It’s a story we’ve heard countless times. A rich, powerful man is accused of sexual misconduct and is quickly admonished (most of the time) for his actions. But, what if the same happens to a rich, powerful woman? In a post #MeToo and Time’s Up world, the allegations against Katy Perry need to be taken seriously – here’s why.
The singer currently faces allegations of sexual misconduct, and not just one. Russian journalist, Tina Kandelaki, alleges that Perry groped and kissed her without consent while they both attended an industry party. Model Josh Kloss, who worked with Perry on her Teenage Dream video in 2010, came out with allegations that the singer exposed his genitals without consent to her friends while at a party they attended together. An American Idol contestant claimed Perry kissed him without his consent several years ago but declined to press charges. Perry was also caught on camera groping Shawn Mendes’ behind when he was just 17-years-old.
In many cases, Perry’s actions were attributed to her “wild sense of humour”. Kloss became tired of helping to promote that image.
On what would have been the 9-year anniversary of Teenage Dream, the model wrote to Instagram: “As I turned to introduce my friend, she pulled my Adidas sweats and underwear out as far as she could to show a couple of her guy friends and the crowd around us my penis. Can you imagine how pathetic and embarrassed I felt?”
“I just say this now because our culture is set on proving men of power are perverse. But females with power are just as disgusting,” he added.
Despite Kloss’ claims of inappropriate behaviour, coupled with Perry’s history of misconduct claims, the allegations are still seemingly being brushed over as Perry’s “sense of humour”. Even in the comment section of Kloss’ post, he is being harassed, blamed and accused of lying.
Kloss defended his decision to come forward in another post: “Folks I am putting us both out on display to increase and enlighten everyone. I don’t want money for this. Many of you project your own ambitions. I don’t want fame from this, that is why I stomached it and kept working, and kept supporting the Teenage Dream image. And this anniversary and time elapse made me realise hey now is the time to let it out and let it go. Not one more day of hearing ‘How was Katy Perry?’”
By any measure, Klossi s an alleged victim of sexual assault. It took him nine years to come forward with his allegation, out of fear his career could be tarnished (or even ruined). If Perry were a man, would Kloss’ claims have been taken seriously? When men are victims of sexual violence, they aren’t taken seriously.
In Australia, 1 in 6 men will experience sexual violence by a partner. Male victims of these crimes still tend to not be taken seriously, from the media and activists alike. As Cathy Young writes for TIME, “Experiments have shown that while people are quick to intervene when a man in a staged public quarrel becomes physically abusive to his girlfriend, reactions to a similar situation with the genders reversed mostly range from indifference to amusement or even sympathy for the woman.”
The accusations against Perry prove that abusing power and fame for sexual thrill isn’t just reserved for powerful men.
