Magazines, the modeling industry, commercials and every other form of media use primarily small-framed women to promote their products, therefore promoting certain ideas of beauty. Even toothpaste commercials — as if people need to be skinny to have white teeth — feature smaller women to advertise their product. It can be especially hard for young women to receive messages that imply being thin is the only way to be beautiful.
As time has passed, the public has gone from shaming women for being plus-sized to embracing body types of all shapes and sizes. This idea of body positivity has become incredibly popular over the past decade and has led to many positive messages throughout mass media, including in the music industry.
The song “All About That Bass” by American artist Meghan Trainor was released during the summer of 2014. The main themes of the song are appreciation and celebration of plus-sized women. From including lyrics such as “‘cause every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top,” to calling out editors for their use of Photoshop, the song was immediately recognized for its representation of body positivity. It was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list for weeks and a hit in various countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. At first glance, this song seems to succeed in its attempt to reverse the way society views bigger women, but its execution is flawed.
One lyric says, “Yeah, it’s pretty clear, I ain’t no size two, but I can shake it shake it, like I’m supposed to do,” which is only the beginning of a long pattern of skinny-shaming. This lyric begs the question: Is there a problem with being a size two? Continuing, Trainor sings, “You know I won’t be no stick figure silicone Barbie doll.” But what’s wrong with being a skinny girl with plastic surgery? Women should be able to change their bodies however they want without receiving backlash from other women. It is hard enough to be judged by other men. Women ought to stop viewing each other as competition and instead support each other.
In another line, Trainor downright degrades skinny girls, referring to them as “skinny b****es,” after mentioning how she’s “bringing booty back.” What most people fail to realize when they first listen to this song is that Meghan Trainor does not promote “body positivity.” The song repeatedly bashes thinner girls to make bigger girls feel better, when in reality girls of all shapes and sizes struggle with body insecurities.
Also, in case listeners were wondering why Meghan Trainor believes women should appreciate their bodies, she clarifies with the line “Yeah my momma she told me, don’t worry about your size. She says boys like a little more booty to hold at night.” In the eyes of Meghan Trainor, women’s self-confidence should not come from within, but should be prompted by the fact that men appreciate their body type. A more effective way of writing this song would have been to say that women should love their bodies regardless of what men (or other women) think.
It is easy to agree with Trainor that women — even larger women — should appreciate their bodies. In our modern and progressive society, it is not nearly as common to believe that only skinny women are beautiful, as it has been in the past. Trainor wrote in an email to the Huffington Post that growing up she dealt with and still deals with “this concept of self-acceptance.” The issue here is not her message, but rather the way she presents it. It is wrong to target anyone based on their body type, skinny and curvy girls alike.
True empowerment consists of building yourself up without putting someone else down. An example of body positivity in the music industry that was flawlessly executed would be the song “Try” by Colbie Caillat. Caillat talks about the pressures about being a girl and seeing the way women are portrayed in the media and trying to live up to those expectations. The main message of the song is that women should not attempt to conform and that just being themselves is more than enough. Meghan Trainor wrote the song “All About That Bass” with great intention, but she could have presented this message in a much less offensive way.
Lauren Horne is a Viewpoint Writer.
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