Meghan Trainor still reigns on the pop charts. She has a new song called “Lips are Movin'” (you can hear it here), but I have a feeling it won’t be as huge a hit as “All About That Bass.” Meghan has a limited, doowop shtick. She’s only released an EP, not a full album. Yeah, she had a #1 Billboard hit, but show me more. Meghan needs more content before we can declare her a force with which to reckon.
Meghan seems like a bubbly, harmless popstar. She’s a little ditzy. Meghan claims to be all about body acceptance because “I ain’t no size 2.” Her stance is worth noticing, but including “skinny bitches” in one’s lyrics isn’t a great way to make friends. Just saying. I know Meghan says her song backtracks, and “skinny bitches” are fine, but people will latch onto that term. Meghan has a new interview in Cosmo to talk about body image and stuff:
On Body Image: “I wrote the song as a ‘Wow, I really wish I felt like this’ … now I go out there and I’m like, ‘It’s all about this bass.’ It has helped a lot.”
On Dieting and Working Out: “I ate pizza yesterday and I am eating Chinese food later today. It’s gonna be great. But so far people have actually told me I look like I’ve lost weight. I think it’s because I’ve been standing all day or dancing.”
On Dating: “I am single. I can’t find a boy who wants to date me … my dad was like, ‘Well, they are probably too intimidated.’ And I talked to another artist and she was like, ‘I didn’t get hit on for two years.’”
On Justin Bieber: “I got the call [that he remixed the song] … They said, ‘Check your email,’ and I freaked out, and I played it like a hundred times.”
Playing “Bass or Treble,” a game in which she decides if something is bass, meaning she’s all about it, or treble, meaning she’s not into it: “I like Ariana Grande’s nice thigh-gap; she’s got good legs.”
[From Cosmo]
Ugh, poor Meghan. Why did Swaggy remix her song? He probably thinks “bass” means wearing his pants around his knees. He’s so clueless.
I appreciate that Meghan is trying to spread a message of body acceptance, but her image is so manufactured. Cosmo had her play that game so she would make positive comments on other artists’ bodies. The weird thing is that she makes comment on Ariana’s “thigh-gap,” and that’s a term favored by pro-ana groups. Should we simply be happy that Meghan wasn’t tearing someone else’s body down?
Photos courtesy of Cosmo & WENN
Umm She has awesome hair
Nice teeth.
She can spell the word you.
Who, Fry-up McBottleD?
Eh? It looks fried and limp.
Have a seat, Carly Ray Jepsen 2.0.
CARLY RAE IS A CANADIAN GEM.
Not really. At all. But I did enjoy watching her on the one season of Canadian Idol when I was like 17 haha. But mostly, we watched because Dwight Deon was on that season and he lived like a half hour away from me, and nothing even resembling cool happens here. He now runs a 24 hour gym in Halifax, so that tells you exactly how helpful any of those idol shows are. He was probably cleaning up with the whole lobster fishing thing prior to all this, so I don’t feel too bad. I’m embarrassed that I know any of these things.
I honestly, just can’t with this girl though. She’s so unaware, and so so dumb. She needs major PR training. I do love her hair though – a bit jealous over it, to be honest.
Canadian Idols really have gone nowhere, have they? Except for that one guy, who has a band… What the hell is it called… Hedley! The first season winner, Ryan something or other, what happened to him? And then the second season winner with the really curly hair, I only remember him because at Christmas the stations here in Regina play that one Christmas song of his “Mary Did You Know”, which is quite nice. Was there only two seasons? I seem to recall a woman winning as well, but maybe I’m making that up.
Anyway, this Megahn Trainor is for sure a one hit wonder, and it annoys me that she’s taken treble and bass and somehow made it into a “thing”.
Agreed, Littlestar. And I just googled – there were SIX seasons of that show haha. I remembered being REALLY upset when Melissa McNeil beat out Rex Goudey in season three. Hilarious/Sad – one of our small grocery stores receives shipments from an 18 wheeler that has a really faded “Rex Goudey” advertisement on it. I assume it was used to lug equipment or something … here’s a photo: https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/529304016115625985/er0OMWGQ_400x400.jpeg
Erinn, that picture made me laugh and made me feel sad at the same time. Poor failed Canadian idol 🙁 lol. Gosh, I had no idea there was SIX seasons!
hahahhahahha ^THIS
Isn’t she on Broadway now?
Ooohkay one hit wonder. Isn’t yer time just about up?
My thoughts exactly.
I love jogging to her song.
I can’t believe she’s only 20. I listened to some of her Youtube videos and she can actually sing- just her and a guitar. So, that bodes well.
Watch the YouTube video of her singing her song with Jimmy Fallon and all his staff/peeps playing kazoos, xylophone, and juice harps. It’s seriously awesome. She can sing. No doubt! I think I might like the Fallon show version better?
I’m sorry, but I think noticeable thigh gaps are unattractive. Not that your thighs have to create sparks when you walk like mine, but if you can fit a deck of cards in there it looks odd to me. Just sayin.
Lol GoodNames, you little fire starter, where were you last week? I needed your Satanic medical professional biting skillz so bad.
