Katy Perry appeared to respond to criticism about the video for her new song “ Woman’s World ” in a post uploaded Saturday on social media. “Woman’s World” arrived Thursday and was immediately met with a scathing reception (for example: here , here , and here ) more so for its accompanying music video — which was accused of catering to the male gaze in contrast to its empowering-if-outdated messaging — than the song (which was co-produced by Dr. Luke) itself.
Perhaps anticipating a backlash even while filming the video, Perry shared a behind-the-scenes clip from the “Woman’s World” shoot where she explains her logic behind the more controversial moments of the video. A post shared by KATY PERRY (@katyperry) “We’re kind of just having fun being a bit sarcastic with it, it’s very slapstick, and very on the nose,” Perry said of the first half of the video, which features gratuitous body shots, the singer suggestively dousing herself in whiskey, and faux-peeing in urinals. “And with this set, it’s like, ‘Oooh, we’re not about the male gaze but we really are about the male gaze,’ and we’re really overplaying it and on the nose because I’m about to get smashed which is like a reset, a reset for me, and a reset for my idea of feminine divine, and it’s a whole different world we go to after this.
” The “reset” Perry is alluding to is the moment in the video when the construction site scene concludes with the singer getting “smashed.
