# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/142 "2011-08-02T02:33:21Z")
> [@bump](#): > > 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. We have much to learn from her. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/143 "2011-08-02T02:41:04Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I can’t believe some people are acting like what I am saying is such an unconventional, out-there thing. No one’s arguing that it’s not easier for women to get laid. But to take that and use it to explain away extremely complex sexual politics is pretty sophomoric. ---
**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 2, 2011, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/144 "2011-08-02T06:59:40Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > We have much to learn from her. There are whole boards for drive-by snark. Wouldn’t you have more fun playing with your own kind? ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/145 "2011-08-02T07:28:18Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I also want to point out that Katy Perry’s association with Russell Brand probably contributes to her image as a “slut.” By kissing him, she indirectly kissed hundreds of girls. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/146 "2011-08-02T07:39:39Z")
That’s hot. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/147 "2011-08-02T14:31:37Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > My point is that I think a similar routine would be judged a lot more harshly if it were coming from a man. Fair or not, the fact that Katy Perry is a woman means her act seemed merely “icky” to me in a way that I couldn’t articulate. I actually feel a little less negatively about her now that I’ve been able to pinpoint what it is about her persona that just struck me as _wrong_. there are double standards though. gender equality is more jim crow than anything: separate but equal. you can’t use female social expectations and apply it to men. she’s playing up the cutsy girl because that is a female sex symbol. for guys there are a different set of sex symbols to embody: walking around in a smoking jacket and slippers, wearing a shirt unbuttoned down to the mid-torso, etc. Is heffner “icky” and “pedophilic” for his age? 100x as much as Perry with her gum-smacking poppy tartness i dare say and yet IMO both are pretty widely accepted as “not a big deal” by society. i mean, the 3 “hunky” guys on Glee: the QB, the dancer, and the bad boy are all 29 years old and probably cashing in their sex appeal chips for massive amounts of hollywood poon. pedophilic? icky? something you just shrug off? ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/148 "2011-08-02T16:47:12Z")
Proving once again the old adage that behind every [vapid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britney_Spears) [pair](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_(singer)) [of](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avril_Lavigne) [pop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backstreet_Boys) [starlet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Clarkson) [boobs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katy_Perry) there’s a [great man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Martin). Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![ylar\_tassan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8e8cbc/32.png) [@ylar\_tassan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ylar_tassan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/149 "2011-08-02T17:31:12Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Proving once again the old adage that behind every [vapid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britney_Spears) [pair](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_(singer)) [of](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avril_Lavigne) [pop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backstreet_Boys) [starlet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Clarkson) [boobs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katy_Perry) there’s a [great man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Martin). > > Enjoy, > Steven I was just about to post the same thing. A lot of times people think too much and forget about the art of making things appeal to a mass number of people. ---
**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 2, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/150 "2011-08-02T17:43:33Z")
For some strange reason my work blocks the Wikipedia link to “Pink.” ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/151 "2011-08-02T21:45:11Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > There are whole boards for drive-by snark. Wouldn’t you have more fun playing with your own kind? Probably… No actually, most of them are boring. You’re not. I like you. I hate them. I’d rather play with you. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/152 "2011-08-02T22:23:21Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > she’s playing up the cutsy girl because that is a female sex symbol. Yes, obviously. If it wasn’t working for her I’m sure that Katy Perry, or whoever is responsible for her hair/makeup/costumes, would soon come up with something else. But I think she plays up the nymphet thing more than her peers, and that was what was registering with me as vaguely creepy. Her great commercial success indicates that there are lots of people who don’t feel the same way, but I’m happy I’ve worked out what it is about Katy Perry’s persona that was making me go “ick” when I don’t have that reaction to other pop singers who wear revealing costumes and make sexy videos. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928/153 "2011-08-02T22:44:21Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > "…i mean, the 3 “hunky” guys on Glee: the QB, the dancer, and the bad boy are all 29 years old and probably cashing in their sex appeal chips for massive amounts of hollywood poon. pedophilic? icky? something you just shrug off? The difference here is that the Glee guys are actors portraying teens in a series. A little bit different than taking their own show on the road and implying they’re peers of the screaming teens. Again, not saying it offends or squicks me, just annoys and embarasses me on the artist’s behalf. Jeez, look at Justin Bierber. What the hell kind of teenage guy wants to act and look younger than he actually is? You may respond with " the kind of guy who’s a millionaire" but when I was his age that kind of guy would get his ass kicked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katy-perry-is-horrible/590928.md?page=7)