Katy Perry posted a brief video on Instagram as an unusual follow-up to her recently released video, “Woman’s World.” The video, which received a mostly negative response upon its release on Thursday night, appears to be sarcastic, and Perry says that her intentions may become more apparent in the coming weeks as “it’s a whole different world we go to after this.”
The video was widely criticized upon its release, partly due to the provocative attire in a pro-female setting (and partly because Dr. Luke, the hitmaker who was accused of sexual misconduct by his former protégé Kesha, co-produced and co-wrote the song; the case was settled without conviction or admission of guilt on his part, but the association was still negative).
Shot on the set of the video’s “We Can Do It!” part, the clip implies that Perry was expecting the response it would get.
Perry greets the audience with a humorous mug and some trite pro-female motivations, such as, “You can do it! You succeed, girl! You were meant to be a star!
Then, pointing to the surrounding dancers and set, she remarks, “We’re having fun, being sarcastic with it; it’s extremely on the nose and comical.
With a sarcastic tone, she goes on, “With this set, we’re, like, not about the male gaze, but we really are about the male gaze,” and then she talks about the apparent response she anticipated.
She says, “It’s a whole different realm we go to after this. We’re really overplaying it, and on the nose because we’re about to get smashed, which is like a reset for me and for my sense of feminine divinity.”
Yesterday, I saw the director’s earlier work, and it features a strong feminist theme that tackles sensitive topics like body image.It implied that there was more going on than what first appeared.
It is unclear exactly how that reset and new world will appear. On September 20, Perry’s first album in four years, “143,” will be released.