"All About That Bass" Rant

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Yeah it's pretty clear, I ain't no size twenty-two
But I can shake it, shake it like I'm supposed to do
'Cause I got that thigh gap that all the boys chase
All the right angles in all the right places
I see the big girls chugging their soda pop
We know that **** so wrong
Come on now, make it stop
If you got no cellulite, come show it off
'Cause that type of body's perfect from the bottom to the top

Yeah, my momma she told me you better watch your size
boys like their hands to touch when they hold you at night
You know those big meaty badonka-donks just don’t belong
So, if that's what's you're into
Then go ahead and move along
I'm bringing skinny back
Go ahead and tell them chubby *****es Hey! (No, I'm just playing)
I know you think you're scrawny,
But I'm here to tell you that,
Thin girls are perfect from the bottom to the top


Are you offended at the above message? Uh, you should be! If these lyrics were the ones played on the radio, can you imagine the veritable ****storm the artist and radio stations playing it would be in for?? Furious calls would be rolling in for miles around, and the guilty artist would probably be shunned and blacklisted for like, ever.

WHY then, I ask you is it not only ok, but LAUDED for an artist to say the exact opposite? It’s ok to broadcast that curvy girls are prettier and more “chased” by boys, but absolutely verboten to say that skinny girls are more desirable? Lolwut?

I’ll give you the answer: it’s not ok. Ever. It is one thing to support girls of all sizes and celebrate out differences, but that is not what Meaghan Trainor is really saying. She’s pretty much saying that thin girls are not as attractive to men as thick girls. (See the original lyrics here: http://www.metrolyrics.com/all-about-that-bass-lyrics-meghan-trainor.html)

Hey, Meaghan? Listen up, dollface: It is not and never will be socially acceptable to uplift and empower one body type by dragging another type through the mud. It is petty and hateful, and smacks of sour grapes. Now, whether that is truly the case or not remains to be seen. I will give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she just does a p*ss-poor job of remaining unbiased and fair.

Don’t think her original lyrics are offensive? Show me ONE hypothetical situation in which calling a girl a “stick-figure silicone Barbie-doll” would not be inappropriate, impolite, or a just plain awful thing to say, and I will donate $200 cash to the charity of your choice. "Oh, but she was just kidding!" :noway: Really? Ok. Why don't I go around publicly insulting people, and tacking on "I'm just playin'!" at the end, and see how well that plays out for me.

What about those girls who are naturally very thin? Do you think they like to hear that girls who are naturally bigger are automatically sexier than they are? What sort of message are you sending to them? Saying your size doesn't dictate your self-worth goes both ways. And last time I checked, men love ALL types of bodies. To claim that males only prefer one type is ignorant at best, exclusive and hurtful at worst. I know that there is tremendous pressure perpetuated by the media to be thin and have their idea of a “perfect body”, but the right way to fight it is NOT by flipping 180° and bashing the body types that appear in magazines.

<---This is me. I worked HARD to get to this level of leanness, but before anyone jumps on me saying “it’s easy for you to say! You’re already thin!” I’ll let you in on a little secret: I do not look like this 365 days a year. In fact, there was only about a 7 day period where I looked anything like this, and it took MONTHS of boring dieting and hours and hours of miserable cardio to get to it. These pictures were taken by a talented photographer in a professional studio with flattering light. I was tanned up all to heck and smeared in glycerin to emphasize muscle striations. The same goes for every model on the cover of Cosmo and People magazine. Don’t be jealous of them, it’s not real. This is not me on a normal day, and I worked harder than anyone I personally know to get there. So for someone to refer to me as a “skinny b*tch”, however indirectly, well, I just dare you to say that to my face, because I’ll rip your head off. You have no comprehension what I went through to achieve this. Step off.
So the girls who work very, VERY hard to maintain a healthy weight, or lost a lot of weight and feel great about their accomplishments? …Way to throw cold water in their faces, by telling them that what they worked is worth balls, because they were already perfect!
You do not have to be a size two. There is no standard for beauty!! You do not have to be thin, or have a thigh gap, or a perfectly flat stomach to be attractive. All women have worth. But I was raised to believe that there is ALWAYS room for improvement. You should never hate your body, no matter its shape or size. But neither should you should be complacent or lazy. My dad taught me that goals to work toward are what keeps you happy and well-rounded. There is a fine line between loving your body and what it can do for you, and not caring to improve yourself.

{Disclaimers: I do not believe one word of the above parody lyrics. I wrote them to illustrate the cattiness and outright ridiculousness of lording one body type over another. Some lines are admittedly slightly exaggerated. Please don’t misunderstand this post to mean I am saying thin girls are “better than” thick girls or anything of that nature. I am simply pointing out the hypocrisy and double standard in the lyrics of Meaghan Trainor’s original lyrics}

Thoughts? Does anyone share my feelings toward this song? I think that Meaghan’s heart was most likely in the right place when writing this song, but her delivery absolutely sucked, big time.

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Replies

  • PurringMyrrh
    PurringMyrrh Posts: 5,277 Member
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    Funny you brought this up. I was just thinking when I heard it how sick I am of the whole "fat acceptance" trend that's taking place. Loving yourself is one thing, but being encouraged to stay unhealthy and "fine the way you are" is only increasing the problem.
    $.01 $.01
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
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    :heart:
  • headofphat
    headofphat Posts: 1,597 Member
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    So it's not ok to like big butts and I can not lie?

