The Feminist Something

A blog by college students for college students. We are here to discuss the problems in our music industry. Submissions encouraged, comments welcome.

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Meghan Trainor - Dear Future Husband

Meghan Trainor’s “Dear Future Husband” is a catchy tune with a condescending underlying message.  Trainor basically emphasizes her self-worth on the basis of male acceptance in the song. The video, which features Trainor dressed as a typical housewife portrayed in the 50’s/60’s is utterly so plastic-perfect that it’s uncanny to watch; in a way it’s almost like propaganda, portraying women and men in specific gender roles. In the video she’s seen cooking a pie, on her knees voraciously scrubbing the kitchen floor and trying to be won over by potential male suitors. With lyrics like, “Take me on a date, I deserve it babe. And don’t forget the flowers every anniversary,” the concepts seen are not only bad for women but just as bad for men. Heteronormative gender roles are placed on both guys and girls. For men specifically, there’s a particular scene which shows one of Trainor’s potential suitors trying to ring the bell at the top of one of those carnival strength games. He of course falls short and Trainor is unimpressed. What this does for men is that it creates this sort of stigma about masculinity; how can you be a real man without any strength? It’s incredibly demeaning. Overall this sexist song and video can potentially teach a younger audience that men are born to be husbands and women are born to be housewives. Ultimately it diminishes the chance a woman can have to be whatever she wants in life and tears away at the real definition of women’s liberation. These politics she imposes should have been left in the past a long time ago; way before the 2nd wave of feminism.

Chelsea

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Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)

Hill’s classic R&B hit from 1998 reinforces the notions of personal ethics and self-respect in the face of abuse and objectification. The video is set in a split screen; two different Hill’s performing in a local community of New York, one set in the 60′s and the other the 90′s. Throughout the video you can see the disparities between both generations and how both genders act. The idea of Lust vs. Love comes into play, while Hill addresses to her audience, both women and men, to not let “That Thing” ruin who they are and what they’ve lived for, “That Thing” being a term that is completely indefinite and can range from a variety of things. The video itself speaks for 90’s culture and the growing number of people becoming more socially conscious, but more specifically on the idea of women’s empowerment. Ultimately the lyrics focus on preaching the troubles that women encounter when mate-seeking or looking for self-love whilst also describes what men do to women in that process. Hill also conveys females on how to carry themselves as reputable women. What the video does do well is incorporating perspectives from both sides without leaving a gender gap or being critical of a certain gender. Lyrics like “Don't be a hardrock when you're really a gem, Babygirl, respect is just a minimum” and “The sneaky silent men the punk domestic violence men, the quick to shoot the s***n stop acting like boys and be men” are vital to the song and video and really addresses things seen in everyday life. Overall Lauryn encourages women to love themselves and not seek love in every man they follow and for men to respect women, their rights and wishes and to treat them fairly and as equals, to eliminate gender inequalities.

Chelsea

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Rae Sremmurd - Throw Sum Mo

In most music videos women are being used as sex objects and this explains that the important aspects of feminism in a sexual term and that females crave for sex which appeals to the opposite sex in music videos. In music videos women wear skimpy outfits that show off their body parts as money is thrown at them while stripping down for men, for example Rae Sremmurd- throw some more ft. Nicki Minaj. This music video is explicit and is disrespectful to females. Rae Sremmurd raps, “I’m throwin’ all this money, I'mma fuck around and buy her” In this lyric he basically viewing the female as an object because he throwing money on her and might buy her. He’s using money as a way to get the girl. In the song Nicki Minaj raps, “Ass fat, yeah I know. You just got cash? Blow sum mo” the message I am getting from this lyric is girls with a fat asses should make guys with money throw it on them because the physical feature if their body.  It is frustrating to see how disrespected women are in our society; but what females portray themselves as is a way of telling society that it’s okay to treat females as objects. The media is a reflection of society and how females are treated with such disrespect. 

-Oluchi 

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Rihanna - Rude Boy

In this song Rude Boy by Rihanna, it’s mainly about sex. The more I read the lyrics the more I notice how explicit it is. This new generation is becoming more sexual, which is bad because only females are seen as sexual objects. With Rihanna being free to talk about her sexual desires, it makes young adults feel the need to be sexual because they see a pop icon do it. The lyrics in this song is like describing porn. “I'mma let you be the captain. Tonight. I'mma let you do your thing, yeah. Tonight. I'mma let you be a rider.” She’s referring the guy to be the captain during the sexual activity meaning he is in control and he is able to do whatever he wants to her. Knowing Rihanna past abusive relationship with Chris Brown, in her song she sings “I like the way you touch me there, I like the way you pull my hair” this lyric should not be in her song, it means it’s okay for the guy to pull her your hair and touch you however. Getting your hair pulling doesn’t sound pleasant at all, it would actually hurt. She should not be talking about hair being pulled since she was abused, it looks like she’s saying it’s okay to be abused during sexual activities. Females in explicit music videos are always seen as the sexual object for the male audience. 

-Oluchi 

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Carrie Underwood - Two Black Cadillacs

This music video is interesting in that it doesn’t show a man in a position of any real power. Two women find out that they have been dating the same man and they take some rather drastic actions to eliminate the issue. While running the man over with a Cadillac might not have been the most peaceful end to the two relationships, neither of the women were angry at each other like they normally are in pop culture. Typically women are pitted against each other especially when it comes to a cheating man. Instead of going after each other they go after the man who is unfaithful and it is quite refreshing. Sure, it would’ve been more desirable to see him punished some other way instead of him ending up dead, but I think Underwood is using this extreme to show a juxtaposition of violence against men whereas usually we see violence against women. Neither are admirable yet they send very different messages.

 -Erin

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Taylor Swift - Shake It Off

This music video at first appears to be a gleaming example of diverse representation in music videos. On one hand it shows a wide range of people of both sexes that are proficient in their style of dance. Conversely these dance groups are specifically divided especially by race and sex. The hip hop dancers are all either people of color or latino/latina and the ballerinas are all white women. The worst part is the group of twerking women - not because of the twerking itself, but because one of the only parts of the video that showcases women of color fails to show their faces and focuses explicitly on their posteriors. The men in this video are shown either face on or in portrait style where they are portrayed as strong and athletic while women are submissive or over - sexualized. The only truly diverse periods in the video are in the end when the non - professional dancers are dancing and when the contemporary dancers are dancing. Additionally Taylor herself is seen gazing at the behinds of the twerking women of color, showcasing the internalized misogyny and racism that occurs between white women and black women.

 -Erin

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All About That Bass

Meghan Trainor attempts to boast about women’s curves and claims this song to be a powerful message about body image to girls.  While the lyrics may suggest in part some message of self-acceptance the video does not.  The entirety of the video is shaming one woman for being that beauty ideal that Trainor tries to argue that you should not strive to be.  While the video does a great job of having a mixed cast, it uses individuals of color as props for their curves and shows them shaking their butts continuously.  Also the entire focus of the song is on women’s butts thus equating it with the male gaze.

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Army of Love - Kerli

Kerli has always been one to march to the beat of her own drummer. Her music style and videos are always different and artistic masterpieces in themselves.  Though there is still something problematic here.

While it is obviously wonderful that Kerli is being represented as a highly accepted female leader, her clothing choices are problematic.  She is shown wearing several revealing outfits throughout the video, while talking up the crowd and even when brandishing a weapon.  Though don’t let that detract from the fact that many of the characters in this video are strong women.

Just a reminder that not everything we see out there is bad, we just need to keep working in the right direction. 

Gabriella