>>>Yes, I missed doing a philosophy lecture this week, and will probably let Science Sunday slide as well. I’ll go back to weekly posting next week, though feeling more comfortable with the rare break.<<<

Last month, Hemant did a post on how some Christians were getting mad about Katy Perry’s song “I Kissed a Girl,” apparently in part because she used to do the Christian music genre thing. I ignored it at the time, but listening to the song recently (I could have sworn I heard it twice in the same half-hour at work yesterday) something clicked on that front.

Fox News got huffy, claiming she was encouraging teenage girls to kiss each other for the enjoyment of boys, but that angle is absent. One lyric actually worries about whether her boyfriend will mind. Other lyrics say “it’s not what good girls do” and “it felt so wrong, it felt so right.”

The thing about such lyrics is that, while they might have made sense generally a couple decades ago, they make no sense in the social world I know–and are unlikely to make sense in any part of 21st century Yankeeland except conservative religious circles. Fox News is at least correct that the stereotypical boyfriend response these days is “that’s hot.” Boyfriend certainly won’t mind it, though he might wonder why she was making such a big deal about it. Similarly, few people seem to have a well-developed sense of the “good girls” stereotype, and while I’m less sure of this last point, the “so wrong” feeling doesn’t seemed to be conjured up much by a random girl kiss anymore.

I don’t mean to dis the song. It’s a charming little tune, just a bit quaint, which I suppose is part of the charm. I wonder if it will be even possible in the future, if current conditions persist for a few more decades.