strokes and peaches

Tatu You?

The following was circulating round the internet in a bid to promote an online petition directed at Richard and Judy. We think it's heartfelt, but very misplaced - it would take a massive leap of faith to see tatu as anything other than a manufactured act. It's an interesting perspective, mind.

Freedom of speech and expression could not be more on-topic; without it your group could not exist. So, I hope you will consider the facts and reasoned arguments that follow, against the drivel you have read in the tabloids, and then support the campaign.
You can sign the online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/backtatu/petition.html
'Attitude and audacity are necessary to challenge bigotry.' What could be a more effective challenge to homophobic bigots than a pop routine that everybody, including the non-gay and anti-gay population, actually knows about, that throws a provocative 'paedophilic' parody in their faces - thereby sending a gay-assertive message that cannot be ignored, to the very people who need to hear it, in a language that they immediately understand?

We could debate whether the end justifies the means on an abstract level; but thanks to a brilliant marketing strategy, a serious message is getting across to people all over this planet, and it has sparked a long-overdue public debate about underage sexuality, whether gay or straight.
It seems to be a fashionable opinion (especially in gay circles) that tATu - two 18-year-old Russian female singers - must be a fraud or a marketing gimmick because they haven't come out as fully paid-up Lesbians and sworn their undying love for each other.
A consensus of top music critics around the world, including (especially) in the Daily Telegraph, heaped exceptional praise on the album, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, not least because the music and lyrics are self-evidently sincere and serious in their sympathy with the struggle of gay, bi and uncertain youth. Therefore, by definition, bans and censorship of that message in any form, send the opposite message that those youth have something to be ashamed of.
It's the message of the music that matters. Since when were pop stars expected to live their private lives consistently with their lyrics? If they did, half of them would be stark raving schizophrenics, many would be dead by now, and most rap artists would be serving prison sentences for various offences against their 'bitches'.
The fact that Lena and Yulia have been singled out and treated differently than everybody else, betrays the real reason for their persistent censorship: fear of the reality that girls aged between 13 and 16 (a) have a sexuality in the first place and (b) have sexual feelings for each other. All they ask for is social acceptance of those feelings instead of the grief they get from homophobic bigots and paedophile-obsessed politically-correct freaks at school, at home and on the streets.
If you really care about protecting youth from bad influences, protect them from bullying and bigotry, not from pop music.
Then there is that kiss between Lena and Yulia that people allege is a fraud and a 'commercial gimmick'. That charge falls flat on its face because they were intent on kissing each other during their song, even though doing so meant risking their US visas and lucrative TV appearances. Their bread was buttered on the side of NOT kissing. Therefore, such an ardent, defiant, reckless kiss could not possibly have been a commercial gimmick.
Forget stereotypes of cold, calculating chess players; music managers who must be pimps or gangsters because they are Russian, and pop stars who must be prostitutes because they are Russian. What self-respecting pimp would allow his charges to mouth off publicly at every opportunity, and (self-evidently obviously) without reading from prepared scripts?
Check out all the things she said with attitude (Lena is the one who speaks fluent English):
we only kiss each other because we want to, and because we've got the guts to do it in front of everybody;
just because we have those feelings for each other, it doesn't mean we have to be certain about our relationship or our sexuality at our ages, just to please gay activists;
our private lives are none of your business anyway;
we hope we are helping young bi / gay / uncertain teenagers to stop being afraid.
She said those things until she was bluer in the face than if she had been standing naked in the middle of Red Square for six hours in January. So I hope it is clear now that the only fraud is the fig leaf of alleged 'commercial manipulation' (of the kiss) that has been used to cover up blatant homophobic censorship.
After the kiss had been repeatedly censored on American television, I declared International Lesbian Kiss Day for Saturday 3rd May, in protest. I know that was somewhat arrogant, but I just wanted to start the ball rolling. I hope the gay communities in America, Britain and around the world will take ownership of that concept and adapt it as they see fit; and that, one way or another (maybe as part of a gay pride event?), a hell of a lot of females will kiss each other brazenly in public places.
Following this message is the email I sent to Richard and Judy at the very beginning, and an article in the Independent by Jemima Lewis which says it all.
Jason
(Jason Richmond, petition author)Message to Richard and Judy on 30/1/2003:
"The furore over Tatu is an attack on teen sexuality in general, and gay and lesbian teen sexuality in particular. Balancing the rights and protection of newly pubescent people is never easy, but gay and lesbian teens, especially, need adult support and affirmation, not hysteria. They are already troubled by homophobic bullying and stigmatism, and if Tatu help to affirm that their sexuality is legitimate, they have done some good in the world."

