic videothat has already stirred somecontroversy. While some slammed the upbeat anthem as “feminism gone wrong,” others critiqued the songstress’ collaboration with polarizing producerDr. Luke.
The music videoforWoman’s Worldwas released on Friday (July 12). It presumably celebrates female empowerment and resilience, featuring diverse women from various backgrounds and professions, highlighting their strength and unity.
HighlightsKaty Perry’s new single ‘Woman’s World’ from album ‘143’ sparks controversy.Critics say ‘Woman’s World’ is ‘feminism gone wrong’ and criticize collaboration with Dr. Luke.Music video features women from various backgrounds but juxtaposes empowerment with hypersexualization.Katy defended video, calling it ‘satire’ and ‘a bit sarcastic’ on social media.
Nevertheless, the two-minute-55-second-long clip also juxtaposes elements of hypersexualization, as the visuals incorporate provocative imagery, such as a close-up ofthe 39-year-old singer’s cleavage and a group of women dancing in sexy versions of construction workers’ uniforms.
As of Tuesday (July 16), theWoman’s World’s music video has amassed nearly 8 million views and an avalanche of criticism, as a YouTube user commented: “This looks like something that would be a satire for feminism inThe Boys.”
The Boysis a satirical superhero series that often exposes the hypocrisy and commercialization behind seemingly noble causes.
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Katy Perry’s highly anticipatedWoman’s Worldsingle from her upcoming album143has been released
Image credits:Katy Perry
“This feels like a parody offeminismgone wrong,” another viewer wrote.
A separate individual chimed in: “Externally, she has never looked more stunning, internally she has never looked more desperate and emotionally draining.
“This feels like the same roadMadonnatraveled.”
The American Music Awards winner reportedly said that the new cheerful hymn was meant to be an empowering anthem thatcelebrates womenand helps everyone embrace their “feminine divine.”
“Sexy, confident / So intelligent / She is heaven-sent / So soft, so strong,” Katy sings in the first verse.
The chorus later repeats the words, “It’s a woman’s world, and you’re lucky to be livin’ in it.”
Its music video has already stirred some controversy
Image credits:katyperry
However, since its release on July 11,Woman’s Worldhas been widely criticized, not just for its dissonance between its lyrics about female empowerment and the use of sexualized imagery but also as a result of Katy’s collaboration with Dr. Luke.
In October 2014, Kesha filed a bombshell lawsuit against Dr. Luke in California, USA, claiming sexual assault and battery, including an alleged rape that occurred in 2005 at Nicky Hilton’s birthday party, where the producer allegedly gave the Tik Tok hitmaker the date rape drug GHB, as perVulture.
The lawsuit also accused Luke of long-term emotional and psychological abuse involving fat-shaming.
The 37-year-old singer reportedly claimed that the songwriter’s treatment caused her “severe depression, post-traumatic stress, social isolation, and panic attacks.”
Some slammed the upbeat anthem as “feminism gone wrong”
Katy was involved in the aforementioned legal dispute when Kesha claimed Dr. Luke had also abused theTeenage Dreamhitmaker, which Katy denied.
Others critiqued the songstress’ collaboration with polarizing producer Dr. Luke
Image credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
With growing backlash, Katy has seemingly responded in avideoshared on her social media on Sunday (July 14), captioning: “YOU CAN DO ANYTHING! EVEN SATIRE!”
In the clip, which was filmed with her backup dancers on what appears to be the construction set from her music video, the mom-of-one explained: “We’re kind of just having fun, being a bit sarcastic with it.
“It’s very slapstick and very on the nose, and with this set, it’s like, ‘Ooh, 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, a reset for me and a reset for my idea of feminine divine, and it’s a whole different world we go to after this.
“We wanted to open this video making it look like a super high-gloss pop star video, and that’s what it is.”
The two-minute-55-second-long clip also juxtaposes elements of hypersexualization
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Meanwhile,The Guardian, which rated the song one star out of five, wrote on the same day: “Not to sound likeone of those men(actually I’ll take Perry’s insistence that it’s my goddess-given right as a woman to be essentialist, OK!) but: this garbage has six writers.”
“Granted, it is infernally catchy, but it is the Bic for Her of pop, the pink Yorkie for girls (get your lips around this!), a song that made me feel stupider every sorry time I listened to it.”
It continued: “As well as sounding like reheated [Lady] Gaga, it also sounds brazenly like Chappell Roan’sSuper Graphic Ultra Modern Girl, a knowing, joyful, absurdist take on songs exactly like this that also pounds with scream-along euphoria.
“Roan – along with Sabrina Carpenter and Charli xcx – is modeling how to be a pop star in 2024: they’re inventive, self-aware, silly, deep, some of the qualities Perry had at the peak of her promise but seems to have lost forever”
Katy’s143album will come out on September 20.
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