I sort of agree with what they're saying but it's a massive bop though so 💁🏽

 

I think those above tweets are looking way too deep into this track. It's fun, it's carefree and I don't think it's even remotely damaging. We don't know Rita's sexual preferences, for all we know she *could* be bisexual. Besides, in these days, haven't we all established that sexuality is not set in stone? I don't see what's so difficult about a "straight" girl enjoying kissing other girls when drunk. Similarly, I'd say the same about a lesbian girl kissing guys when drunk. It's not that deep imo.

Her comments in that interview Jay posted annoyed me tbh. She could've clarified it but gave a very wishy washy answer, obviously she doesn't have to say but with a song like this it helps :lol:

Really not sure about this, feels like it's trying to be a lot more fun than it actually is

 

still waiting for a Gru gorls edit tho

Edited May 12, 20187 yr by BridgeCow

I'm fully with Kehlani & Hayley Kiyoko - artists who actually have some sort of integrity unlike Rita, Cardi & Bebe who just want a hit. I'm surprised at Charli's inclusion, I thought better of her.

 

It's not like it's homophobic or anything like that but it's using kissing girls as a gag / selling point. Come on Rita, do better.

Straight in at #33 on Spotify and #47 on the Global Top 50 *.*

Katie from MUNA is the latest artist to speak out about Girls:

 

https://twitter.com/whereisMUNA/status/995116793650802689/

Straight in at #33 on Spotify and #47 on the Global Top 50 *.*

I think this must be her best start in the Spotify era! Will be interesting to see how this holds up.

I think those above tweets are looking way too deep into this track. It's fun, it's carefree and I don't think it's even remotely damaging. We don't know Rita's sexual preferences, for all we know she *could* be bisexual. Besides, in these days, haven't we all established that sexuality is not set in stone? I don't see what's so difficult about a "straight" girl enjoying kissing other girls when drunk. Similarly, I'd say the same about a lesbian girl kissing guys when drunk. It's not that deep imo.

 

This is how I feel. They're trying to make Girls into something it's not...

I see both sides of the argument with Girls. I do think queer women have every right to be upset and I think it’s unfair to say they’re overreacting as a minority who have to deal with their sexuality trivialised in the media and used for the male gaze without being taken seriously.

 

What I don’t think we should be doing though, is policing how women express their sexuality. Personally, I always kind of saw Rita as quite a sexually open woman (I mean, she actually says she’s ‘50/50’ in the song, can we dismiss that?), probably bisexual or fluid and the same with Charli. Cardi has openly admitted having sexual relations with other women, too. So I don’t think a person needs to have openly talked about it defined their sexuality in the media to have to sing about it. People discuss all kinds of topics in songs that they wouldn’t in real life. I think because this is a bit of a trash bop and is quite on the nose it’s under fire more than would be usually. Take Harry Styles’ music for example, it’s full of bisexual subtext and is seen as art despite him not really ever having discussed it in real life. So all in all I think it’s not as black and whitely problematic as it seems, though I can certainly see why it would raise some eyebrows.

 

One thing I do feel confident about is that this was not made with the male gaze in mind, I feel it was certainty intended for girls and gays about freedom and open and fun.

^ erm no @botchia

 

if you want to put it into basic terms it’s a bunch of white male songwriters using female sexuality as a gimmick and rita ora acting as a thick accessory. a person’s sexuality isn’t there to titilate and entertain?

 

imagine boiz if this sort of patronising song came from a straight lad attempting to ‘mince’...

Edited May 12, 20187 yr by jjake

I feel like it's not for us to downplay the views of the queer women who've said that they're personally affected by this song, and are worried about it being potentially damaging with (what they consider as being) a non-progressive message. That's their truth, and they should absolutely speak out about their concerns. What they're saying holds weight, because it's their experience.

 

I really wouldn't agree that Kehlani/Hayley etc are twisting the lyrics into something that they're not. In fact I think they're laying out exactly what the song is saying - "let's get drunk/high and kiss girls for the hell of it" (implied by references to marijuana/alcohol, "sometimes", "just for one night"). I'd say that's a message that promotes the idea of a girl kissing a girl as being a frivolous activity, which I wouldn't say aligns itself with the presumed intention of it being a celebratory anthem for fluid sexuality.

 

Obviously no one should expect the four artists to implicitly state what their sexuality is, purely to justify the lyrics they're singing. At the same time though, it puts a question mark over what angle they're all coming from and what the intended meaning behind the lyrics are. All in all it makes for a problematic song with outdated themes that is probably going to offend a lot of the people it may have been intended for. A mess!

 

Aside from all that, I'm not totally denouncing it. I enjoy the tune, it's catchy and I'll mindlessly bop to it, I'm sure. It's just I absolutely do feel that they could have come up with better/empowering lyrics (because presumably empowerment was the intention). That could have elevated it into something special/important in 2018, as opposed to it being a trashy mess.

imagine boiz if this sort of patronising song came from a straight lad attempting to ‘mince’...

Well for me personally, the equivalent would be something like Justin Bieber releasing a song about kissing boys when he was drunk. My reaction would be more like "lmao I hope I run into him drunk one day x" rather than feeling offended.

 

It's a shame that people are finding this song "damaging" and while I respect their views, it just doesn't really compute with me, in an age where sexuality is known to be fluid and so many people aren't putting labels on themselves. So many songs are about girls kissing boys or vice versa, and nobody seems to have an issue there. Going back to Rita's interview that was posted yesterday, I kinda wish she owned her stance more instead of being quite wishy-washy, but that's my only problem really. There are so many bigger issues in the LGBT than this harmless track.

