# Katy Perry is horrible **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928 "2011-07-31T15:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/102 "2011-08-01T12:04:40Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > And as I predicted, you can’t come up with anything better. > > If there’s a point that you don’t agree with, say it. If there’s something I left out that you think I should have included, say it. But just obtusely calling it “sophomoric” without explaining further is really prickish behavior. Here is my take on things… Agicultural societies need a lot of children to work. Farming just is not profitable without a source of very cheap labor. Even in today’s industrial agriculture, farm children are exempt from many child labor laws. The need to bear a lot of children created a fairly rigid division of labor. A woman who has ten children is going to spend most of her time pregnent or nursing. This means they have less time and energy for activities that directly produce income, and thus have less access to income. Added to that is that farming promotes inheretence patternsthat keep the estate together through male lines. This means men have very high motivation to ensure their property goes to their genetic offspring. This leads to all kinds of sexual control: virginity worship. seclusion of women. foot binding, child marriage, extreme penalties for adultresses, etc. Anyway, the legacy of this is that women have not been historically financially independent. Without access to many resources, they end up in the age old transaction: sex for financial security. Marriage became a way for women to ensure they would be taken care of financially, and men sexually. But in order for that to work, women needed to create scarcity value. They needed to ensure men didn’t have other options. This is why it is always women who are the first to yell “slut.” This is why a woman is looked down on for “giving it away.” It is just a matter of protecting the value of what you are selling. Incidently, this is why rich high status men get so much sex. Of course things are changing. The very moment women began doing well on the job market, controls on sexuality loosend. Women did not need to trade sex for security, and did not need to enforce scarsity value. And now we are seeing a reversal in parts. Female sex tourism is booming. High statu women are seeking out young attractive guys. A stay at home husband or drifty artist boyfriend is the new status symbol, replacing the doctor and lawyer. And women now feel free to admit- sex is fun and worth seeking out. ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/103 "2011-08-01T12:23:07Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Of course things are changing. The very moment women began doing well on the job market, controls on sexuality loosend. Women did not need to trade sex for security, and did not need to enforce scarsity value. And now we are seeing a reversal in parts. Female sex tourism is booming. High statu women are seeking out young attractive guys. A stay at home husband or drifty artist boyfriend is the new status symbol, replacing the doctor and lawyer. > > And women now feel free to admit- sex is fun and worth seeking out. Right… and Woodstock is just a figment of our imaginations… Your little speck in the universe is just that, a speck. Down in Nigeria some woman is trying to starve on less than $7 a day, feeding her kids grain and whatever other subsistence farming she can get her hands on - and I can guarantee ya, she doesn’t give a shit on what your opinions on modern womanhood means. She’s thrilled to know her kids aren’t gonna die anytime soon from malnutrition or child soldiering. Same deal for some woman milking the Yaks in upper Mongolia. Or some other woman pulling out rice patties all day in Laos. Next time you wanna speak on behalf of all your sisters? All you rich little Western women who don’t know what it means to survive on less than $7 a day and how you supposedly represent the “new ideal” of what womanhood is supposed to be? Just stop and give a little thanks you were born where you’re born and not some toilet somewhere - coz that’s all it is - just dumb luck. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/104 "2011-08-01T12:27:20Z")
> [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](#): > > Right… and Woodstock is just a figment of our imaginations… > > Your little speck in the universe is just that, a speck. Down in Nigeria some woman is trying to starve on less than $7 a day, feeding her kids grain and whatever other subsistence farming she can get her hands on - and I can guarantee ya, she doesn’t give a shit on what your opinions on modern womanhood means. She’s thrilled to know her kids aren’t gonna die anytime soon from malnutrition or child soldiering. > > Same deal for some woman milking the Yaks in upper Mongolia. Or some other woman pulling out rice patties all day in Laos. > > Next time you wanna speak on behalf of all your sisters? All you rich little Western women who don’t know what it means to survive on less than $7 a day and how you supposedly represent the “new ideal” of what womanhood is supposed to be? Just stop and give a little thanks you were born where you’re born and not some toilet somewhere - coz that’s all it is - just dumb luck. Oh god, dont start her on Africa. I thought this thread was about Katy Perry and crappy pop music? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/105 "2011-08-01T12:28:13Z")
