So about that Meghan Trainor song... I think its time to have this conversation. The party-pooper conversation you knew was coming from one of your friends sooner or later. Im that girl. Feel free to tune me out. Or feel free to be the other girl whos angry with this girl for shaming The Radio Girl and in so doing upending and/or damaging the cause of feminism just as much as I perceive she is (even though thats not what Im doing at all). Anyway. I like the song. I want to shake it shake it every time it comes on the radio. Its compulsively singable. But heres the thing. As I was listening That One Time when my 10- and 12-year-old nieces were in the car, I was (as I always am) keenly aware of the lyrical content and message theyre absorbing. I can go with most of the song. Because you know Im all about that bass, Bout that bass, no treble Im all bout that bass, bout that bass, no treble Im all bout that bass, bout that bass, no treble Im all bout that bass, bout that bass Catchy tune. I like heavy bass, too. Its fun to follow a pulsing beat anchored by a great bass line. This one isnt the most creative Ive ever heard, but its... yeah, catchy. Continue... Yeah its pretty clear, I aint no size two Okay. Neither am I. And kudos for you for being bold enough say it out loud, even if it is pretty clear. Because numbers are nothing more than math, and math is dumb. But I can shake it, shake it like Im supposed to do... Uh....Wait. Who says youre supposed to shake it? Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase All the right junk in all the right places... ...MY HEAD IS BEGINNING TO EXPLODE.... But lets go ahead and skip forward... I see the magazines working that Photoshop We know that sh*t aint real Come on now, make it stop If you got beauty beauty just raise em up Cause every inch of you is perfect From the bottom to the top Yes! Amen! This is all great! Yeah, my momma she told me dont worry about your size... As every mother should tell every son or daughter. Keep going. She says, boys they like a little more booty to hold at night Okay, STOP. RIGHT. THERE. Here is where my fundamental problem with the song lies. Her not-size-two boom-boom frame is apparently acceptable precisely because all the boys chase it...??? Its okay to have junk if its in the right places... According to boys??? While Meghan Trainor no doubt means well; while she is proclaiming - as we all should - that a womans size doesnt matter; that her incomparable worth and beauty have nothing to do with a number on skirt tag... While she rightly insists that every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top whether youre a skinny b**ch who thinks shes fat, a voluptuous woman with some serious padding and curves, or somewhere in between... SHES STILL ATTACHING THAT WORTH INEXTRICABLY TO WHAT A MAN THINKS OF HER!!!! BLERGHCHGHGHGSKH!!!!! Dont worry about your size BECAUSE boys like big butts! Its okay that Im not a size two BECAUSE boys like it when I shake it, and they come booty-chasing! Ladies. LADIES!! We can do better. We ARE better. By most standards, Im no feminist. But this one seems pretty obvious: Youre beautiful because youre beautiful, whether or not this boy or that affirms it. Youre size 2 or 12 or 20 frame is wonderful because YOU are fearfully and wonderfully made. Your body is incredible because it takes you places. Literally. Your legs carry you across miles. They can carry you strongly across 3 or 6 or 13 or 26 or 50 or 100 miles in one day! They take you in and out of businesses, all the way to the top floor corner office where your glorious brains and cunning creativity have landed you the presiding position over an entire company of employees who respect your prowess. Your body is incredible because with it, you are able to grow, and then birth, and then feed and nurture tiny humans that happen from scratch inside you. The fact that men here and there and probably everywhere think youre physically attractive is secondary at best; flattering but superfluous. So if you like to shake it shake it because dancing is fun and you dont care what anyone else thinks of your curves and jiggle or lack thereof, I SAY AMEN! Shake it, sister! But please. Embracing and celebrating a bootylicious bass body because boys chase it, or because they like something to hold onto at night, is just as despicable as embracing and celebrating a skin-and-bones frame because the photoshopping fashion industry has deemed an emaciated figure more palatable on the runway. And this concludes my rant for the day. Thank you.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 16:05:21 +0000
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