Have you seen Meghan Trainor’s new video yet? “Dear Future Husband” borrows heavily (and successfully) from Dion’s 1961 hit “Runaround Sue,” creating a super-catchy number that you won’t be able to get out of your head. Many have criticized both the song and the video for being anti-feminist. Simply google the title and you’ll find plenty of articles slamming the singer for setting women back several generations. Unfortunately, these critics are spending so much time being defensive that they’re missing out on what has the potential to be a great girl power song.
Let’s address the lyrics first, shall we? Radical feminists have latched onto lines such as “Don’t forget the flowers every anniversary” and “Buy me a ring.” But what this group isn’t doing is taking these phrases in context. Snatching at these phrases alone, out in the cold without the rest of the verse, is unfair and short-sighted. Meghan starts right off with telling her potential man just exactly what he can and can’t expect from her:
You’ve got that 9 to 5
but baby so do I
So don’t be thinking I’ll be home and making apple pies
I never learned to cook
but I can write a hook.
I think the message is pretty clear here. Meghan is stating that her job is just as important as her man’s. She yanks herself even further up the scale of importance when she sings “You know I’m never wrong, why disagree?” You’re seriously going to tell me this is anti-feminist? She even tells the guy that “We’ll never see your family more than mine.” She is wearing the pants in this relationship and making sure he knows it. If anything, Trainor is a feminazi.
As for the video itself, the complaint I’ve seen the most is that Meghan is seen scrubbing the floor. Gasp! How dreadful! Everybody knows that feminists don’t want to have clean floors! Okay, okay, I know that’s not what they’re getting at. It’s the idea that a woman should be home and scrubbing the floor. It’s the idea that it’s supposed to look sexy while she’s rolling around on the bubbly floor. But find me a music video that doesn’t have some sort of sex-sells element in it. Besides, are you going to tell me you wouldn’t enjoy it if a man was scrubbing your floor? Have you not seen those Porn for Women calendars, full of men cleaning the house?
Again, we need to look at the entire picture, not just the part that serves your particular point of view. Yes, she’s making pies, but did you notice that they’re all burnt? Let’s pretend she’s doing a good job cooking and cleaning that house. It seems to me like a true feminist would believe that a woman has the right to choose to be a housewife (can I even use the h-word anymore?) if she wants to. The guys she dates go to great lengths to impress her, but the one she’s finally happy with shows up at her door with a take-out pizza. Sure, she ‘pouts at the camera,’ but if this is something that offends you then you shouldn’t ever watch any music video by any artist. She’s wearing tight-fitting, sexy clothes…But what is she supposed to wear? Must she don a t-shirt and sweatpants to suit the feminist agenda? Or is she not allowed to show that a curvy woman looks just as awesome as a skinny one?
To call Meghan Trainor anti-feminist is to categorize nearly all female singers. Those of you who believe she’s a detriment to the women’s movement might want to analyze what’s really going on in the world around you. Taking arbitrary stabs at another woman’s artwork without considering the entire thing is just as shameful and discriminatory as anything you have accused her of.
If you enjoyed this post, please be sure to come check out my Facebook page.
Ashley O'Melia, Author 