The moment I first heard it on radio, I wasn’t completely against it. Uh oh, I sense a “Battle of the Bands” moment. The Golden Coast versus the Big Apple, baby. I’m playing for the Empire State of Mind. But as days turned to weeks, I still heard it being played on the radio. I began to wonder why people were obsessed with this hommage to shallow personas.
It’s Summer. I understand. Beaches, bikinis, popsicles, oh my! But do we really need a mediocre song about these things? And don’t even get me started on the video [we’ll get to it soon]!! Those “innocent” themes aside, this song is really really raunchy. The most obvious phallic symbol is the popsicle. Any middle schooler could have discerned that fact. And yay for celebrating perfectly fit women flaunting their bodies to get the wrong kind of attention. So what’s my problem? Shallow songs like these are infiltrating the minds of young and middle-aged alike.
In a study of over 600 eighth and ninth graders from public and private schools in Minnesota(Gentile, Lynch, Linder, & Walsh, in press), children reported spending an average of almost 21 hours per week listening to music, compared to 25 hours per week watching television (Table 8.2). This pattern can also be seen across larger age ranges, although the amount of time spent with music increases with age (e.g., Roberts, Foehr, Rideout, & Brodie, 1999). However, it is likely that most studies underestimate the amount of time children and adolescents may listen to music, because music is so often a secondary background activity for many other activities, such as reading, studying, talking, driving, and doing housework. Music’s tendency to slip between foreground and background raises questions about what kind of “listening” should be counted as true exposure. (Donald F. Roberts)
Sorry Katy Perry, but I don’t want the upcoming generations to rule the goverment in “daisy dukes and bikinies on top”. Nor do I want their childhood innocence swiped the moment they turn on the radio. They’re waaaayy too young to be thinking about “melting popsicles” and “sex on the beach” [be it the drink or the actual activity]. Let’s hope there are 12 year old girls weary of men who want to “kiss her, touch her, squeeze her buns”. Are you serious, Snoop Dog? Get some dignity!! If you want to do her, don’t tell us. We don’t want to know.
Too bad youth has already been corrupted by similar such songs. On facebook, I receive numerous friend requests from underclass high schoolers. Out of curiosity, I venture into their profile pictures and other photo albums, simply to get a better idea of who they are. A picture tells a thousand words. These kids could be Katy Perry’s hoard of mindless zombies California Gurls. [As I type “gurls” I see red underlining the misspelled word. No wonder U.S. education isn’t rivaling those of Asian countries. We can’t even spell in our native tongue.]
I’m not generalizing everyone, mind you. I’m simply stating my observations. Many observations. Girls striving to get tanner and tanner till they develop skin cancer. Woohoo. I’m not quite sure what Katy Perry wants to achieve with this song. Oh right, money. And bimbos. She’s setting a bodily image for girls to abide by. It’s amazing how specific her instructions [lyrics] are to achieve the desired effect, “the boys break their necks try’na to creep a little sneak peek (at us)”. Boys? Where? Ohhhh, those ones, the ones with testosterone overload, jerking off? The ones who only see your body and couldn’t care less about your intellect or personality? Right. I see them. They’re playing you. No really. They’re playing Candy Land. You’re their slutty little pawn.
Candy Land? Way to take yet another innocent childhood memory and smash it to bits with sex appeal. Yes, I’m referring to Katy Perry’s video. Confectioned costumes and pretty props are given a very adult twist. I’ve always imagined candy as a very cute thing. Nice goes naughty. Boo. And when she’s not donning her sexy donut bikini, she dons nothing,
“The cotton-candy clouds! I am a little bit naked,” Perry admitted. “I was naked. And, hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!” she laughed to MTV News when she sat down to take us through the video, frame by frame. (MTV)
Oh joy. Naked. Not that I’m against it. I mean, people display themselves naked as art for art’s sake. But this isn’t art. She is selling herself. Her body. Visually allowing people to consume her [in a metaphorical sense]. Darn the global free market. She’s selling an image.
I’m surprised girls aren’t RAGING about this. Why do we have to be put up to such standards? Why do I see girls as young as 12 years-old slaving away over perfecting their face, spending exorbitant amounts of money at the nearest Macy’s cosmetic department for things they don’t need? Why not spend it on a good education? A better high school? A university with a name? Nope. All of that goes down the drain when they see Katy Perry’s flawless body carefully displayed on a puff of cotton candy. All the boys want her. Girls want to be wanted. They hate themselves,
What worries Lamb most is that these images are filtering down to girls as young as 9 and 10. Some really sexy clothes are available in children’s size 6X, says Lamb, a psychology professor at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt. “Girls are being taught very young that thin and sexy is the way they want to be when they grow up, so they’d better start working on that now,” she says. (USA Today)
Girls are destroying themselves! This is madness! It makes me so sad to see this happen right in front of my eyes. My tween aged neighbors becoming engulfed in sexy glamour, FaceBook profile pictures becoming centerfold images for Play Boy, and girls dumbing themselves down. All for one obvious reason; they want to be wanted.
WOMEN COME IN ALL SIZES. Accept that. Every woman has a unique attribute. Accept it.
I’m sure Katy Perry knows a place where the grass is ”really greener, warm, wet and wild” but I know place where girls are killing themselves to find Perry’s wonderland; it’s a place called reality. I’m surprised Candy Land still tastes sweet.
Add salt to taste <3
Suman