Article about t.A.T.u in The Independent
Jemima Lewis: Sing the praises of Tatu, the teenage lesbians
10 February 2003
'Watching the video, I was struck by how much the girls reminded me of myself at
that awkward age.'
I'm confused. I thought the argument about sexual tolerance had been won. In all
decent, right-thinking circles, "homophobe" is now a bigger insult than "homosexual",
while even the most reactionary old coves like to boast that some of their best friends
are gay. So why the big fuss about a couple of girls kissing?
This week, the number one chart slot was stormed by a couple of Russian
teenagers, going by the name of Tatu, who claim to be lesbian lovers. Their video –
which shows them kissing in the rain, their school uniforms soaked to the point of
transparency – has been banned by Top of the Pops, and the usual voices of Middle
England have declared their disgust. The Daily Mail fulminated against the "shocking
lesbian imagery"in the video,
[SHOCKING LESBIAN IMAGERY - don't tell me this is just about paedophile hysteria when it is also about blatant homophobic bigotry - Ed]
and gave it the memorable moniker of "paedo-pop".
The TV presenter Richard Madeley called it "sick" and expressed concern over the
rumours that "these girls actually have underage lesbian sex in real life".
Leaving aside the fact that there is no age of consent for lesbian sex, thanks to
Queen Victoria's touching insistence that no woman would ever do something so
filthy, I think we can surmise that the old bigotries are alive and well. Beneath a thin
veneer of enlightenment, ours is still a resolutely narrow-minded society. The
problem with Tatu isn't that they're highly sexualised teenagers – the pop world has
been churning those out ever since Britney Spears conquered the world in a pigtails
and a miniaturised school uniform. The real, unspoken fear is that Tatu might lead
impressionable schoolgirls astray.
If only it were that easy to open up young minds. For the truth is, children are the
most conservative and judgemental social group of all. The need to conform is never
more urgent than at school, where any whiff of difference can get you either
ostracised or tyrannised. Sexual oddity is an especially rich mine, since it touches on
the most vulnerable parts of the human soul: the parts that bullies love to reach.
From an astonishingly young age – long before puberty sets in – children become
aware that to be "gay" or "batty" or "lezzie" is as shockingly different as it gets, which
is why these are the favourite taunts of the playground.
At my local swimming pool the other day, I overheard two young boys in a
neighbouring cubicle exchanging insults in a desultory sort of way. The conversation
went like this: "You're a batty boy." "No you're a batty boy. "No you're a batty boy."
"Well you're a batty batty boy." "You're the biggest batty boy ever." And so it went on,
hypnotically repetitious, for a good 10 minutes. There was no need for either to
diversify into other failings: being "batty" was damning enough.
Male homosexuals always get the worst rap, but it's no joyride being a lesbian at
school either. At my sophisticated London day school, there was a sudden epidemic
of girl-on-girl action during the sixth form years, pioneered by one supernaturally
confident lesbian. For a time, half the school was hopping in and out of her bed: yet
still an atmosphere of playground homophobia prevailed. There were nasty notes
stuck to the locker one of her lovers; the Trendies made their disgust felt as only
Trendies can; several parents complained to the school that she was corrupting their
children; when she tried to write a piece about coming out for the school magazine,
she was firmly rebuffed. Ultimately she was expelled, although that may have been
for sound academic reasons: she did, in truth, spend far more time between the
sheets than in front of her books.
I was one of her girlfriends, and I'm sorry to say that for a long time I was ashamed of
it. It must have been obvious to everyone that I was madly in love with her, but I
denied it to even my closest friends. It was only when I went to university, and
realised that it was a great way to pull men, that I became belatedly out and proud.
Watching the Tatu video on MTV last night, I was struck by how much the girls
reminded me of myself at that awkward age. Unlike Britney or Christina Aguilera or
any of the preened American pop princesses, these ones looked like genuine
teenagers: toothy, frizzy-haired, clumsy, ill-fitting, seething with angst. All modern pop
songs are about sex, but theirs is about sexual confusion: "Wanna fly her away," they
sing, "where the sun and the rain/ Come in over my face, wash away the shame."
There are those who say that the Tatu girls are not really lesbians, and that the
whole thing is a marketing exercise (like my coming out at university). But that hardly
matters. Whatever their motives, they've captured the anguish of young sapphic love
remarkably well: and the fact that it has endeared them to the teenage market is little
short of miraculous. It's a lonely business being gay at school. If pop culture can help
to loosen the vice-like grip of playground conservatism, so much the better.