B-52s lead singer criticised by trans activists for ‘Mister Sister’ song
B-52s lead singer Katie Pierson has released a song called ‘Mister Sister’ and has come under fire from trans activists.
The song, which features lyrics such as “Nothing hurts when you are a beautiful girl”, is from Pierson’s first solo album.
The video was released in December and will feature on Pierson’s album Guitars and Microphones, released this week.
In an open letter for the Huffington Post, Jamie Cooper Holland, who is a fan of the B-52s, said the song left her and other trans people feeling misunderstood and patronised.
She said: “Misgendering is always wrong. ‘Mister Sister’, beginning with the title itself, is a reminder of the constant water-torture drip that trans people endure day in and day out when we’re addressed as the wrong gender.”
Pierson responded to Cooper Holland, saying the song was meant to be about “the power of transformation and the joy of being accepted as you are, but more importantly the joy of self acceptance.”
The song, which Pierson has dubbed a “trans anthem”, says that once a trans person is out they become “Debbie Delicous” who is on everyone’s “party wish-list”.
The video has also come under fire for featuring Alyson Palmer who has been openly critical of allowing trans women into women-only spaces.
Mya Adriene Byrne, a writer for Advocate, was also very critical of the song. She said: “Those pop lyrics rattled around in my head. And then I started shaking. I felt fake. I cried. I wanted to die, to just crumple up and disappear.
“Aggressions like this — ones that don’t resemble physical violence yet do harm us by perpetuating messages that give others license to dehumanize us — occur constantly for trans people.”
You can watch the video here:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZzSgYQl2RY&w=560&h=315]