I’m pretty sure Katy Perry is neither Nigerian or a Mongolian Yak farmer. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/106 "2011-08-01T12:38:03Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I’m not going to bother looking it up either, but I heard the official/cover story (whichever you choose to believe) is that Vedder’s(?) grandmother/aunt **Pearl** made good \*\*Jam. That was the story Vedder told for years, but he was kidding. His great-grandmother really was named Pearl, but she wasn’t actually famous for making peyote-laced preserves. In the Rolling Stone story I’m referring to he admitted it was all a joke, and he and his bandmates explained how they’d wanted to have a name that alluded to jamming and that they picked “pearl” off a list of words they’d come up with that sounded cool. > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I haven’t seen anything that says Perry’s clutching her pearls at the the thought of someone thinking she likes fucking. Of course she doesn’t. That’s the image she’s selling. But like I said, she has failed to convince me that she’s ever kissed a girl and liked it. I don’t believe she really wants random guys to unzip and whip it out for her. A good performer would be able to convince me that she meant what she was singing (even if it wasn’t actually true). Instead Katy Perry comes across as someone who writes and performs brainless “tee hee, I’m so naughty!” songs because she knows this is a good way to make money. If that’s indeed what she’s after then she’s been very successful, but it’s not much of an artistic achievement. > [@](#): > > Find me that article and maybe I’ll get on board with the dishonest in her music angle but from where I’m sitting, I’m seeing a lot of how dare this woman enjoy the sexual attributes of men, but don’t change the channel cuz I’ma enjoy her sexual attributes. You’ve managed to sum up the secret of her success. Katy Perry’s “tee hee, I’m so naughty!” act (which FWIW doesn’t strike me as masculine at all) is sufficient to hold the attention of a lot of people, despite her mediocre singing voice and terrible lyrics. I remain unclear as to why I’m supposed to admire her for this. > [@](#): > > If you think the lyrics are dumb, ok, go do something else when you hear the song. I do, but this is a thread about how horrible Katy Perry is, so I think it’s perfectly appropriate for me to say that I also think she’s horrible. I’m not shitting on someone’s Katy Perry fan thread. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/107 "2011-08-01T12:51:48Z")
Katy Perry is remarkable to me because even with all of today’s high-tech sound editing techniques, they still can’t make her sound like she can sing. She sounds like a mediocre performer on karaoke night. I don’t really give a shit about her tits or the image she’s trying to sell, though. So she shows off her cleavage and sings titillating lyrics she probably doesn’t mean. I should care? If she could sing and the songs were good, I’d listen whether I thought she was acting “trampy” or not. Am somewhat surprised (though maybe I shouldn’t be) to find that people evaluate musical artists based on whether they dress slutty or are sincere when singing about certain sexual acts. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/108 "2011-08-01T13:08:35Z")
I don’t particularly like Katy Perry’s music, but I can understand its appeal. Also, I think she’s a very smart and talented woman with a keen awareness about a certain market segment. And I for one don’t think that her association with Russell Brand is a discredit to her. Brand is a very smart, hardworking, and sensitive person. He also happens to be a heroin addict and (he says) a sex addict (whatever that means), but I don’t consider that to be a black mark against Perry. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/109 "2011-08-01T13:24:56Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I’m pretty sure Katy Perry is neither Nigerian or a Mongolian Yak farmer. Oh, she’s raised a lot of yak. (I actually think she’s pretty cute but so far I’ve only watched her with the audio turned off) ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/110 "2011-08-01T13:37:43Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I gotta say, for being 25, you sure have a surprising attitude about sexuality and modern gender roles. > > ETA: I didn’t really mean for that to sound quite as judgmental as it came off - “surprising” doesn’t necessarily mean bad. fwiw i’m 24 and i totally agree with **Argent Towers**. i’ll even take it a step further and say even mediocre girls can have a decent pick of the litter if they so choose to. i mean, is it all that surprising? what gender uses pickup lines and what gender gets free drinks? i don’t really think it’s that earthshattering a revelation. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/111 "2011-08-01T13:45:47Z")
> [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](#): > > Right… and Woodstock is just a figment of our imaginations… > > Your little speck in the universe is just that, a speck. Down in Nigeria some woman is trying to starve on less than $7 a day, feeding her kids grain and whatever other subsistence farming she can get her hands on - and I can guarantee ya, she doesn’t give a shit on what your opinions on modern womanhood means. She’s thrilled to know her kids aren’t gonna die anytime soon from malnutrition or child soldiering. > > Same deal for some woman milking the Yaks in upper Mongolia. Or some other woman pulling out rice patties all day in Laos. > > Next time you wanna speak on behalf of all your sisters? All you rich little Western women who don’t know what it means to survive on less than $7 a day and how you supposedly represent the “new ideal” of what womanhood is supposed to be? Just stop and give a little thanks you were born where you’re born and not some toilet somewhere - coz that’s all it is - just dumb luck. Huh what? Is this a joke? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/112 "2011-08-01T14:19:53Z")
