Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Bi is the New Straight


- Lauren Silverman

Girls kissing girls has been “hot” for a while – but recently musicians have gotten hip to the trend and started releasing girl-on-girl themed songs. One that stands out in my memory is T Pain’s “My Girl Got a Girlfriend”.

“My girl got a girlfriend, I just found out but it's aight as long as I can be with her too. My girl got a girlfriend it really is not a problem cuz I'ma make it do what it do. Cuz havin two chicks is better than no chicks I'd rather just join in, keep my girl and keep the other one too.”

And more recently Kate Perry’s “I kissed a girl”.

“I kissed a girl and I liked it…It's not what, good girls do, Not how they should behave.”

People seem to either love or hate the new girl-on-girl song trend, and I tend to side with the latter. My frustration has nothing to do with opposition to girls being with girls, but rather, the way in which bi and lesbian women are portrayed in the media. As someone who identifies as bi-sexual, I find it offensive to hear a guy talking about how excited he is that his girl’s got a girlfriend, and how that means he will automatically get to be with two girls. Likewise, it bothers me that Kate Perry, who apparently isn’t bi, and has never actually kissed a girl, repeats over and over that she kissed a girl and misbehaved. Unsurprisingly, I was even more offended by her other biggest hit, “Ur So Gay (and you don’t even like boys)”.

When asked in an interview whether she thought the song might be offensive to her gay listeners, Kate Perry responded “I think when everyone hears it, they’ll laugh. It’s very funny and positive and kitsch…”

Offensive or not, the song has spurred a lot of great dialogue among young people. If you skim comments about the video or lyrics there's responses such as:

"I'm sick of this bisexuality crap, it's all along the same lines as that Tila Tequila show...it's just for guys to beat off to, it is horrible representation for gays and lesbians..."

and even:

"I love this song. Not the best, lyrically. But hey - its different. Its not too often you hear songs about homosexuality/bisexuality on the radio. Our generation is more open and accepting that previous ones, and now the music is starting to reflect that."


Its true, the fact that major recording studios are accepting lyrics about girls kissing girls is progressive, now we just have to wait to see how long it takes them to promote a song featuring two guys getting it on.

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