I agree with what Joe said most I think, I get that the themes could be seen as a bit eh, and I don't think it's fair for people not of that minority to say whether or not they can perceive the song in the way they have. I also think though it shouldn't be necessary for artists to be completely explicit in a Hayley Kiyoko way to be able to sing about sexuality like this, it's great that Hayley for example is like that, but like Joe said we shouldn't police it too rigorously. Having said that the way that Rita explains it in the interview makes me feels like it's just "omg I ksis girls when drunk" as a selling point for the song rather than it being an empowering feminist song like it could be. It's kind of a basic "for the gays" so-called bop (I wouldn't even call it that but the point isn't really about the personal opinion of the musicality of the song).

 

It also must be annoying for these openly and explicitly queer artists to be kind of left as internet/blog faves and not being so mainstream when this will probably be a hit because it has Cardi B on it :lol: I'm sure say Troye Sivan would feel the same if Justin Bieber or Charlie Puth were to do a song like this and end up getting a hit because they're more mainstream, when what queer artists are trying to do is normalise their actual authentic experiences, but they get this trashy kissing girls when drunk song instead.

Well for me personally, the equivalent would be something like Justin Bieber releasing a song about kissing boys when he was drunk. My reaction would be more like "lmao I hope I run into him drunk one day x" rather than feeling offended.

 

It's a shame that people are finding this song "damaging" and while I respect their views, it just doesn't really compute with me, in an age where sexuality is known to be fluid and so many people aren't putting labels on themselves. So many songs are about girls kissing boys or vice versa, and nobody seems to have an issue there. Going back to Rita's interview that was posted yesterday, I kinda wish she owned her stance more instead of being quite wishy-washy, but that's my only problem really. There are so many bigger issues in the LGBT than this harmless track.

but that equivalent doesn’t exist; justin hypothetically doing anything is relatable as saying, ‘well...imagine gandhi made out with katy perry” it’s pie in the sky

 

i actually can’t joseph....”it’s a shame” / “harmless” it’s all expression for nothing can ever offend you and why let it and that’s so anti progress...the ability to question, think and provoke is what pushes us forward as thinking, rational, thoughtful examples of people

but come on...strip it back , rita didn’t write this in anyway it’s the creation of a group of white heterosexual males!

but that equivalent doesn’t exist; justin hypothetically doing anything is relatable as saying, ‘well...imagine gandhi made out with katy perry” it’s pie in the sky

 

i actually can’t joseph....”it’s a shame” / “harmless” it’s all expression for nothing can ever offend you and why let it and that’s so anti progress...the ability to question, think and provoke is what pushes us forward as thinking, rational, thoughtful examples of people

 

I think you've missed my point - there's a difference between having and using the ability to question, and taking issue with something that's not really worth taking an issue with. Fair enough if they have an issue with Girls but it feels very blown out of proportion in age where we're pushing forward in so many different ways when it comes to the LGBT community. Obviously I'm coming at it from a different angle to several others.

 

and re. my analogy, obviously it was meant hypothetically but it's on the exact same lines as a song like Girls and the lesbian / bisexual community. I don't really think it's particularly unrelatable, certainly not for me because it expresses how I would feel in a very similar situation. Not that it matters cause it's not the issue at hand!

but come on...strip it back , rita didn’t write this in anyway it’s the creation of a group of white heterosexual males!

 

But at the end of the day it doesn’t make a difference who wrote the song, it’s about who’s singing it... no one will hear this on the radio and think “Wow I cant believe Klenord Raphael, Ali Tamposi, Jonny Coffer, Jordan Thorpe, Brian Lee, Andrew Wotman, and Benjamin Diehl wrote this song”. Charli & Bebe can be somewhat excused as they had no input on the songs lyrics, but even then they’ve both consciously decided to jump on it for the money & fame. Somehow Cardi’s verse about scissoring and masturbation is the most “genuine” part of the song

One thing I do feel confident about is that this was not made with the male gaze in mind, I feel it was certainly intended for girls and gays about freedom and open and fun.

 

I feel like that also an issue though - they intended for it to be fun and silly but were oblivious to how it would be perceived. It really just reeks of ignorance, which is a shame considering the artists involved.

 

 

 

What is a shame is that people are using someone's opinion on a song to judge their entire personality.

 

Rita's interview bothers me more than the lyrics, they're not as problematic as songs like 'I Kissed A Girl' and 'Cool For The Summer' which have similar themes. I don't remember the same furore (except from Halsey :kink:) about them?

tbf the lyrics of "I Kissed A Girl" are pretty horrendous looking back. But then, that feels confined to history for its awful stereotypes. In the same way, Girls is very likely to be confined to history very quickly because of its careless lyrics as well.

But at the end of the day it doesn’t make a difference who wrote the song, it’s about who’s singing it... no one will hear this on the radio and think “Wow I cant believe Klenord Raphael, Ali Tamposi, Jonny Coffer, Jordan Thorpe, Brian Lee, Andrew Wotman, and Benjamin Diehl wrote this song”. Charli & Bebe can be somewhat excused as they had no input on the songs lyrics, but even then they’ve both consciously decided to jump on it for the money & fame. Somehow Cardi’s verse about scissoring and masturbation is the most “genuine” part of the song

why doesn’t it matter who wrote the song?

 

also it isn’t the end of the day, it’s 15:27 by my watch