> [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](#): > > Right… and Woodstock is just a figment of our imaginations… > > Your little speck in the universe is just that, a speck. Down in Nigeria some woman is trying to starve on less than $7 a day, feeding her kids grain and whatever other subsistence farming she can get her hands on - and I can guarantee ya, she doesn’t give a shit on what your opinions on modern womanhood means. She’s thrilled to know her kids aren’t gonna die anytime soon from malnutrition or child soldiering. There’s a little African child trapped in me. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/113 "2011-08-01T15:33:13Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Huh what? Is this a joke? He may not realize that you’ve _been_ that Nigerian woman, trying her best to starve. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/114 "2011-08-01T15:35:05Z")
> [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](#): > > Next time you wanna speak on behalf of all your sisters? All you rich little Western women who don’t know what it means to survive on less than $7 a day and how you supposedly represent the “new ideal” of what womanhood is supposed to be? Just stop and give a little thanks you were born where you’re born and not some toilet somewhere - coz that’s all it is - just dumb luck. FWIW, **even sven** is probably the last person around here to be unsympathetic to the plight of Africans or people in less affluent parts of the globe. We’ve been privileged to have her posting here for many years, while in other parts of the world, including Cameroon and China. I’ve learned a great deal about how things are elsewhere that I wouldn’t have otherwise known through her posts. While I don’t always agree with her, I’ve always respected what she has to say because it’s both drawn from experience and from the heart, so it’s not some BS that someone who has lived their entire life in the US or UK is coming up with. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/115 "2011-08-01T15:46:22Z")
Heh, thanks. I wasn’t sure how to respond to that without inducing vertigo from people rolling their eyes. Equality is coming, slowly slowly, even to the far corners of the world. And wherever you go, bad American pop music has beat you there. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/116 "2011-08-01T15:51:51Z")
News alert: superficially hot woman markets commercial music that is the equivalent of a Big Mac - designed to have no nutritional value, appeal to your lowest urges and be incredibly well-crafted to move high volumes. And when it does, folks are \*outraged \*- outraged I tell you! - at what this says about the artist and about our society. I’m sorry - what is the news here? :rolleyes: How is the OP saying anything other than _ **Get Off My Lawn!!** _ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Plumbkrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Plumbkrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumbkrazy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/117 "2011-08-01T16:00:39Z")
The problem is young people who haven’t learned how to seperate masturbating from music-listening. Hopefully someday they’ll grow up and figure it out, because talentless hacks like Katy Perry aren’t good for either activity. She should either learn to sing, or do hardcore porn. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/118 "2011-08-01T16:02:43Z")
RickJay: > [@](#): > > She likes cock? Well, sure, she’s a young woman, most of them do. Well, sure, but this one kissed a girl, and she liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/119 "2011-08-01T16:06:33Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > And I like that she seems to be exploiting the whole “pop-tart” image to achieve success but doesn’t take herself too seriously. Like she’s winking at us, saying “this is really silly, isn’t it?” while she still works hard to put out an entertaining product for her fans. She may not be for everyone, but she’s doing something right. It’s hard to argue with her success. This is my impression as well. She has a very clear wink-wink aspect to her work. She is to pop starlets what the original “Sream” movies were to the horror genre. Making fun of the genre while simultaneously embracing it. ---
**Author:** ![Plumbkrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Plumbkrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumbkrazy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/120 "2011-08-01T16:13:03Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > This is my impression as well. She has a very clear wink-wink aspect to her work. She is to pop starlets what the original “Sream” movies were to the horror genre. Making fun of the genre while simultaneously embracing it. Right…as if she’s that clever. I doubt the poor thing can feed herself without assitance. She’s not the original “Scream” movie. She’s “Transformers 3”. She only exists because she appeals to children and cattle who don’t know any better. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/121 "2011-08-01T16:14:01Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Am somewhat surprised (though maybe I shouldn’t be) to find that people evaluate musical artists based on whether they dress slutty or are sincere when singing about certain sexual acts. And I’m surprised that I seemingly stand alone in my opinion that the ability to express sincerity in song is of any value. Katy Perry’s sex life is her own business, and while there could conceivably be evidence (e.g. photos) that she has in fact kissed a girl she is the only person who could ever really know if she liked it. But if she’s going to sing a song where practically the only line is “I kissed a girl and I liked it” then she should be able to sell this concept to the listener. It doesn’t have to be true – I’m pretty sure Johnny Cash never shot a man in Reno just to watch him die – but a good performer should be able to express emotion appropriate to the song. Greater actual singing ability would also make Perry a better performer, but that’s not her sole shortcoming. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928.md?page=7)