Rihanna released her music video Te Amo yesterday. Much to my dismay, I was left shrugging and mumbling “Me disgusta” as Rihanna fell into the new fad of homoerotic homophobia among female pop stars. Rihanna’s video depicts the age-old tale of a heterosexual female entertaining the attention of a homosexual female only until things get “too deep”. After a series of homoerotic scenes where Rihanna is pulling another woman’s hair and instigating a sexual vibe between the two, Rihanna simply walks away and says “I don’t feel that way”. What are the implications of Rihanna’s video Te Amo? What is happening to female heterosexuality as a result of artists like Rihanna and their disingenuous homoerotic antics? Are self-proclaimed straight females out of style now?
Katy Perry used to represent the most obnoxious portrayal of female bi and homosexuality with her song I kissed a girl and I liked it. She can now pass on her crown to pop diva Rihanna. Interestingly, Rihanna’s video has a female speaking the words “te amo” to the star. In her response, Rihanna isn’t sure what she’s saying and eventually concludes with “I think that means I love you.” Quite literally, Rihanna is not speaking the same language as the woman who she’s seducing. Rihanna can’t really understand the woman she’s all over and under during the video. She only understands the sexual part of their interaction. I question why Rihanna straddles this female and participates in a homoerotic exchange if she “don’t feel that way” as she sings. If straight females are indeed straight, then they should avoid trying to speak the language of a bi or lesbian female. The former will not understand the latter. Why do straight women walk the line between homo-eroticism and homophobia lately?
Please watch Rihanna’s Video here: Te Amo
Social media forums like Facebook start to separate the homos and the heteros with the infamous “Interested In” field of the site. Here, users are expected to disclose their sexual orientation for the world to see. If someone hasn’t specified whether she is interested in men or women, it’s assumed that she is curious or bi and afraid to let the world know. How minimally minded we’ve degenerated as a society.
Yesterday, I saw my 15 year old cousin’s Facebook page and I saw the seedlings of sending mixed sexuality signals beginning to take root in a teen. She had noted that she was interested in men yet was also in a relationship with her female friend. My peers are also falling into this fad of clicking married to a female friend or in a relationship with another woman; but they claim to be interested in men. They’re sending two distinct and conflicting messages about their sexual preference. On the one hand, they’re holding on to their heterosexuality; yet, they’re flirting with homosexuality by listing a relationship with another woman. It’s quiet confusing.
The Perry and Rihanna type of “straight” women can flirt with homo-eroticism but will never get too deep into the world of living as a lesbian. One can almost conclude these girls are “selfish and entitled” which are terms usually reserved for bisexuals. For Rihanna, Perry and all of their fans, it’s okay to touch a woman and have your questions answered, as long as you remember that you’re just not that way before the end of the night. One person’s needs are met and satisfied while the other person is left feeling taken advantage of and used. It’s the epitome of sexual selfishness. Listeners should be wary of the Rihanna and Perry message. Would you really want to be physically intimate with someone who is so self-serving and cold?
Homophobia or the fear of being identified as bisexual or lesbian keeps the experimenters like Perry and Rihanna from taking the full leap into a homosexual relationship. Rihanna’s video brings a whole new meaning to Ciarra’s song Just Like a Boy. Eventually, women won’t harp on men using them as objects of sexual pleasure because other women will be using them. Here’s a thought: If you don’t like women, don’t pretend as if you do. It’s okay to just be straight still. It’s not out of style, I promise. With the likes of Tila Tequila, Rihanna and Perry, I wonder if we’ll wake up into a world where saying “I’m straight” will be considered taboo. Maybe someday, not kissing a girl will illicit the same disgust and fright that openly bi and lesbian females do. Are homos and heteros Trading Places in terms of social inclusion and exclusion? Is identifying as strictly straight controversial now? In Rihanna’s native English tongue I say to her: “I don’t like you’re homophobic type.” She shouldn’t have any trouble understanding what I mean.
Please read Sara Waters novel Tipping the Velvet for other literary examples of homophobia undermining homosexual relationships.
Other articles by Eryn:
Maxim’s Hot White World: Questions About Katy Perry as Hottest Woman of 2010
Authors bio is coming up shortly.
I still can’t tell what your point really is.
