By Taylor Belle
Meghan Trainor has quickly made a name for herself, recently being titled as the Best New Artist at the 2016 Grammy Awards. While her music has certainly earned her a great amount of her success, she has also become known to be a positive influence on teens struggling with body confidence. She claims to be an advocate for body positivity and self love, encouraging young girls to believe that they are beautiful no matter their weight or size.
As a strong advocate for body positivity myself, I do appreciate Trainor’s attempt to shed light on the subject, and be an empowering figure for young women. It is a serious problem affecting society that does not receive nearly as much recognition as it deserves. However, I do not agree with the approach that she has taken to express herself and spread this ideology.
At first listen, her song ‘All About That Bass’ seems to be a song that would be an anthem for young girls. Admittedly, I was a fan of the song when it had first come out. It preaches lyrics such as “every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top”, and has a very catchy chorus that many listeners enjoy. However, upon hearing it a few times, it is clear that the song is not supportive of all body types.
In an attempt to bring confidence and poise to girls who struggle with obesity, or are “curvier” than what society deems attractive, she degrades and puts down young women who are skinny. Rather than saying that all women are beautiful, she belittles the appearance of skinny individuals, to heighten the confidence of people who are overweight. For instance, she sings “I won’t be no stick figure silicone Barbie doll” and “Go ‘head and tell them skinny bitches that.” This creates a negative denotation that it is not attractive to be skinny, and demeans the confidence of girls who are skinny. How can we come together as women if we are gaining our own confidence by lessening that of others?
There is a strong misconception amongst society that all girls who are skinny are confident with their bodies. This is most definitely not the case. There are many girls who struggle to gain weight, or live a very meticulous lifestyle to maintain the slim figure that they wish to have. By then blasting these negative ideas to such a large audience, the insecurities of these girls are heightened even more, and their self esteem is completely diminished. Furthermore, Trainor also says “Boys like a little more booty to hold at night”, implying that men are solely attracted to curvier women. There are many problems I have with this statement, most predominantly the fact that she is insinuating that a woman should base her self confidence on the opinion of a man. Additionally, if a woman does choose to feel more confident by these means, she is now giving the idea that a woman will not be as desirable if she does not have curves, or a bigger butt.
In a recent interview with ‘Entertainment Tonight’, Trainor spoke about her struggle with gaining self confidence, and overcoming her insecurities growing up. She stated, “I wasn’t strong enough to have an eating disorder…I tried to go anorexic for a good three hours. I ate ice and celery, but that’s not even anorexic. And I quit. I was like, ‘Ma, can you make me a sandwich? Like, immediately.” This shows her clear misunderstanding and lack of knowledge on the topic of eating disorders. Eating disorders do not show strength, and they are not gained through strength. Eating disorders affect 10 million women and 1 million men nationwide, and are mentally and physically challenging to overcome.
I personally feel that while she may have good intentions at heart, Meghan Trainor is not empowering young women, and is hurting the self esteem of many young girls who might idolize and look up to her. Her lyrics are extremely self contradictory, and are not helping to universally inspire young women. Just as it is not okay to bully someone for being overweight, it is not okay to skinny shame. As a powerful influence on today’s youth, she should become more informed before expressing her views on such an important subject.
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