Katy Perry's latest song is more "bore" than "roar," according to critics.
The Grammy-nominated "Firework" singer, 39, is facing terrible reviews for her new song "Woman's World," the first single off her upcoming album "143," and its accompanying music video. After the Thursday release, she defended the video in an Instagram post, telling fans it was intended as satire.
The music video begins with Perry dancing with a group of women at a construction site. Emulating Rosie the Riveter, she flexes her muscles and sings, "It's a woman's world and you're lucky to be living in it." After Perry takes off her jacket, she is wearing shorts and an American flag bikini, and the video at one point cuts to an extreme close-up of her breasts.
The video takes a turn after an anvil drops on Perry. She is then re-inflated, now with bionic legs, and walks the streets as chaos unfolds around her. The video concludes with Perry riding away in a helicopter while holding the symbol of the female gender.
Viewers were unimpressed with the video in the YouTube comments, arguing that the song seemed like a parody of empowering feminist anthems. Others took issue with the fact that the video was still appealing to the male gaze with its dancers dressed in revealing outfits, despite its feminist messaging.
"This is what a feminist video clip would look like if made by a guy," one YouTube comment read, while another said, "This feels like a parody of girl boss feminism."
Amid the backlash, Perry indicated this was intentional and that the video is, in fact, a parody.
"YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!" she wrote on Instagram. "EVEN SATIRE!"
Perry also shared a behind-the-scenes clip from the set of the music video, where she explains what she was going for. "We're kind of just having fun being a bit sarcastic with it," the former "American Idol" judge said. "It's very slapstick and very on the nose."
In the clip, she also said that the video is meant to ironically depict her and the dancers claiming they're "not about the male gaze" when they "really are," and they're "really overplaying it." But followers didn't seem moved by this explanation.
"When you have to give this much of an explanation, the bit doesn't work," read one Instagram comment, which received over 4,000 likes. "We need female empowerment, not this!"
Another follower commented, "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 fueling this. You are not helping women just stop."
Perry also faced backlash for collaborating on the song with Dr. Luke, the producer and songwriter whom Kesha accused of sexual assault. He denied the allegations and accused Kesha of defamation. On Instagram, one user commented that working with Dr. Luke on the song "is truly disrespectful to Kesha and every woman in the world."
Still, some of Perry's fans defended her and argued the song was being misunderstood. "YES. WISH MORE PPL UNDERSTOOD THE SATIRE," one follower wrote on Instagram.
Critics trash Katy Perry's 'Woman's World' as 'cringe' and a 'catastrophe'
Perry song's didn't fare much better with critics than it did with pop fans.
Pitchfork's Shaad D'Souza described the track as "unfathomably tepid" and "irritating at best" and said that the collaboration with Dr. Luke made it even more of a "monumental catastrophe."
The Cut's Cat Zhang, meanwhile, said that "Woman's World" is "so forgettable, so cringe, that it overshadows the blatant hypocrisy of having an alleged predator produce it," and in a one-star review, The Guardian's Laura Snapes wrote that the "garbage" track is "pandering nonsense."
It wasn't exactly a strong start to the rollout of Perry's album "143," which is set to debut on Sept. 20. It's her first studio album in four years following 2020's "Smile."
