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Katy Perry's Feminist Messages Are Very Perplexing

By Cindy Davis | Celebrity | July 1, 2015 |

By Cindy Davis | Celebrity | July 1, 2015 |


Before I get into this, let me just congratulate Katy Perry for making the Forbes cover, and this year’s Celebrity 100 list (highest earning stars). Ranked the top-earning musician and number 3 on the entire list, Perry is said to have made over $135 million over the past 12 months and that’s a mind-boggling accomplishment. With her apparent acumen and an ability to inspire through music, I really wish I could understand the particular pro-female message she’s trying to convey. Perry has thoughts about being a powerful woman, but the way she expresses them is at best, confusing (and often, unintentionally humorous). For instance, Perry (now) calls herself a feminist and describes what that means thusly:

“A feminist? Uh, yes, actually. 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. I am a strong woman. And hear me roar!”

Um, okay. Remember, if you’re having a hard time figuring out whether you are or are not a feminist in the first place, you can refer to this simple flowchart:

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Back to Perry’s Forbes cover, which she posted to Instagram with an interesting statement:

“Before accepting the offer to be on the cover of Forbes, I was told that a lot of women have previously shied away from doing it. I wondered if it was because they thought socially it would look like they were flaunting or bragging or it wasn’t a humble decision. Ladies, there is a difference between being humble and working hard to see the fruits of your labor blossom, and your dreams realized. Hopefully this cover can be an inspiration to women out there that it’s okay to be proud of hard earned success and that there is no shame in being a boss.”

I do believe this statement is intended to be inspiring, but I also find Perry’s presumption about why other women may not have done the cover confusing. Did I miss Madonna turning down a magazine cover because she was worried about bragging? Even more perplexing is that final bit about “no shame in being a boss.” There are so many better, non-negative ways to make what MTV is calling a “feminist statement;” which, if it is, may be the most ass-backwards one I’ve ever read. Are there really a lot of women out there ashamed of making great money, realizing their dreams, or being a boss? The notion of powerful females hiding their status or financial success in social circles is pretty antiquated; to include it in a statement of encouragement to other women seems nothing less than strange. But hey, at least she knew how to commemorate her own accomplishments…

“Also… don’t think that I didn’t celebrate this moment by going straight to Taco Bell and getting my crunch wrap supreme.”

Cindy Davis, (Twitter)