marriage |

Katy Perry’s “version” isn’t one in a technical or a narrative sense. The latter deals with what Sobule sarcastically deems the “title-thieving” nature of Perry’s. And legally, a title isn’t “original enough” to be protected by copyright law (in most cases). This tension between protecting property and (implicitly) participating in a public project is imbricated in the Sobule/Perry dyad. Quickly: Perry’s fairly uninteresting conceit concerns temporarily transgressive border crossing monitored mentally by the figure of the “boyfriend.” Sobule: instead of the “diamond”-like pressures (and suffocation) of straight marriage, women can create “pearls” together (or share the ones they have); this option should be left open for the present and foreseeable future. Pearls, as product of an irritation after the intrusion of a foreign body, are precious unless they’re not, really, with variation/deviance managed for the market. If the sharing allows for de-formation and joint holdings writ large, then Sobule’s is the only one that allows for the commitment to and suspension of a choice.