Fans are accusing the former One Direction member of fetishizing bi women in one of his new tracks.
byraffy
December 06 2019 1:47 PM EST
December 09 2022 9:12 AM EST
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Fans are accusing the former One Direction member of fetishizing bi women in one of his new tracks.
British singer and former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne released his debut studio effort LP1 today, and although the record just seems like your average, run-of-the-mill, pop fluff, online listeners are accusing one of the tracks from the album of being something much more sinister: biphobic.
The song in question is the album's 10th track entitled "Both Ways," where Payne can be heard singing lyrics like "My girl, she like it both ways/She like the way it all taste/Couple more, we'll call it foreplay," and "Lovin' the way that she's turning you on/Switching the lanes like a Bugatti Sport/Nothing but luck that she got me involved, yeah/Flipping that body, go head, I go tails/Sharing that body like it's our last meal/One and a two and a three, that's for real."
While "Both Ways" isn't the first hypersexualized song to do it, its fetishization of bisexual women plays into the tired, old view that bi women and their sexualities simply exist for the gratification of their male partners—and that fetishization has violent, real-life consequences.
Obviously, Payne's queer listeners were rightfully not very happy about this and took to Twitter to voice their frustrations:
\u201chot take: i\u2019ve always thought liam\u2019s music was really quite gross towards women but \u2018rude hours\u2019 and \u2018both ways\u2019 are new levels of gross that i can\u2019t stand for. fetishising bi women is not!! ok!! it\u2019s gross!!\u201d— car\ud83e\udd87 (@car\ud83e\udd87) 1575619969
\u201cWho let @LiamPayne put out Both Ways??? Bordering biphobic, perpetuating the idea that bi women are only bi for men?? We don\u2019t Stan\u201d— Bella (@Bella) 1575634828
\u201cboth ways by Liam Payne is literally ?????? so biphobic like bi women aren\u2019t just to have sex with you fuck off im so mad\u201d— sky (@sky) 1575629223
\u201cmaya: liam i\u2019m bisexual... \nliam: omg that\u2019s ok\nmaya: Aw....\nliam: No no I don\u2019t discriminate \ud83d\ude0a\nmaya: ?\nliam: I Like that you\u2019re Different \ud83d\ude18 \nmaya: what\nliam: Lovin the way that she\u2019s turning you on \ud83d\ude0f \nmaya: what the fuck???\u201d— issy (@issy) 1575653531
\u201c@skatababy go read the lyrics to both ways by liam payne\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d he fetishises his girlfriends bisexuality / bi women in general\u201d— issy (@issy) 1575653531
\u201cnot some liam stans excusing both ways and calling it empowerement when it's literally relating a bi girl to a threesome with no doubt. fuck that shit, i love liam but fuck that shit\u201d— alexa (@alexa) 1575653610
\u201cAfter hearing "both ways" where Liam sexualised bi girls, I cancelled forever. I'm sick of him, everyday something new. Bye Liam\u201d— Bravery \u267f | #WALLS #FineLine (@Bravery \u267f | #WALLS #FineLine) 1575652846
\u201c@viceskaspbrak the lyrics are SO misogynistic and gross. i did like him for a while, but he literally is talking about bi women like objects and saying he\u2019s SHARING HIS GIRL AROUND\ud83e\udd22\ud83e\udd22\ud83e\udd22 disgusting. and people say his lyrics are \u201cso powerful!\u201d\u201d— rhi \u2605\u1d34 (@rhi \u2605\u1d34) 1575618131
\u201cliam has SO much talent and he\u2019s just wasting it on songs about how hot a girl being bi is and doing threesomes because she likes it both ways\u201d— mandi \ud83d\udc97\u2077 misses bts (@mandi \ud83d\udc97\u2077 misses bts) 1575648278
\u201cespecially the fucking song about the obviously bi woman who loves it \u201eboth ways\u201d is so fucking gross idek where to start\u201d— \u2728claudia\u2728 (@\u2728claudia\u2728) 1575647112
\u201cI know I have liam stans who follow me but as a bi person the fetishization in his song both ways makes me feel uncomfortable\ud83d\ude10\u201d— \u2740 a (@\u2740 a) 1575647130
So what's your verdict? You can listen to the song and its lyrics below, and share your thoughts with us in the comments or on Twitter.
Raffy is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, video creator, critic, and digital director of Out Magazine. The former editor-in-chief of PRIDE, he is also a die-hard Rihanna and Sailor Moon stan who loves to write about all things pop culture, entertainment, and identities. Follow him on Instagram (@raffyermac) and Twitter (@byraffy), and subscribe to his YouTube channel.
Raffy is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, video creator, critic, and digital director of Out Magazine. The former editor-in-chief of PRIDE, he is also a die-hard Rihanna and Sailor Moon stan who loves to write about all things pop culture, entertainment, and identities. Follow him on Instagram (@raffyermac) and Twitter (@byraffy), and subscribe to his YouTube channel.