Insightful?:
0 
0
Let’s say that there is a girl that you like. You guys hang out and she’s all over you. She’s very flirty and touchy and feely. She’s sending clear signals that she’s interested in you as more than just a friend. Then, she turns up the flirting a notch. (View the Rihanna video). She starts taking the lead and becomes sexually suggestive towards you. Naturally, you would infer that she’s interested in you. Then, after you begin to respond to her provocations, she steps away from you and says: “I’m just not into you.” Her words and actions completely don’t follow up. You would probably think to yourself, “If she’s not that into me, why was she all over me?”
Does that make more sense?
Insightful?:
2 
0
As a dyke I totally get your point – the video has nothing to do with bisexuality, it is girl-on-girl pseudo-porn. Sexually “liberating” some women by using other women who truly are queer and being used is liberation for none.
Thinking other women are hot does not make you bi. And if all you want to do is kiss a girl and not know her name, go for the other not-quite straight girls in the club, and stop using the queer women like your personal, disposable fetish item.
Insightful?:
2 
0
Christine!!!
You ROCK for commenting. This is deplorable on the part of Rihanna. True to form of these “straight” girls, it was just a cry for attention. You’ll love my article Girls Going Gaga For Other Girls. Read it and comment my friend. I think girls do this because guys like it. So are they really liberating themselves or just being used to fulfill a man’s fantasy? Doesn’t sound so liberating to me. Dykes need to speak out on this new “phase”. It’s making me crazy.
Thanks so much Christine!!!
Insightful?:
2 
0
Oh okay. Rihanna is a stupid bitch. I could have told you that before this music video was made, though.
Insightful?:
0 
0
she’s not a stupid b*@ch, she’s just buying into the idea that all pop stars now have to be “bi,” but the question is who gets used in the process.
And, Eryn, you rock for writing about this.
Insightful?:
1 
0
I think we should clarify. All “female” pop stars are being pressured into taking a bisexual image. Adam Lambert isn’t getting quite the same reaction and all of the other male artists who are possibly bisexual feel that they have to hide this to save their careers. Again…it’s still a man’s world. What the heterosexual man likes, we give. when Adam Lambert exhibited his bisexuality in one of his performances at an award show, it was like he shouted “I LOVE LUCIFER!” When Brittany Spears kissed Madonna at an award show…it was different… I’m just saying.
Insightful?:
2 
0
Good point Sade’. We also need to look @ the cultural implications of Rihanna’s video. She’s from Barbados. Basians and all other Caribbean countries are very homophobic historically. It’s safe to safe that Rihanna’s video would be criticized by her own people without a doubt.
Caucasian entertainers don’t face the same social stigma that other races face if they tried to pull this off. Notice there’s not a black or latina Lady Gaga? How many black female celebrities are making videos like this? Rihanna really went out on a limb.
Of course you have Nicki Menaj in the video Lil’ Freak but the title gives that all away. She’s in a category by herself. As a whole, I can’t say that black or latino singers are being encouraged to make this music videos or create these overt male fantasies on film.
In essence, I feel sorry that Rihanna has had to stoop to such an incredible low. She’s the sacrificial lamb of black celebrities in a sense. Alicia Keys, Gabrielle Union, Jazmine Sullivan, Missy Elliot, Halle Berry etc…are not pulling this move either. It’s not just “show biz”.
A lot to ruminate over…
Penny
Insightful?:
1 
0
Just another thought that I may not have conveyed…
Basically Rihanna comes from a culture where homosexuality is frowned upon severely. One can safely assume that she would never engage a woman even flirtatiously. So, for her to have taken it this far in her video, it just goes to show how far some “straight” girls will go with a lie. Caribbean cultural norms stipulate that homosexuality is a big NO NO. Listen to any reggae song. You’re sure to hear of a “botty boi.” So, it’s just a slap in the face that she made this video. We all know that she’ not into chicks.
Penny
Insightful?:
0 
0
I totally agree with you. If you’re straight, be straight. If you’re not, fine. It’s really selfish when girls buy into this fad and breaking the hearts of girls who are truly queer. As a feminist, I hate it because I feel it is just showing how much power men still have over our sexuality. When my friends and I were playing a game, they thought it was so weird that I would rather be naked in front of a crowd of people than kiss a girl. They do it in the clubs and stuff because guys think it’s “hot” now especially after the Kate Perry song, “I Kissed a Girl.” I dnt see guys kissing other guys to please me! I just feel like I’m straight and I’m not interested in girls so why kiss them? Because it’s cool? No. I happen to have a mind of my own….Why devalue someone else’s sexual preference. I think it takes the beauty out of diversity.
