Why I’m Not All About “All About That Bass”

Yeah I know, they’ve it called a feminist anthem, ranking singer Meghan Trainor alongside Beyonce as an icon for women. Yeah I know, you probably all expected me to love it. But despite its catchy chorus and the video’s pretty pastel aesthetic, from the first time I watched “All About that Bass” I spent three minutes and nine seconds wincing. For me, and for many feminists, that song was almost the absolute antithesis of everything we stand for. And the fact that Trainor has joined the ranks of women celebs who refuse to call themselves feminist hardly warms me to her.

When I tell people I have an issue with this song, their immediate assumption is that I take offense at the phrase “Skinny bitches” Honestly, this line is far from my primary issue with this song. A “skinny” girl watching Trainor’s video might be offended or upset for like 30 seconds, but then she gets to go back into a world full of magazines, movies and basically every other media form where her body is glorified.

That being said, I still wish she hadn’t said it. In this line Trainor instigates unhealthy girl-on-girl hate, as well as adding to this idea that there is “right way to look,” to try and make her point. Can you really herald yourself as body-positive, when you’re raising a group of women up by tearing down another?

The thing about this song that makes me roll my eyes so far back in my head I can see my brain is Trainor’s insistence on using the male gaze, this idea of “what men want,” to get her message across. I am 100% here for increasing body positivity for larger girls. But Trainor’s catchphrase, that ”boys like a little more booty to hold at night,” is absolutely the wrong way to go about it. Why must we continue to teach women that their perception of self-worth has to be based on what men think of them? Let’s start teaching women that the don’t need to look a certain way for anyone, their body is beautiful simply because it is theirs.

The media is never going to stop telling women how men want them to look. One magazine will claim men want rock-solid abs, a tiny waist and a thigh gap, while another will simultaneously herald voluptuous curves. The media exploits women by convincing them that their self-worth can only come from what men think of them. I can only hope that one day women will be allowed to love their bodies for themselves. No one else.

Despite all this, I still have to begrudgingly appreciate “All About that Bass.” Despite my issues with it, Trainor’s intent is good, and it has produced results. I’ve had numerous girls tell me that Trainor’s lyrics made them feel better about themselves, more confident in their bodies. Increasing larger women’s self-confidence, even if it is through a problematic means, can hardly be a bad thing.