You know, I didn't watch this video until you submitted this article to P&P, and when I first read your draft, I thought maybe things were a little over-stated, that the people complaining were perhaps overreacting.

But then I watched, and Perry's performance at the VMAs was at the very least a little strange. Her dance routine seems quite remarkably at odds with the lyrics she's singing, as you point out.

She's singing about keeping her man, while she's scissoring with a woman. I guess you could make an argument that she had an artistic point to make by doing that, but ...

But the more obvious rationale is that she was performing for the male gaze, seeking to titillate men: "You can't have me because I'm in love with another man, you can fulfill your lesbian fantasies by watching me do sexual things with this other sexy woman."

Watching the video, it almost feels that blatant.

I don't know, I'm not anxious to assign base motives to Katy Perry, and hell, if she's trying to profit from the male gaze, that wouldn't make me angry. She didn't create patriarchy. She didn't create the norms in the entertainment industry.

But I think it is definitely worth pointing out, and I'm glad you did. I think the people who are complaining have something to complain about.

I'm not upset with Katy Perry, but I do wish artists would be more respectful of queer people, especially queer women, when they're performing for the male gaze.