Hi everyone!
So, I don't know if you guys have heard of it, but I've heard a lot about Meghan Trainor's newest song and music video recently. And I have a lot of thoughts about it and I think the people around me are getting sick of hearing me talk about it, so I thought I might talk about it here. (And writing a post about it forces me to get my thoughts in a logical order so that the next time someone brings it up, I'll have a great list of concise and organised things to mention, rather than jumping around manically as I think of more things...)
In case you haven't heard the song or seen the video, I've conveniently added it here for you.
A couple of weeks ago, people kept telling me that I had to hear this song and it kept popping up on my social media sites, and everything was saying the same thing - that it was a great body positive song, that I'd love it so much and that we needed more songs like this.
Naturally I was intrigued. Of course I wanted to hear this amazing song that touted body positivity and made everyone that was not a conventionally attractive size feel great. And so many people loved. That meant that it had to be amazing, right? Especially since the people I surround myself with on my social media all tout positive messages and good stuff like that. It sounded almost too good to be true
And sadly, in a way it was.
Don't get me wrong, the song is still pretty good. It's really catchy and has some really good sections in it. I like that the people in it are fairly diverse and I really like some of the lyrics. And, it's a step in the right direction for what we do need in the music industry - particularly in the music video industry.
But, there were some elements about the song and it's video that I was really not keen on. This can pretty much be summed up in two sections, the skinny shaming and the emphasis on men as a decider of what sort of bodies are attractive.
So, about the skinny shaming. There are a lot, like, a lot of comments on this video on how 'fat girls are so sensitive about their weight and there is no need to put them (the skinny girls) down just to make themselves feel better about being fat'. For the most part, I think it's just insecure thin girls who feel a little challenged and disgusted (as stated in many comments) that overweight or fat girls can be, and are, considered attractive. And that irks me, while still being a bit understandable. Our culture is one that glorifies thinness to an extreme that means that many people just cannot reconcile in their mind that fat does not equal ugly. I'm not blaming them, necessarily, as I was once one of those people too. It's the culture's fault, not the individual's. But it doesn't excuse it. It doesn't excuse comments like "It's not cute or healthy to be obese", "Fat isn't attractive and nor will it ever be", "The mind is subconsciously attracted to the healthiest people to procreate with (regarding fat being bad)", and "I bet that fat guy had a heart attack after he finished dancing". That's not acceptable. But, on the other hand, putting down thin body types in order to promote a fatter body shape is also not okay.
To be honest, I think some of the lyrics are just a little demeaning. Things like "I'm bringing booty back, go ahead and tell those skinny bitches" are just nasty. It just plays right into the stereotype of skinny, conventionally attractive girls being nasty and bitchy and self-centred people. Which, as we all know, isn't any more true than the stereotype about fat people being lazy, gluttonous slobs. But challenging one stereotype by feeding into another isn't actually dong anyone any favours.
Not only that, but it feeds into other stereotypes about thin girls, like that they are not 'real women' because they don't have the same curves that bigger girls do. "My mother she told me don't worry about your size, because boys like a little more booty to hold at night" is a line that plays right into those stereotype. It implies that thin girls don't have the booty or the curves that fatter girls do, therefore making them not as womanly.
Aside from the actual lyrics, the video itself does skinny shaming in such an obvious manner that even if the lyrics were 100% body positive to everyone and were all around great, I'd still feel a little iffy about the song after watching the video. In the whole video, there is only one thin girl, which on one hand, is great - look at the diversity! But on the other hand is how she's actually treated. She gets pushed around, shoved out of the way and ignored by everyone else. For the most part, she's ignored and if she is granted with any attention, it's of the condescending hand flick sort of attention. When she dances, she sort of stands there and waves her arms and shimmies a little while others are twerking and head-flicking and doing the splits and looking like they are actually having fun. It just grates on me a little. The way I see it, she's basically a prop that, (and I'm probably gonna get a lot of flack for this) is basically used to demonstrate how much more attractive and sexy fatter people are, and that just isn't okay in my book. We should be showing how every body type is sexy and beautiful.
I also don't particularly like the way there is so much focus on men as the decider of which sorts of bodies are attractive. Again, the lyric "My mother she told me don't worry about your size, because boys like a little more booty to hold at night" just irks me. But surely not all boys like more booty. Surely some like less? Or maybe some don't really have an opinion on how much booty is the optimum amount. But also, why should the fact that (apparently) boys like more booty be a decider on how you feel about your weight? Why don't you not worry about your weight because you like having more booty? For me, it just reinforces the idea that women are there as eye-candy for men. That the attractiveness of women is dependent on what men think about them, whether they are deemed to be attractive to the male gender. But it's not just that lyric. That idea is mentioned right at the beginning of the song in the first verse in the lyric "Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase" and then all throughout the song as part of the chorus.
