Why I don’t like “All About That Bass”

Hint: it has nothing to do with my weight

When “All About That Bass” came out, I loved it. It was a rowdy anthem that called the world out and said “HEY, dumbasses… everyone is beautiful no matter their size!” But the more I sang along, the more I realized it had very little to say about body positivity at all.

It merely expressed in a bouncy, sometimes offensive way exactly how women already define what “looks good” right now — by men. Girls all over the world shouted out with glee that they didn’t have to worry about their size anymore. Why? because “guys want a little more booty to hold at night” of course.

“All about that bass” has nothing to do with women changing to love ourselves regardless of our weight, and it has everything to do with men deciding that they want a thicc ass to do.

The song doesn’t aim to solve our problem of self loathing, or trying to meet the standards of men. It merely shifts that self-loathing to “skinny bitches” who don’t have a bust that or a butt for men to bury themselves in.

How About That Body Negativity Anthem?

The first result on google says

body positivity is acceptance and appreciation of all human body types. it is a social movement rooted in the belief that all human beings should have a positive body image and be accepting of their own bodies as well as the bodies of others.

But “All About That Bass” doesn’t accept all body types, it accepts bass bodies — the millions of treble women who have heard this song are left out.

Instead of just ignoring the issue of body positivity like most songs do, it actively shames a significant part of the population calling them “silicone barbie dolls”. Translation — fake, basic, and stupid.

It doesn’t celebrate every body type because our weight doesn’t define us, it clearly defines skinny girls based on their weight.

And not only does the song shame skinny women, it doesn’t really accept bigger women either. It isn’t a call for those women to live life shame free, it is a call for them to be proud because they are the ones who will garner men’s attention.

The song is merely a recognition of changing tastes in the every day patriarchy. Not some great anthem that can help us out of our rut of body negativity.

Second-hand Positivity, Here We Come

Oh wait, we are already here.

Being body positive doesn’t mean we never decide to lose weight, it means we only lose weight because we want something else for our life, because we want to be healthy, or to be able to do things that our weight previously prevented us from doing.

It means that we aren’t running from the pounds to look good. And it means that if we have no goals outside of mere weight loss, we don’t feel the need, or the pressure to do so.

Being second-hand body positive means the exact opposite. It means we try to keep our weight at a place for the sake of someone else. It means we are happy as long as someone else is happy, and the minute they decide they would want to change it up, it is back to the tread mill and the diet plans.

Ultimately, it is us saying we are only worthy because someone else thinks we are.

That is not body positivity. That’s the same damn thing we have been fighting since the positivity movement started growing. The fact that the rest of the world is defining what looks good and not us.

We have been fighting against the golden standard that society has set for our bodies since the very beginning, but “All About That Bass” somehow missed the memo.

Megan Trainor’s song doesn’t eradicate the golden standard — it just bumps it up a few sizes. Instead of people talking about “fat hoars” she shames “skinny bitches.”

Throughout the rest of the song, she makes it perfectly clear that the very same reason many women try to lose weight is now the very reason they should try to keep it on. Because some random-ass guy will be attracted to it.

Aww Hell to the No

I mean, come on. Really? Why the hell to men get to define women’s beauty? I’m not excited about a beauty standard set by women either… but are you real?

We are fighting to be equal in the work place, at home, and in our sexual lives, and the one place — the one place!! — that we have finally pretty much reached equality in — our right to look the way we wish — is also being laid at the feet of men?

That’s not okay. I want to be proud of my body because it is healthy, because it can take me where I want to go, and because it won’t fail me when I need it most.

Some people want to be proud of their bodies because they can break it down on the dance floor, because it looks damn good in skinny jeans, or because they don’t want to feel shame for loving good food.

But somehow, body positivity has changed from an acceptance of our bodies into a competition between the thick and the thin about who can get more guys.

I. don’t. want. to. care. about. men.

But I do. I would like to say that my beauty standards aren’t affected by the patriarchy,but this is what I grew up with. This is the culture I live in and when I think I look good, it is defined by whatever this culture thinks looks good which has a lot to do with whatever the currently reigning sex thinks is sexy.

We already know that men will have preferences, and we already know that we are going to have to fight that for the rest of our lives. Constantly reminding men and ourselves that they don’t have authority in this area of our lives.

But come on women, us too? Do we also have to subject ourselves and other women to the critical eye of what men think is good in bed?

We are so much better than that, we are powerful, and we are loving, and we have a duty to other women to love them for who they are — not for what a man would think of them.

We have a duty to help them love themselves for who they are regardless of how many men are panting after their waist line.