    <backing out of room>
  • PurringMyrrh
    PurringMyrrh Posts: 5,277 Member
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    Depends what your anaconda thinks.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    Listen up, dollface

    Best part of the rant lol. I definitely agree with you though.
  • JenAndSome
    JenAndSome Posts: 1,893 Member
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    I think it's a catchy tune. It makes me want to shake my size 2. I tend to not take everything in life so seriously, though. I am sure there are several men who are more attracted to "curvy" girls than they are to "skinny" girls and that's okay. Just like it's okay for a "curvy" girl to sing a song to other "curvy" girls about the things her mother told her to build up her self-confidence and know that even though she isn't "skinny" she will be able to find a man who appreciates what she has to offer physically. A great song would have been one in which the mother tells the girl how much men value wit, humor and intelligence over looks. Or better yet, that we should appreciate ourselves for who we are and not look for validation in how much men are attracted to us as women, but apparently we aren't there, yet.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    This is why I listen to classic rock and country music. Both genres don't care what shape you are as long as you have a vagina and don't look like a foot.
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
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    Love this post so much. That song is so riddled with body shaming for the sake of glorifying another body type. If the message was just "everyone is beautiful " I'd be like, "hell yes!" But to shame another body type to justify one's own is shameful.
  • dont_tap_my_aces
    dont_tap_my_aces Posts: 125 Member
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    i don't let it bother me, i mean i hate the double standards and the fact that in the last 30 years we as a nation have a horrible trend going with overweight and obese citizens....

    but nothing i can say or do personally is going to change that. So i'm just going to keep focusing on me and hope that my tax dollars don't get fully devoured by the health crisis we are about to face when this trend keeps going.
  • wolverine66
    wolverine66 Posts: 3,779 Member
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    This is why I listen to classic rock and country music. Both genres don't care what shape you are as long as you have a vagina and don't look like a foot.

    but fat bottom girls make the rockin' world go 'round :wink:
  • Strange_magic
    Strange_magic Posts: 370 Member
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    This is why I listen to classic rock and country music. Both genres don't care what shape you are as long as you have a vagina and don't look like a foot.

    I love you.
  • Shalaurise
    Shalaurise Posts: 707 Member
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    I'll just leave this right here.....

    http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/10/lets-talk-about-thin-privilege/

    Edit: FYI, at different times in my life, I have been skinny and fat.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
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    This is why I listen to classic rock and country music. Both genres don't care what shape you are as long as you have a vagina and don't look like a foot.


    Ain't that the truth!


    As for this song... I have only heard it once and I really wasn't all the impressed with it musically... and now that I know what message it's protraying... yeah, I like it even less.
  • ChristineinMA
    ChristineinMA Posts: 312 Member
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    . A great song would have been one in which the mother tells the girl how much men value wit, humor and intelligence over looks. Or better yet, that we should appreciate ourselves for who we are and not look for validation in how much men are attracted to us as women, but apparently we aren't there, yet.

    I like the song - but I also agree with this poster.
  • PurringMyrrh
    PurringMyrrh Posts: 5,277 Member
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    This is why I listen to classic rock and country music. Both genres don't care what shape you are as long as you have a vagina and don't look like a foot.
    :laugh: Surely the best sentence of the day.
  • release_the_kraken
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    GREATEST SONG EVER...

    the real issue I had with it was I thought she was black till I saw the vid..disappointed...
  • Organicgasm
    Organicgasm Posts: 592 Member
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    First off.... 100% agree. Why can fat people hate on skinny chicks? Unfair.
    I think it's a catchy tune. It makes me want to shake my size 2. I tend to not take everything in life so seriously, though. I am sure there are several men who are more attracted to "curvy" girls than they are to "skinny" girls and that's okay. Just like it's okay for a "curvy" girl to sing a song to other "curvy" girls about the things her mother told her to build up her self-confidence and know that even though she isn't "skinny" she will be able to find a man who appreciates what she has to offer physically. A great song would have been one in which the mother tells the girl how much men value wit, humor and intelligence over looks. Or better yet, that we should appreciate ourselves for who we are and not look for validation in how much men are attracted to us as women, but apparently we aren't there, yet.

    Second) I also find if catchy and shake my booty

    Third) FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY CURVY IS A SHAPE. A SHAPE not a size. You can be plus size and curvy or petite and curvy.... it's all about the hourglass shape. The 10 inch difference between bust-waist-hips.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    A blogger I follow wrote a similar assessment. She now gets death threats from Meaghan Trainor (Trainer? I have no idea.) fans on the regular. They're quite vicious.
  • headofphat
    headofphat Posts: 1,597 Member
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    Why do y'all even listen to the lyrics? Just listen to the beat and shake whatcha momma gave ya.
  • paulawatkins1974
    paulawatkins1974 Posts: 720 Member
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    I totally agree! I am a "big" girl (for now)and my daughter is a "skinny" girl who is a mother and very very careful to keep slim since she knows that I went to heck after having babies. I say good for her for being careful NOW. Ppl always say to her "oh don't be so silly, you're skinny" well duh, she wants to stay that way! And the song really drives her nuts!It sux too because when I first heard it, I loved the beat and the chorus etc. Until I actually listened to all the words. It's too bad she didn't just say something like "I'm ok that I have lots of booty and curves, my momma said don't worry about your size." and leave it at that. Could've been a great song.
This discussion has been closed.