What’s ‘Woman’s World’ about?
It really depends who you ask.
If you ask Katy Perry, Woman’s World is a feminist anthem, an ode to women and their powers, a celebration of the “feminine divine”.
In a recent interview, Perry said this song - the first she released since giving birth to daughter Daisy Dove in 2020 - is inspired by her experience of motherhood.
“I always respected my mother, but after I gave birth, there was this huge level of growth of respect for her. Just watching her as I grew up, all the invisible work that she did … Just how women are unstoppable,” she told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.
“They create life, they carry life. They do it with beauty, they do it with grace. They are not one thing. They are soft, they are strong, they are chaos, they are cool. They’re all the things, and they contribute to the world, and I feel so celebrated in my life, and I hope that other women feel celebrated when they hear this, and that everybody connects to the feminine part inside of them.”
However, since its release, many have slammed the song and its accompanying video for pandering to the male gaze and portraying a kind of pseudo-feminism we should all have long moved past, with its “you go girl” and “be sexy, be confident” vibe, the likes of it we’d all like to leave locked away in the archives of the early aughts, never to be spoken of again.
The video is below, you be the judge:
What have the reviews been like?
Oh boy. Not good.
Pitchfork called it “dismal” and “too dispiriting to even approach camp”. The Guardian gave it one star, calling it a “dated attempt at writing a feminist anthem about how women really can have it all”.
Dazed called out its faux-feminism by stating: “Woman’s World feels about as empowering as an advert for [vaginal cream brand] Vagisil”.
The Cut said the song makes Katy Perry seem like she’s stuck in 2016.
All over social media, people have been calling out Perry for the song and its music video.
“This is what a feminist video clip would look like if made by a guy,” one person wrote.
“This feels like a parody of feminism gone wrong,” another one said.
Why has the backlash been so fierce?
Well, aside from the outdated and cringeworthy “girl boss” feminist stance weirdly coupled with a video that seems to cater to that male gaze, there is one thing getting fans truly outraged. Even the ones who could excuse a bad song cannot excuse Katy Perry’s decision to work with infamous music producer Dr Luke.
Perry had worked with the producer before, in hit songs such as California Gurls, Teenage Dream and Roar, but, since their last collaboration, serious allegations have emerged against the music producer, born Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald.
Dr Luke has been sued by singer Kesha for sexual assault (though he’s denied the allegation). Dr Luke sued the singer for defamation and the two have since settled the legal battle.
Since the allegations came to light, several artists, including Pink and Kelly Clarkson, stood in solidarity with Kesha and vowed to never work with the producer again.
As Vulture points out, lots of fans feel like Perry’s decision to work with Dr Luke again negate any claims of feminist empowerment her song may try to portray.
Pitchfork also highlighted the collaboration, saying that the song “rang false, simply because it was co-written and co-produced by Dr Luke”.
“Even if Woman’s World didn’t sound like its author had to have feminism explained to her by the top half of the first page of Google, its message of empowerment would have rang false, simply because it was co-written and co-produced by Dr Luke, the producer Kesha accused, in a since-dismissed lawsuit, of sexual assault and emotional abuse - allegations he denied,” Shaad D’Souza wrote in the review.
Echoing what many are saying on social media, D’Souza went on to call Perry a “hypocrite” for releasing a song about feminism with an alleged abuser. “If Perry was willing to cop the built-in bad press of making a song about women’s lib with an alleged abuser, shouldn’t the song at least be a banger? Instead, it’s unfathomably tepid, irritating at best.”
Many have also pointed out that Woman’s World is written and produced by a group of men.
Has Katy Perry addressed the controversy?
She sure has, but it’s not clear whether her explanation helped or made things worse. While she has not mentioned Dr Luke’s involvement - the thing people are most upset about, she released a video claiming the song and its accompanying music video are a piece of satire.
“We’re kind of just having fun, being a bit sarcastic with it. It’s very slapstick and very on the nose, and with this set, it’s like, ‘Ooh, we’re not about the male gaze, but we really are about the male gaze,’” she said in the video.
“And we’re really overplaying it and on the nose, because we’re about to get smashed, which is like a reset, a reset for me and a reset for my idea of feminine divine, and it’s a whole different world we go to after this,” she added.
The “satire” excuse hasn’t really worked. One Twitter (OK, fine, X) user wrote: “Without any discernible critique of the system that creates the circumstances ostensibly being ‘satirised’ in the first place, it isn’t ‘satire,’ it’s just aimless caricature”.
“Satire pokes fun at power in a clear way. If you have to explain the satire it’s not working as satire and just works to reinforce the power system at play. Also, does the satire part also apply to working with an alleged abuser? We’re confused,” an Instagram user said.
“I am a blue collar woman and this is embarrassing. This is a slap in the face to women. This is how men view us and you’re just fuelling this. You are not helping women, just stop,” someone else commented.
