All About that Bass.

When I first heard All About that Bass by Meghan Trainor on the radio, I was excited to hear such an empowering song. As someone who is a size 6, it felt great to be reminded that it's okay that I'm not a size 2 and that men are just as attracted to women who are curvy and have, "all the right junk in all the right places." However, when radio stations began to play the song what seemed like every ten minutes, I came to the realization that this song wasn't as empowering as I had once thought. The song degrades thinner women, rather than explaining that all sizes are beautiful. We were all so caught up in a catchy song that hinted at the empowerment of bigger women that we failed to see the degradation of thin women.

Dear Future Husband.

Trainor's next hit, Dear Future Husband, is another song in which the public latched onto the positive lyrics and failed to see what was wrong with other parts of the song. One line in particular that stuck out to me was this one:

"And know we'll never see your family more than mine."

What? Did she really just allude to the fact that the woman's family is more important than the man's? Another line from the song contradicts feminism altogether:

"Cause if you'll treat me right, I'll be the perfect wife, buying groceries, buy-buying what you need."

This sets women back about 75 years by alluding to the fact that a "perfect wife" is one who does all the shopping and cooking. "Dear Future Husband" is another song in which Trainor crosses the line between empowerment and degradation. Her intentions of demanding respect from a future spouse (which all women should) failed.

No.

Finally, one of her more recent songs, "No" just misses the mark on its intended message. One can tell by the lyrics that it was Trainor's intention to state that women have no obligation to say yes to sex or a relationship with any man who is being friendly. However, the message was not conveyed with the best choice of lyrics. She opens the song with these lines:

"I think it's so cute and I think it's so sweet how you let your friends encourage you to try and talk to me. But let me stop you there, oh, before you speak..."

While yes, women do not have to entertain any man who tries to flirt with her while out with friends, this line implies that she won't even listen to what any man has to say to her; his intentions won't ever be heard. Trainor continues the song by stereotyping all men as the "player" type by stating that calling her beautiful isn't original because he has most likely used that line before. We can't demand respect from men while disrespecting them and putting them all into the "player" category.

At first glance, Meghan Trainor's songs seem to be the anthems for feminism and female empowerment. However, when you dive deeper into the lyrics, they seem to be just the opposite. We need real role models for young women, not those who claim to be feminists, yet degrade certain groups of women, and men. Sorry Meghan, but you're not fooling me.