Why Katy Perry's on trial at the 'pop culture Hague'

She's best known for a song about a firework but to say that Katy Perry's new song neither bangs nor lights up the sky would be putting it politely.  

Reaction to would-be feminist anthem "Woman's World" has been almost universally brutal, as critics subject Perry to a "digital flogging", wrote Adam White for The Independent, with her "ethics, creativity, styling" and choice of collaborators all "put on trial at the Pop Culture Hague".

'Toothless, juvenile'

The lyrics of the "toothless, juvenile song" have been "roasted" for "sounding like the kind of thing you sing to your dog when no one is home", wrote Kenneth Shepard for Kotaku. It's "meant to be empowering", but it "just ends up being Perry saying a bunch of adjectives and platitudes". The words are "stacked" with "pseudo-inspirational declarations", said Alexa Camp of Slant Magazine.

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There's "nothing to grasp onto, whether you love it or hate it", wrote Alec Karam for the Daily Beast. "It's really just boring and one-note" and "essentially two-and-a-half minutes of drab elevator music" from an artist who seems "hell-bent on making us forget she's actually super-talented".

'Unintentionally patronising'

Much of the hostility is fuelled by the sense that the "girl power" vibe of the song is out of place in 2024. "Woman's World" is a "dated attempt at writing a feminist anthem" that made Laura Snapes of The Guardian "feel stupider every sorry time I listened to it". It gave me a "strange sensation" of being "dragged back in time" to a pop culture era when the "notion that girls just wanted to have fundamental rights" was treated as something that had the world clutching its "collective smelling salts". When Perry describes women as "so intelligent", said Shaad D'Souza on Pitchfork, she "sings it in this halting, unintentionally patronising rhythm" that "leaves you no choice but to assume she's being sarcastic". It's "abysmal".

Perhaps it was a mistake to try to deliver a societal message at all, said Cat Zhang for The Cut. Perry's "always been at her weakest when she comments on capital-S society", as in her "wake-up sheeple" manifesto "Chained to the Rhythm." Actually, "what people want" from her is "fantasy, escapism".

She has also been dubbed a "hypocrite" for collaborating with the "embattled" producer Dr. Luke, who was sued by singer Kesha for sexual assault, said Forbes. He's repeatedly denied the allegation but, even so, Consequence's Mary Siroky still thinks there was a "pitch-black irony" in her choice of producer for a song about female empowerment.

Positive write-ups are few and far between, but Perry might be cheered to note that Justin Curto of Vulture praised the song's production as "sound, sturdy even". While the sentiment of "Woman's World" may be the "stalest sort of retread", Perry's delivery reminds us of her vocal talent and "sonically, the chorus even packs some punch".