Just a big tease? Her lips are sealed

So what's changed since 1995? I think the shift has to do with what Americans can tolerate right now in terms of risk. Sobule's song came during a time of economic strength and social experimentation fueled by pride movements, especially when it came to feminism and homosexuality. In pop, Alanis Morissette had taken female fury fully into the mainstream, supported by a serious gang of girl greats including Tori Amos, PJ Harvey, Bikini Kill, TLC and Hole.

The activist movement that arose in response to the AIDS epidemic, in league with young women's renewed interest in feminism, linked sexual experimentation to a way of life, not just a drunken night on the town. Sobule's song was considered tame next to stronger statements such as Bikini Kill's often obscene rants, but at least she added the lyric "and I might do it again!" after detailing her exploits.

Plenty of bi-curious sisters (this one included) never went further than a few nights at clubs with names like Meow Mix, but plenty more felt the connection between sexual desire and identity strongly enough to redefine their lives -- and their politics -- on a larger scale.

That's just not happening now. American culture is retracting. People are terrified by the crashing economy and our slipping status in the world. In such times, fantasies go backward too.

Katy Perry, with her potty mouth and her minister parents and her famous boyfriend, is an early 1960s-style bad girl -- Rizzo in "Grease" for a new generation. Her daring statements contain the hint of an assurance that she'll come around in the end. She represents manageable risk: nothing life-changing, but enough to create a memory she can return to after she's settled down. Like Carrie Underwood lamenting a quickie Vegas marriage in "Last Name," or Miley Cyrus raging at her boyfriend only to tell him he's adorable in “7 Things,” Perry is all about mistakes that are reversible, experiments that never go too far.

Perry's taken heat for carelessly appropriating gay culture in her songs, and it's deserved. But it's also par for the course in a conservative moment, when decadent party-circuit role-playing replaces open-minded experiments in sex and love. As far as popular images of bi-curiosity go, I have more hope for Lindsay Lohan. At least she's been seen kissing a girl.

--

ann.powers@latimes.com