Madonna’s human rights initiative Art for Freedom has been established 'to fuel free speech and protest persecution around the world.' Artists are invited to submit work based on their ideas of freedom and revolution and each month a guest curator comes aboard to help Madonna deliberate over the submissions.
And who has Madonna chosen to curate January's input? Malala Yousafzai? Peter Tatchell? Pragna Patel? No. That well-known philanthropist, Katy Perry !!!???
“I am so fortunate to have the freedom to express myself through music,” gushed Perry. “I believe that 2014 can be a year of great social change.”
Quite a statement from the pop princess. On the surface, she seems one of the more lightweight singers at the top of the charts preferring to sing about Daisy Duke bikinis and fireworks than stray into the pop politico arena like P!nk and Lily Allen.
Perry has 3 mainstream albums choc full of pop confection with nary a Masses Against The Classes in sight. This blatantly begs the question why Madonna, who has come under fire for using philanthropy to further her celebrity, would choose someone who doesn't have the credentials when it comes to human rights. Especially when that person has been criticised for deriding minority groups.
Her breakthrough hit I Kissed a Girl was singled out by lesbian groups irked she had reduced girl-on-girl smooching to nothing more than a bit of teenage boy titillation. Lines like 'It's not what good girls do' understandably caused friction with gay rights groups who were already unhappy with lyrics to a previous song.
Early in her career, Perry wrote and recorded an unremarkable track called Ur So Gay. The lyrics bemoan an ex-boyfriend for being a bit fey. He wears designer clothes, drives an eco car, reads Hemingway and is a vegetarian. For Perry and her blinkered binary view of gender, all of this points to the obvious conclusion that he’s gay. It’s undeniably homophobic and after initial opposition, Perry was quick to set the record straight.
"The fact of the matter is that we live in a very metrosexual world. You know, a girl might walk into a bar, meet a boy, and discover he's more manicured than she is. And they can't figure it out. Is he wearing foundation and a bit of bronzer? But he's buying me drinks at the same time! I'm not saying you're so gay, you're so lame. I'm saying, you're so gay, but I don't understand it because you don't like boys!"
Perry is totally unaware her explanation digs her a deeper hole. Her level of ignorance and stupidity are not befitting a human rights initiative. I mean, would a pro-gay humanitarian like Madonna support such points of view?
Countless articles have been written opposing the song but Perry remains indignant and still plays it live to this day. Whatever her intention, the use of the word gay as a negative is harmful and each time she plays it onstage, she has thousands of teenagers singing along to the chorus reinforcing the insult. Perry stresses she doesn't use the word as a derogative term yet at this V Festival performance she introduces the song by encouraging people to leave voicemails to their ex-boyfriends saying 'Ur So Gay'
and in this performance, in front of a high school audience, Perry spots an old classmate who turned down her affections and dedicates the song to him - 'Ur So Gay'.
Fans argue Perry is a gay ally as she has come out in support of equal marriage but by still performing songs which are abrasive to many gay people, it's hard to believe she is fully committed to the cause. Are her words of support a contrived part of her pop star profile? Similarly, why would Madonna choose Perry for her campaign opposing persecution when there are a hundred more suitable people? Because this really is more about celebrity than philanthropy, that's why.
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