So sorry, was at wedding down south with the fam. (Way down south, as in Hell, doing the Devil’s work – no wifi, naturally. It’s hell, after all.) Missed the otter’s engagement and many other apocalyptic events.
Yay GNAT is back! I had to eat potato salad all by my lonesome. Welcome Back!
Never leave again. Babies were eaten, Kiddo turned in her vagina card, I think maybe I got accused of being somewhat temperamental jealous hater…basically, everything went to hell in a hand basket. Wait…no wifi down there?
I thought last week was awesome! Welcome back, GNaT!
@Abbott, yeah because you’re like the otter half over there on those threads. 😉
Goodnames, mimif declared love for Liberace (aka Simon de Moobs). We can’t have this! I refuse to furnish a massive supply of candelabras for the wedding, when I already stockpiled ceramic cockatoos.
I turn my back for one week and you actually had fun? How dare you?!? LOL
agreed, and I have one. It looks weird to me.
It would be nice thought to wear a short skirt, but it’s kinda drafty down there, which doesn’t make me feel confident, lol.
The only upside it has for a broke girl like me is that my thighs don’t rub against each other, so I only have to buy pants every couple of years.
still, I’d rather not have one.
Well, I bet you have pretty legs, which I have never had, even at my skinniest. I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings. I’m just jealous because of my chunky monkeys.
I’m envious of the pants part. Man – my poor pants take a beating. I think, given my bone structure and remembering what I looked like as a younger teen – I wasn’t built to have one. Or if I was built to have one, it was meant to be tiny. I remember being super jealous of the girls I went to school with that had them though – and this was like 10 years ago before it was talked about non-stop. I bet you look fantastic either way.
@ GNAT
Not at all hurt 🙂
I have a thigh gap. I’m just teeny. I’m built like my grandmother, and she was a teeny tiny 5 footer. I never before even thought about having to buy pants because you wear out the thighs. Weird.
I really think thigh gap is just down to genetics. Some people have them and some don’t.
I agree. Thigh gaps make women look bow-legged (especially the photo-shopped ones, like Beyonce).
Agree everyone. I always think of rickets – bad nutrition during the formative years lol.
Yes, and what the little old ladies used to say would happen to your baby is you had them in walkers too soon. hee
Feel teh need to clarify – women used to say that babies put in walkers before their leg bones got harder might end up bow-legged. The way I wrote it at first sounded like if you put little old ladies in walkers, they’ll do something awful to your baby. That’s not what I meant.
JenniferJustice, I greatly enjoyed your initial comment about the evil elderly and then the clarification. ahaha Thanks!
The Dimple has fantastic legs…and arms, but that’s about all she has.
I don’t think we should be happy about any of this. Her song’s message is that it’s okay to be larger than a size two BECAUSE MEN WILL LIKE YOU. That’s not body positivity. I think assessing other people’s bodies, positively or negatively, continues to draw attention to seeing women as objects. Can’t women sing about anything other than men, their availability to men, and how much their booty pleases men?
+1
That was my takeaway when I actually got to listen to the song start to finish. A very contrary song. You think it’s a positive but afterwards it’s a negative vibe that washes over. Luckily for her a catchy lyric and tune disguises it.
YES! THIS so so much.
That’s not what I got from the song. I like the song. I think it’s cute and will appeal to younger women who ARE wanting to date and meet guys and may feel like they won’t because they are overweight. The attitude in the song is that you are beautiful and sexy and yes, some guys prefer your size which is true and a lot of girls don’t realize. Even the line about “skinny bitches,” while certainly unfortunate, isn’t nearly as awful as other stuff I’ve heard in music. I’m all about empowering women but I also accept that there are many different paths to that empowerment. Sometimes we love ourselves and then find love. Sometimes we find love first and then love ourselves. This song addresses the latter path I think.
But the implication is that our bodies’ worth isderived from whether or not boys find it attractive. As in you’re curvy, but that’s fine because guys prefer someone with a little meat on their bones. How about young women being encouraged to like their bodies regardless of what boys think?
But the song is also telling women ” I can shake it shake it, like I’m supposed to do . ”
It says, its ok to love your curves BECAUSE some men like them. The song just hangs so much of the self love on whether or not men love it too.
While I agree with y’all generally about body worth and stuff, there are much worse songs out there. I’m a size 2 and whenever that line comes up I laugh at myself.
I also think the skinny bi***es line isn’t offensive, as the next line is naw I’m just playin I know you think you’re fat. It’s recognizing that even skinny people have body issues.
I guess I’m just saying I’m not offended by it. It’s so taxing being offended by everything all the time. It’s a fun song. I’m way more offended by people like Ray Rice.
@Sighs- I’m not offended by the song, but its not the empowerment anthem that its being sold as. Shouldn’t we be asking for better than “there are worse songs out there”?.
I agree that getting offended about the song isn’t worth the energy, but we are just talking opinions here. There are worse songs out there, for sure, but this song is being held up by some as an empowering song.
My thoughts on the lyrics aren’t really about whether it is offensive to my body type or not. This song just seems to be a different side to the same “the ideal female body is ____” coin, so I can’t praise it.
