Sex and the singles chart

The Russian teen duo Tatu have caused outrage in some sections of the British media with their heady mix of school uniforms, Sapphic sex and perfect pop. But, asks Fiona Sturges, what are we really getting so steamed up about?

If there was ever any doubt as to whether men still rule the industry, an eyeful of the latest chart-toppers Tatu should clear things up. The most talked-about group in recent pop history, Tatu – it stands for "Ta lyubit tu" or "this one loves that one" – are a pair of pretty teenage Russian girls who claim to be lesbians. In the video to their outrageously catchy No 1 single, "All The Things She Said", Lena Katina, 17, and Julia Volkova, 18, writhe about in rain-soaked school uniforms, kissing each other in slow motion.

This saucy combination of knee-socks and Sapphic love has been greeted with nothing short of hysteria. The Daily Mail decried "a phenomenon that manages to degrade marketing and music at the same time", going on to coin the unforgettable term "paedo-pop", while those bastions of morality Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan declared the song "paedophilic entertainment" on their Channel 4 chat show and called for it to be banned. The girl's pseudo-lesbian antics have also prompted a furore in Eastern Europe where they've already sold a million records. Russian MPs have called for new legislation to put a stop to such lewd behaviour, while the mayor of the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, fearing for the moral welfare of the city's male population, has prohibited them from performing live.

The assumption that lesbianism in pop exists purely for the titillation of men is an irritating one, though, given the limited imaginations of marketing executives, it's probably accurate. However, the notion that Tatu's song is going to turn adult men into child molesters is truly idiotic. If young girls dressed in ill-fitting school uniforms constitute a danger to society, then the cast of Grange Hill should have been locked up long ago. And why on earth would paedophiles look to the charts for their jollies when they have the bottomless pit of porn that is the internet to keep them occupied? Considerably more creepy is the sight of our very own S Club Juniors dressed in skimpy outfits and performing adult dance routines when they're barely out of primary school. What makes the S Club tots apparently acceptable to readers of the Daily Mail is the fact that they're aimed specifically at a pre-teen audience. Tatu, on the other hand, are marketed at adults with a penchant for pert buttocks and good old-fashioned girl-on-girl action. Which do you think is more dangerous?

You can't help but wonder why we're suddenly so shocked by female pop stars revelling in their youthful sexuality. Bow Wow Wow's 1981 album See Jungle..., released at a time when paedophilia was assumed to be some sort of medical degree, featured a picture of the 15-year-old singer Annabella Lwin in the nude in a pastiche of Manet's painting Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe (the band's first hit was a cover of Strangelove's "I Want Candy"); Britney Spears was still in her mid-teens when she appeared on the front cover of Rolling Stone wearing a school uniform and clutching a Teletubby. Madonna, who has arguably had a far greater impact on the course of feminist culture than any social theorist, featured overt scenes of lesbianism and masturbation in her pop videos during the Eighties. Then, she was deemed an evil influence on our youth. Now, she's practically royalty.

Rather than make grand statements about their sexuality, however, today's pop princesses are more likely just to get their kit off. The video to "Kiss Kiss", the debut single of the 19-year-old former Neighbours actress Holly Valance, had the star gyrating, apparently naked, in between two male dancers, with only a couple of strategically placed strobe lights protecting her modesty. Meanwhile, the Cheeky Girls' single "Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)" – well, the title says it all. And as for Christina Aguilera, the singer who recently appeared wearing chaps over a pair of skimpy knickers on Top of the Pops – next to her, Tatu seem positively chaste.

Like Valance and Aguilera, Tatu are certainly wise to the effect that naked flesh can have on record sales, but closer inspection reveals that there's more to them than titillation. As well as being a flawless slice of pop, their single "All the Things She Said", containing the lyrics "I'm all mixed up/ Feeling cornered and rushed/ They say it's my fault when I want her so much" and "Wanna fly her away where the sun and the rain/ Come in over my face, wash away the shame", is a poignant ode to teenage sexual confusion. Their forthcoming LP, 200km/h in the Wrong Lane, which has been re-recorded for a Western market with the help of the producer Trevor Horn, is also one of the best pop-rock crossover albums of the past few years, despite containing an extraordinary cover version of The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?". But making pop songs of substance isn't Tatu's only achievement. This week they managed to knock the insidious evil that is Fame Academy's David Sneddon off the top spot. For that alone, they deserve our support.

The album '200km/h in the Wrong Lane' is released on Monday on Interscope