Why I Cannot Be All About That Bass.

"I'm bringin booty back....go 'head and tell them skinny bitches that."

This is complicated and it is so for a lot of reasons. The first is that the thick girl part of me, the never been less than a size 10, thighs for days part of me really wants to be like, "HELL YEAH!" when I hear this song. I want to say "FINALLY an anthem that sticks it to the skinny girl size 2 propaganda!" Also, this song is SO catchy and cute, which is I suppose why all the little girls in my daughters kindergarten class are singing it and therefor my daughter comes home with some new off version of the chorus every week. While the main reason I wouldn't be jamming out to this in the car with my kids is because there is a little language and I am sort of a stickler about that, I think the message is actually really bad. Dare I say, just as bad as the skinny girl size 2 propaganda we see everywhere all the time as girls and women.

First off, despite its seemingly positive ideas, the song is really contradictory. Lets take a look:

1. "All the right junk in all the right places," which means that junk is important, especially when it's where it is supposed to be.
2. "Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top," which means junk shouldn't matter at all.
3."My mom always told me don't worry about your size, boys want a little more booty to hold at night," back to junk matters.
4."I won't be no silicone stick figure Barbie doll", indicating that there is in fact something wrong with being super thin.

Clearly the message is all over the board. You are perfect, but I'm bringing booty back and boys like it, so if you don't have it perhaps scratch the perfect part. The video depicts one "not about the bass" female seen here:

She is a thin, attractive female. She is wearing what looks to be a plastic dress which I imagine is meant to indicate that she is plastic or fake. This sends the message that thin somehow equals fake, which is a negative message. The reason I don't think this is any better than a Victoria's Secret billboard or music video with half naked writhing women is because:

1. WE ARE STILL TOTALLY OBJECTIFYING WOMEN. We are not singing about intelligence or ability or heart, we are STILL SINGING ABOUT BOOTY. Does it matter if it's big or small? Did we need ANOTHER song about the body type of women EVER? Making another song about body image or type is just reiterating that the body of a woman, whatever it is, is important and meant to be noticed.

2. IT IS NOT IMPORTANT. YOUR BODY WAS MADE TO MOVE AND LOVE AND BE LOVED AND ENJOY LIFE REGARDLESS OF JUNK IN YOUR TRUNK OR ABS OR SMALL BOOBS OR FAKE BOOBS OR THIGHS THAT RUB TOGETHER OR THIGHS THAT HAVE GAPS. YOUR BODY WAS NOT MADE TO BE GAWKED AT AND JUDGED BY YOURSELF OR ANYONE ELSE. (Read that again).

3. What about the little girls, or grown ones, who are built small? Who are naturally thin with no junk anywhere? What are they supposed to feel about themselves according to this?

You may think I am digging or overreacting and you might love this song because it feels "empowering". You may find it harmless and scream the chorus out the car windows with your kids and all of that is fine. But all these "harmless" ideas add up. This song, plus the fact that every female cartoon character is built like a brick house with DD's, plus walking past the ads in mall windows, plus >insert every day life experience for a young girl here< and it isn't harmless anymore.

I have to tell my daughter to change CARTOONS on Netflix because the girls are drawn so ridiculously and all the same and I don't for a moment want her mind to even PASS OVER the thought that women are supposed to look like that. I refuse to turn on anything other than certain Pandora stations in the car because I can't be okay with my kids hearing the content of pop music. I work TIRELESSLY to not talk about my weight or how frustrated I am with my face in front of my kids because I don't want them to think ANY OF IT MATTERS. I am not perfect- I miss the mark all the time but WE HAVE TO TRY. Open your eyes. You have been fooled and you probably know it if you are reading this but your kids don't and when they hear a happy, upbeat, poppy sounding song they will learn it, and sing it and be absorbing every bit of it because that's what kids do.  

We are wasting brain space with this garbage.

That is all.