Like many lesbian and bisexual women, I initially reacted to the meteoric rise of Russian teen pop duo T.A.T.U. with mixed emotions. Although I had some skepticism about the veracity of the girls' sexual relationship, it was outweighed by excitement that their song "All the Things She Said" about love between women...er, girls...was getting so much play. Ultimately, I thought, this has to be a good thing since it contributes to teenage girls feeling more okay about being gay, right?
Over time, however, as more information has come out about the group, my skepticism has been replaced with unease, then concern, and finally, anger.
One of the reasons T.A.T.U. is such a hit among many lesbian and bisexual women is that their first song and its controversial video--about two schoolgirls in love who don't understand why the world won't leave them alone--hits home for many of us; for once, we could turn on MTV and see someone singing about our life, and our relationships. And T.A.T.U.'s soaring popularity appeared to lend de facto legitimization to lesbian relationships, particularly among teenage girls.
But while there is no denying that T.A.T.U.'s music has brought more attention to this issue, I fear it has also blinded us to the darker side of T.A.T.U.'s influence. Which begs the question: beyond their "I am lesbian, hear me roar" mantra, what kind of messages is T.A.T.U. actually sending?
1. Lesbianism and bisexuality are basically the same thing. To be fair, it is the press who have labeled the T.A.T.U. girls lesbians--they have never identified as such, even saying "Everyone's so sure we're lesbians, but maybe we are bisexual. Why not?" But the girls have actually milked this ambiguity by coyly refusing to state their sexual orientation while hinting some days that they are lesbian and other days that they are bi.
This has the effect of reinforcing the idea already popular in American society that there really is no difference between lesbianism and bisexuality--they are both women who sleep with women (and with men, in T.A.T.U.'s case).
2. Bisexual women are promiscuous and/or oversexed. In recent interviews, the girls have talked about all the sex they have: with each other, with boys, and even with groups of female fans, saying "after gigs we like taking a couple of sexy girls to our hotel room." Lena explains, "we were never faithful to each other. We also had lots of sex with boys."
3. Gay marriage isn't just for gay people anymore. "If we win Eurovision we even want to get married - preferably in Germany." Lena recently told German paper Bild. This despite that fact that they both have boyfriends and, by their own admission, are unfaithful to each other. I know people who have made open marriages work, but even open marriages require more of a commitment than just the intention to make lots of money together. And this kind of obvious mockery of marriage plays right into the hands of staunch heterosexual critics who already decry gay marriage as "fake."
4. The male gaze is the ultimate audience for lesbian sex. Although many lesbian and bisexual teenage girls are big fans of T.A.T.U., the girls' songs, videos, clothing, and photos are clearly designed to appeal to straight men, and promote the male-centered, voyeuristic version of lesbianism that is so popular in straight male porn. Their detailed, protest-too-much over-sharing in the media is just one illustration of this; speaking recently to a German newspaper, Julia said: "We really love each other and the sex is phenomenal. It's a thousand times better than with a man. And contrary to what others might say, we don't just talk about it. We have sex at least three times a day. The best is in the morning when we have just woken up. Then we do it nice and slowly. In the evening it is a lot faster and we rip each other's clothes off. We like it at lunchtime too."
Since no woman in a genuine relationship would share this much private information about her sex life, this disclosure is clearly designed to be yet another marketing tool. In T.A.T.U.'s world, even sex between women is designed to please men.
5. Pedophilia is just another "market" to target. Plenty of teenage girls have faced controversy in the past by playing up their sex appeal to build a career (with Britney Spears as perhaps the most famous recent example), but none have so blatantly courted pedophiles the way T.A.T.U. has, from their baby-doll/school-girl outfits to their provocative little-girl poses to the fact that the girls were only fourteen when this all get started (they're eighteen now). I'll admit it's a fine line, but the girls have clearly crossed it--their recent cover of Maxim (above, right) is just one of the most recent examples.
T.A.T.U.'s manager, Ivan Shapovalov, even admits that he came up with the idea of forming the group after surfing porn sites targeted to pedophiles and identifying this as an underserved market. "I saw that most people look up pornography on the Internet and of those, most are looking for underage sex," Shapovalov told UK newspaper The Sun in a February, 2003 interview. "I saw their needs weren’t fulfilled. Later, it turned out, I was right. This is the same as my own desires. I prefer underage girls."
So why do so many lesbian and bisexual women continue to be fans of T.A.T.U. despite the increasingly disturbing information coming out about the group? I suspect the answer is that their music is catchy, and the girls are cute, and we're so starved for any representation of ourselves in popular music that we're trying to make them into something they're not.
It is possible to enjoy the girls' music, if you ignore their comments to the press, and their manager's statements, and their photos and videos that all scream "jail bait." But I can't divorce music from its context like that--and even if I could, as a feminist, I can't condone the sexualization of little girls no matter how catchy their music is.
And as a lesbian, I resent the appropriation of our challenges, frustrations, and social marginalization to make money for someone who has no interest in the lesbian/bisexual community besides exploiting it. A little increased visibility for lesbian/bi teens doesn't begin to make up for that.
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