Insightful?:
1 
0
Haha well I don’t think Rihanna thought about the idea of the video or song before making both of them. Unfortunately, she’s pressured into what looks cool so her main goal is to promote her image and popularity. The girl on girl action is a mixed message and is clearly influencing girls the wrong way. I really wish we can eliminate a lot of mixed messages young pop stars like Britney Spears, Rihanna, Lindsey Lohan, and Miley Cirus are sending. It’s a never ending craze. But that’s show biz.
Insightful?:
0 
0
It is way too sensual!! if she is not a lesbian and is just doing by curiosity, she should have done it more simple and less dramatic… maybe like a little girl trying new things…not like she was an expert!
Make love and not the war!
Thanks.
B
Insightful?:
0 
0
Hi Eryn
I’ll take time to correct your English; Last time I checked in the dictionary the term “homophobic” I saw it was applied for people who hate homosexual people and/or conducts.
In the article you accuse FIVE times pop stars of being homophobic for showing homosexual behaviours.
Sorry did I get lost here or both meanings pretty much clash? (Or you are trying to change the meaning of the word??)
I think what you are trying to do is not accepting the meaning of “homophobic” encompasses you are your evil thoughts.
EX I cite:
“”One can almost conclude these girls are “selfish and entitled” which are terms usually reserved for bisexuals”" (yes, I’m sure that’s Cambridge’s definition on bisexual people)
“Maybe someday, not kissing a girl will illicit the same disgust and fright that openly bi and lesbian females do. Are homos and heteros Trading Places in terms of social inclusion and exclusion?” (It’s a very scary scenario! Just like imagining a Black man being the president of the US… Or much worse; a woman!!)
Yeah, this is another one not reading your book!
Insightful?:
1 
2
I think this Rihanna video is great. I think it’s done very sensitively. I think she is playing a character.
I think the confusion or mixed signals in the lyrics are part of the narrative and just contribute to the angst, a lot of love songs have angst and confusion and are full of contradictions, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are being flippant or disingenuous, they are just addressing a conundrum that lots of people in and out of love come across, surely?
I would agree with all of your points if they were in reference to the Katy Perry video, which is disingenuous, flippant, and alienating.
IMO a homosexual woman watching the ‘I kissed a girl’ video, feels like her sexuality is being belittled and being used as a novelty gimmick.
and IMO a homosexual woman watching ‘Te Amo’ is watching the standard RnB love song video except this time it happens to be a love song about two women. No one is snickering or treating it like it’s a huge deal, not belittling someones sexuality by acting like it’s some casual fetish either. Unlike in the Perry video.
Insightful?:
3 
0
Actually, the many young, straight women who list themselves as “married” to other girls on Facebook is a trend about showing friendship rather than having anything to do with mixed signals about sexuality. Maybe the girls you’re thinking of, the ones you know, have given you other signals about their sexuality being other than straight, but I know a lot of straight girls who list themselves as “married” to their female best friends on facebook simply to denote close friendship.
I also don’t think Rihanna’s “Te Amo” sends the same message as Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl”, which is explicitly about experimentation with bi- or homo-curiosity as a performance for the male gaze. “Te Amo”, on the other hand, discusses love and a relationship in more depth than Perry ever has. While the music video is an example of the mainstream appropriating queerness for the benefit of the male gaze, with all the gratuitous images of sexy women posing and touching each other, the song itself is not so problematic.
Insightful?:
0 
0
I agree with Ari about the Facebook thing. Being “married” to your best friend on Facebook is completely unrelated to actually being in a relationship. If you take this sort of thing literally, then some of my friends would have 20 siblings and would be married to their best friend since kindergarten.
I also agree about the “Te Amo” music video, but I do see how the song can be a little misleading too. It is a lot deeper than “I Kissed A Girl”, which is basically about being drunk and thinking “why not?”
Insightful?:
0 
0
Another thing: I don’t think Katy perry’s “I Kissed A Girl” is as bad you say it is. It’s a ridiculous premise for a song, that we can agree on, but I think it’s mainly about getting hopelessly drunk and doing something stupid. It is a little belittling to lesbians, I’m sure, but I don’t think that was the intention.
Insightful?:
0 
0