As someone who listens to country music regularly, I am very aware of the stereotypes that are portrayed in this genre (and most others, too) in terms of women and the way they are seen. I think it's safe to say that we all know of at least one country song that mentions a curvy blonde girl sitting on the passenger side of some country boy's truck, feet propped up on the dash, wearing cut-off shorts and a ballcap turning backward.

That's usually the stereotype of "country girls," isn't it? We all have blonde hair, blue eyes, and walk around in cutoffs, bikini tops and boots.

If you've heard the song Girl In A Country Song by Maddie and Tae, you would know that even the women in country music are tired of being seen in this way and while the song is funny and is making the situation look like a joke, it's obvious that there are undertones of seriousness to what they're singing about.

It's even gotten to the point now where country music radio stations aren't playing female artists at the same rate they're playing male artists. All you have to do is turn the radio on for an hour to see this.

That's why I want to salute Keith Urban for the release of his new song, "Female." Although he didn't write this song, he put everything else to the side that he was working on in order to record and release it. This song has opened up avenues for conversation within the country music genre, and it's about time.

"Female" is an homage to women by calling out the stereotypes that are usually placed on us and saying that we are more than this. The chorus of the song lists some of these stereotypes: "Sister, shoulder, daughter, lover, healer, broken halo, mother;" I think while we can all agree that yes, we are these things, but we are also so much more.

We're students, professionals, activists, and the list goes on and on.

The line that really gets to me in this song is "When somebody laughs and implies that she asked for it, just cuz she was wearing a skirt, oh is that how that works?" Just let that sink in for a second. We've been saying this. ALL of us have been saying this. And someone is finally putting it out there, publically in a song, for everyone to hear.

So again, I would just like to say thank you to Keith Urban for being the voice to share this message, and also a huge thank you to the men who wrote the song, on behalf of all the women out there.