Growing up, she dreamed of first dates, hand holding and falling in love with a man who knew what he wanted — a man who saw her as a material object, his trophy and, most of all, his piece of meat.
Oh wait. That’s not what she wanted.
Why do people keep telling her this is what she should want and deserve?
They call her a bitch. They call her a whore. They call her whatever they want because, frankly, they believe she IS whatever they want.
When I use “they,” I am conveying the slew of “musicians” who want to label women anything but human.
We’ve heard that catchy song they sing, the one whose music brings a party to life. We’ve heard it so much that it goes in one ear and out the other: numb, thoughtless music.
I swear we are listening to porn set to an attractive rhythm.
Why is it we let these invasively degrading songs play in our homes, our cars, our parties and our phones? What we may think is a separate thought is actually a powerful message becoming instilled in the hearts of our culture.
On our current Billboard Hot 100 songs, five of the top ten songs feature music videos in which half naked girls are objectifying themselves. Another typical portrayal in these videos is the domination of the male over the females and their animalistic responses to them.
They see these smart, beautifully individual women as meat.
To bring this issue to a relevant song, we will study the No. 7 song “Animals” by Maroon 5. In this track, lead singer Adam Levine says the words, “Baby, I’m preying on you tonight — hunt you down, eat you alive — just like animals.”
Wait — did he say hunt her down? As far as I know, humans do not hunt down other humans unless they want to kill them or do anything else inhumane to them. To hunt is to treat with disregard. You would not hunt down a deer that you loved, respected and wanted to keep around forever, right?
Why would we ever use the words “hunt you down — eat you alive” unless we saw someone as a commodity, a detached being? This music is what we thoughtlessly clamor in and sing without understanding the notion it projects.
Another popular song at No. 6 on the charts is “Don’t Tell ‘Em,” by Jeremih where he says, “Body like the summer, f— it like no other — don’t you tell ‘em what we do.”
Forgive me if I’m wrong — but why is this boy not going to “tell me what he do?” It pains me just to write that ungrammatical sentence. The act of love isn’t out of secrecy, and it sure isn’t about belittling your mate. The second problem here is he freely loves to brag on how he likes to f— it. Emphasis on “it.” Whoever this girl is, this love they shared still isn’t enough for her to be called by her first name.
As much as this sexually biased culture lessens the importance of valuing a woman, a few people are making strides to be original and make music that chooses to obliterate inequality.
The top two songs in the nation right now are blaring out self-respect and both happen to be sung by headstrong, independent women. “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor and “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift have declared war against the fraternizing of women in their own ways.
Trainor exemplifies the idea that what the media, boys and other popular songs tell us are not who we are or what everyone wants. Preach!
In Swift’s song, she actually mimics the short-short wearing, sleazy women who appear in music videos — to prove a point it’s not a mold we should be fitting in.
I have respect for the two of them for the fact that they get it.
She is not a commodity, a slave or a piece of meat to chase.
She wants selfless love, equal respect and a man who is just as bothered by what’s blaring on the radio as she is. She wants to know that no matter how many times people put a label on her, she is to be without them.
Let’s stand up for She.