If you look closely at the lyrics, it can been seen that every time her, and other girls attractiveness is mentioned, it's in regards to how men perceive them. One of the best lines in the whole song, in my opinion, and a really, really great line in general is "I won't be no stick-figure silicone Barbie doll, so if that's what you're into go ahead and move along". I love it because for me, it's everything that body positivity should be about. It states that she isn't thin, that she knows that she isn't skinny and that she doesn't care - she's happy the way she is and she isn't going to change for anyone. She's telling people that she isn't going to conform to an impossible beauty standard. But equally, I don't feel it's blaming anyone. She isn't shaming those that are thin, nor is she looking down on those that prefer thinner girls. She's just stating that this is who she is, and she isn't going to be changing just to please you. But, even though I love this lyric, it's still about men. It's still about how she has to tell men, firmly, and non-ambiguously, that she isn't going to change just because some of them don't like the shape she is. And in the context of the rest of the song and it's views on men, it's still reinforcing that same message.
And that is pretty much why I dislike parts of the song.
But, I love, love, love that line about the silicone Barbie doll and I love how it's presented in the video (0:47, 1:01, 1:05 and other bits) and I like the underlying message. I mean, I know I just spent the last 1 400 words dissecting why I don't like it, but I think she had good intentions with the song. I just don't think they came out quite the way she wanted them too. But it is a step in the right direction. And, with the amount of discussion and commenting that's it's provoked, its got people talking and thinking. And that can only be good.
Is it a great body positive song? For me, no, although I can understand why the people who think it is do think that. Personally, it had to many flaws for me to wholeheartedly recommend it. But would I recommend it to people? Yes. It's catchy and it's a step in the right direction. I recommended it to one of my younger sister's because I thought it was a song she'd like and because she's having trouble coming to terms with the fact that, like me, she's going to end up bigger than the average girl and dare I say it - a little bit fat.
Do I really, really love it? Again, no. It's catchy, I enjoy it and I really love bits of it, but I've spent too much analysing it and discussing it and it has too many bits that grate on me for me to really love it.
Do we need more songs like this? Absolutely. I want songs like this to be normality, not an abnormality. I want the major discussions about this song to be about whether the men should have worn their cardigans that way or not (in my opinion, no, because I think it looks dorky), not the fact that she's saying it's okay to be a little fat and that if you are, you can still be beautiful and attractive.
And so I will leave you this these thoughts and some wise words from 1997 Sesame Street.
So, I don't know if you guys have heard of it, but I've heard a lot about Meghan Trainor's newest song and music video recently. And I have a lot of thoughts about it and I think the people around me are getting sick of hearing me talk about it, so I thought I might talk about it here. (And writing a post about it forces me to get my thoughts in a logical order so that the next time someone brings it up, I'll have a great list of concise and organised things to mention, rather than jumping around manically as I think of more things...)
In case you haven't heard the song or seen the video, I've conveniently added it here for you.
A couple of weeks ago, people kept telling me that I had to hear this song and it kept popping up on my social media sites, and everything was saying the same thing - that it was a great body positive song, that I'd love it so much and that we needed more songs like this.
Naturally I was intrigued. Of course I wanted to hear this amazing song that touted body positivity and made everyone that was not a conventionally attractive size feel great. And so many people loved. That meant that it had to be amazing, right? Especially since the people I surround myself with on my social media all tout positive messages and good stuff like that. It sounded almost too good to be true
And sadly, in a way it was.
Don't get me wrong, the song is still pretty good. It's really catchy and has some really good sections in it. I like that the people in it are fairly diverse and I really like some of the lyrics. And, it's a step in the right direction for what we do need in the music industry - particularly in the music video industry.
But, there were some elements about the song and it's video that I was really not keen on. This can pretty much be summed up in two sections, the skinny shaming and the emphasis on men as a decider of what sort of bodies are attractive.
