No, Meghan Trainor. It IS NOT "All About That Bass".

Women, I want us to stop giving our power to men. I had a completely different post in mind for the past week and my rage about this topic had me succumb and submit this altogether alternative, albeit timely, post instead. If you read no farther, take that first sentence, think about it and how it applies to your life and our society. If you're a man, read it and think about how it applies to every woman you care about, your life and our society.

No, Meghan Trainor...it IS NOT ALL ABOUT THAT BASS. The first time I heard this song, rage was sparked inside of me (and not just because it's a canned pop song, though, trust me, that added to it). In case you're unfamiliar, here are some of the lyrics:

"Yeah, it's pretty clear, I ain't no size two

But I can shake it, shake it

Like I'm supposed to do

'Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase

And all the right junk in all the right places."

And, to add insult to injury:

"Yeah, my mama she told me don't worry about your size

She says, 'Boys like a little more booty to hold at night.'

First of all, I must have missed the girl/woman memo that mentioned that we're "supposed to" "shake it". Now, I'm not naive-I know what this means and, to maintain my integrity and honesty, I have "shaken it" like I was "supposed to do". The fact that I, as a woman in my early 20s, knew what that meant (and let's be honest...that was almost 20 years ago, folks...girls younger than 10 know what it means in 2014), is evidence of a powerful societal norm and expectation in the United States. Why is a woman supposed to shake it? Answer: to attract men. A woman is not supposed to be intelligent or speak her mind or be her authentic self...she is supposed to shake it with her main goal the ever coveted "male attention". So what we have here, in one song lyric, is the message that our goal as women should be to attract a man. Again, NOT to be successful on our own terms, to be an individual, whatever that might look like, to love our selves, to strive for authenticity and inner beauty, male attention be damned...as women, we are told these beautiful goals are subservient to that goal of getting a man.

What makes this song even more heinous is that it has somehow been coronated as an anthem for women's self esteem and acceptance of all women's bodies as beautiful. While I agree with the sentiment and wish that all humans possessed self love for their physical, emotional and spiritual selves, this song says nothing of the sort. This song is an example of the innocuous drivel that tells our girls and women their bodies are beautiful, they are okay, ONLY IN RELATION TO MALE WANTS AND DESIRES. At least in the 1950s, it was in your face and could therefore be recognized and disputed outright. This song has millions of young girls fooled into thinking they are liberated and free from societal, mass media driven images of the perfect female body. Sorry to burst your bubble...nowhere in this song does it say that women are beautiful and amazing and powerful and compassionate and intelligent and love in their own right. The only reason, according to this song, that we don't have to worry about our size is IN RELATION TO MALE WANTS AND DESIRES. Gosh, Meghan Trainor...where would we be if boys didn't "like a little more booty to hold"? Back to square, or should I say size, one, I guess.

As a woman who succumbed to this message in her 20s and, as a result, stifled the amazing, beautiful woman who was actually inside of her, I am enraged to the point of shaking when I hear song lyrics and see messages like this. I'm sick and tired of women giving our power to men. We are good and beautiful and amazing whether men find us that way or not...because WE ARE. If that means we never "get a man" because an unenlightened man in our society can't handle us, fuck it. That should be the message we are sending our girls, our young women, our selves. I want someone to write a song about that.

The other deplorable part about all of this is that we don't only give our power over to men on behalf of our physical selves. We do it with our intellect, our creativity, our way of being in the world. We change our selves so we can be successful "in a man's world". We learn to take on traits valued by men so that we will be valued in the world they have created...and yes, in the United States, men have created the political, corporate, religious, academic and agricultural reality we currently live in. Do not doubt that. To succeed in these male created, male dominated systems, women are often forced to abandon feminine traits, their feminine selves. I've witnessed women do it...it kills our souls. The other alternative is to self select occupations and regions and cultures that value female characteristics and ways of being. Shockingly (insert sarcasm here), in the US, these are frequently niche areas such as sustainable agriculture or underpaid occupations such as teaching or social work. At what point are we going to address and be vocal about the real issue? The issue that the system was created BY MEN, FOR MEN, which makes it comparatively easy for men to succeed and most women destined to fail or fail themselves.

Am I happy that women have become CEOs and US Senators? Of course I am. What I am unhappy with is the systemic male bias our society's political, corporate, academic (which is getting pretty close to corporate these days) and religious entities are built on and the seeming unwillingness for these things to be addressed, even by women. Maybe women are too busy shaking it like we're supposed to. Or maybe women have eaten the poison pill surrounded by red velvet cake that is being shoved down our throats with songs like "All About That Bass". Until women are taught to value self beyond our

relationship to male counterparts and until we start to express our discontent at contorting not only our physical bodies, but our emotional and spiritual ones as well, to fit into this world created by men, for men, we will not be fully liberated or fully valued on our own terms.