By Michaela Gates, Staff Writer
In the first season of American Idol returning to air after a short hiatus, the show has already been hit with controversy, as judge Katy Perry stole a mouth kiss from a contestant without his consent.
While the act may seem harmless many people have begun to call out Perry for her actions as they are extremely contradictory to the “Me Too” movement that Perry and other big name celebrities have come to support in light of the horrible sexual assault problem that seems to be plaguing Hollywood.
I am extremely aggravated with Perry as it is things like this that regardless of how big or small they seem will prevent the “Me Too” movement from gaining real traction and making change. If women, like Perry, who claim to support the movement do not practice what they preach it reflects poorly on all those working to make our country free of sexual misconduct.
Her actions are not okay for anyone, regardless of their gender and if Perry wants to play an active role in Me Too, she needs to make an apology. Not only that, but any true feminist should be advocating for at least some discipline to be handed down to Perry by Fox.
For anyone wondering why, my logic is fairly simply. If we as women want to be treated as equal to men, we can not only receive equal benefits, but also equal punishment when we make a mistake as Perry has.
While I do not think anyone, male or female, should be fired for what Perry did, I cannot imagine that had a man done what she did to a woman the media would be as silent as it currently is. And if feminists like myself wish to be taken seriously and not be labeled as women who hate men, we must call out women who do things that are wrong.
If we are not holding ourselves to the same standard that we hold our male counterparts to, then it begs the question what are we actually doing? Can we truly claim to fight for equality and against sexual misconduct if we turn a blind eye when an ally of ours commits an act they we fight against?
My answer to both questions is no, we cannot fight against patriarchy if we are simply attempting to work towards matriarchy.
While I am aware that this is not the point of either of the aforementioned movements, the silent response that many involved with those movements have taken in light of Perry’s actions says otherwise.
Again, I am not advocating for Perry’s firing or claiming that her actions are beyond a simple apology, I think she made an honest mistake and needs to apologize. Until she does that though I would really rather her not discuss issues of sexual assault or gender inequality as she is evidently tone deaf on the issue.
She kissed a young man on the lips without the consent of that young man and it is not okay for anyone, of any gender, to do this. She did not respect this man’s basic human rights and she needs to make an apology to him and we as her female peers should push her to do so.
We need to set a standard that those of us fighting for equality and against sexual misconduct are held to a higher standard than what our society holds us too, if we do not then
I fear we will never see the change that so many of us wish to see in the world.