So, about the skinny shaming. There are a lot, like, a lot of comments on this video on how 'fat girls are so sensitive about their weight and there is no need to put them (the skinny girls) down just to make themselves feel better about being fat'. For the most part, I think it's just insecure thin girls who feel a little challenged and disgusted (as stated in many comments) that overweight or fat girls can be, and are, considered attractive. And that irks me, while still being a bit understandable. Our culture is one that glorifies thinness to an extreme that means that many people just cannot reconcile in their mind that fat does not equal ugly. I'm not blaming them, necessarily, as I was once one of those people too. It's the culture's fault, not the individual's. But it doesn't excuse it. It doesn't excuse comments like "It's not cute or healthy to be obese", "Fat isn't attractive and nor will it ever be", "The mind is subconsciously attracted to the healthiest people to procreate with (regarding fat being bad)", and "I bet that fat guy had a heart attack after he finished dancing". That's not acceptable. But, on the other hand, putting down thin body types in order to promote a fatter body shape is also not okay.
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| Do these doughnuts have anything to do with this post. Nope. Other than the fact that I think there was a comment about fat people eating doughnuts. Because of course, the only thing fat people do is eat doughnuts. Duh. Source |
To be honest, I think some of the lyrics are just a little demeaning. Things like "I'm bringing booty back, go ahead and tell those skinny bitches" are just nasty. It just plays right into the stereotype of skinny, conventionally attractive girls being nasty and bitchy and self-centred people. Which, as we all know, isn't any more true than the stereotype about fat people being lazy, gluttonous slobs. But challenging one stereotype by feeding into another isn't actually dong anyone any favours.
Not only that, but it feeds into other stereotypes about thin girls, like that they are not 'real women' because they don't have the same curves that bigger girls do. "My mother she told me don't worry about your size, because boys like a little more booty to hold at night" is a line that plays right into those stereotype. It implies that thin girls don't have the booty or the curves that fatter girls do, therefore making them not as womanly.
Aside from the actual lyrics, the video itself does skinny shaming in such an obvious manner that even if the lyrics were 100% body positive to everyone and were all around great, I'd still feel a little iffy about the song after watching the video. In the whole video, there is only one thin girl, which on one hand, is great - look at the diversity! But on the other hand is how she's actually treated. She gets pushed around, shoved out of the way and ignored by everyone else. For the most part, she's ignored and if she is granted with any attention, it's of the condescending hand flick sort of attention. When she dances, she sort of stands there and waves her arms and shimmies a little while others are twerking and head-flicking and doing the splits and looking like they are actually having fun. It just grates on me a little. The way I see it, she's basically a prop that, (and I'm probably gonna get a lot of flack for this) is basically used to demonstrate how much more attractive and sexy fatter people are, and that just isn't okay in my book. We should be showing how every body type is sexy and beautiful.
I also don't particularly like the way there is so much focus on men as the decider of which sorts of bodies are attractive. Again, the lyric "My mother she told me don't worry about your size, because boys like a little more booty to hold at night" just irks me. But surely not all boys like more booty. Surely some like less? Or maybe some don't really have an opinion on how much booty is the optimum amount. But also, why should the fact that (apparently) boys like more booty be a decider on how you feel about your weight? Why don't you not worry about your weight because you like having more booty? For me, it just reinforces the idea that women are there as eye-candy for men. That the attractiveness of women is dependent on what men think about them, whether they are deemed to be attractive to the male gender. But it's not just that lyric. That idea is mentioned right at the beginning of the song in the first verse in the lyric "Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase" and then all throughout the song as part of the chorus.
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| Source |
And that is pretty much why I dislike parts of the song.
But, I love, love, love that line about the silicone Barbie doll and I love how it's presented in the video (0:47, 1:01, 1:05 and other bits) and I like the underlying message. I mean, I know I just spent the last 1 400 words dissecting why I don't like it, but I think she had good intentions with the song. I just don't think they came out quite the way she wanted them too. But it is a step in the right direction. And, with the amount of discussion and commenting that's it's provoked, its got people talking and thinking. And that can only be good.
Is it a great body positive song? For me, no, although I can understand why the people who think it is do think that. Personally, it had to many flaws for me to wholeheartedly recommend it. But would I recommend it to people? Yes. It's catchy and it's a step in the right direction. I recommended it to one of my younger sister's because I thought it was a song she'd like and because she's having trouble coming to terms with the fact that, like me, she's going to end up bigger than the average girl and dare I say it - a little bit fat.
Do I really, really love it? Again, no. It's catchy, I enjoy it and I really love bits of it, but I've spent too much analysing it and discussing it and it has too many bits that grate on me for me to really love it.
Do we need more songs like this? Absolutely. I want songs like this to be normality, not an abnormality. I want the major discussions about this song to be about whether the men should have worn their cardigans that way or not (in my opinion, no, because I think it looks dorky), not the fact that she's saying it's okay to be a little fat and that if you are, you can still be beautiful and attractive.
And so I will leave you this these thoughts and some wise words from 1997 Sesame Street.
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