Thank you. I hate that this is supposed to be some “feel good” song, and one of the first things its says is that “boys like a little more booty”. To me that kind of negates whatever comes after it.
Well said 🙂
THIIIIIS! Well said.
+ whatever number I’m at now.
Her comment on Ariana’s thigh gap tells me that she’s not comfortable with her own body because a thigh gap isn’t prerequisite for good legs.
Agreed. I think the thigh gap trend is worrying and I hope not to get sucked into it.
That’s what I was thinking too! She doesn’t like her “Bass” after all!
Yep, if you’re talking about “thigh gaps” as if it’s something to aspire to, you have body image issues. End of.
For sure, LAK. I took her comment to mean she’s envious of Arianna, because wouldn’t it be more “normal” to say I like her legs, rather than saying I like her thigh gap of all things?
Littlestar: exactly.
That. And the fact that in her interview she alludes to the fact that it’s okay to eat ‘bad’ foods if people think you are losing weight.
Girl seriously.
I like her brain gap.
Lol
Because it’s all about that gap, ’bout that gap (no ‘bellum).
Comment of the day!
Haw!
Poor thing. She broke through singing about weight and now she’s going to be stuck talking about it for the rest of her career.
(un)Luckily for her, it doesn’t seem like her career will last too long.
I think we expect way too much from these late teen/early 20s pop stars. They have their brand to promote, but they are also still growing(hopefully) and maturing. It’s a cute pop song and maybe she has more- time will tell.
I agree. I don’t get all worked up about the lyrics. But the thigh gap comment bugs me.
I’m in my early twenties and I’m not totally devoid of intelligence, what’s her excuse? That’s just not valid, sorry. Age has nothing to do with brainpower, just brain function. It’s not cute, it’s insidious.
I don’t doubt your intelligence for a second, but not everyone is a good interview, or is that articulate speaking when you know your answers will be taken down and edited- that’s nerve-racking. Not suggesting its torture, but it’s a skill that’s usually developed over time, and doubt she’s been doing it that long- she’s 20.
I hear you, Falkor. While I’m no Pulitzer contender, and have no hope of being awarded a Nobel Prize, or anything of that nature, I do like to think I’m a pretty intelligent human being, and pretty capable of speaking without sounding like a complete ditz. I’m in my early 20s as well – I know I said some dumb things over the years, but I honestly can’t imagine saying so many stupid things in interviews. My ‘stupid things’ would tend to come out around my friends while hyped up on energy drinks and junk food while watching movies – never in job interviews, or in class, or anywhere that you really need to put a good foot forward. What scares me is that this may be her filtered self in an interview. I refuse to believe people go into an interview completely unfiltered and without thought. You want to sound good in them – and this is the level of ‘good’ we’re getting from all these poptarts and actors.
I’m quite the cannabis connoisseur and I say silly stoner shit all the time, to be sure. I also say dumb shit when I speak out of passion or panic pretty much daily. There’s a difference between saying stupid shit (which we twenty somethings do like hotcakes) and genuinely being stupid and this girl is just plain dumb.
I don’t care about her weight. However, I have noticed that she looks much older than her actual age. In that bottom pic of her in the purple dress she looks like she is in her early 30s.
Please. We stopped f*t shaming, so we started age-shaming? Just as shallow and pointless
No. See, age shaming isn’t the case when we’re talking about someone who is goddamn twenty and throwing out such utter tripe minimizes the very real struggle of ageism occurring all around us. She looks older than she is by a decade. So do I, and I give not one single fuck. People have told me I look much older than my actual age my entire life and it doesn’t upset me because it’s true. *kanye shrug*
I don’t know how anyone can age shame a 20-year-old. She does look older than 20 but saying she looks 30-something is different from criticizing a woman in her 60s for looking her age. That is age shaming.
I can’t get over how dumb her face looks all the time. It’s like she’s making a parody of her own expressions. Her features are so cartoon’ish.
I’m sooooooooo dissapointed by that comment about Ariana Grande. But All About that Bass is still the catchiest song ever!
I love doowop, so I downloaded her whole LP. However, she is one of those people that needs to put out music and then disappear. No, girl.
While it’s wrong to body-shame anyone, skinny shaming isn’t and will never be the same as fat shaming.
Could we just stop writing songs about bodies already?
Amen dude.
That’s such a load of horseshit, skinny folks and fat folks have both been mocked forever. One end or the other, if you’re different, you’re a target. It is willfully ignorant to say otherwise. Anything different is ostracized and this has been human nature since forever. I am an exceptionally thick chick who has heard every name in the book and I am perfectly capable of feeling empathy for the svelte sweeties who’ve been harassed, too, because the only difference is why we’re being singled out. Like it or not, thin people’s feelings about being picked on are just as valid as anyone else’s.
This +10000
That reminds me of a great quote I read about hating your body – “When you’re skinny it’s you that hates your body. When you’re fat society does too.”
While it is hurtful ti hear negative things about one’s body, there is such a thing as skinny privilege.
When I was young, I was super, super skinny. As a result, I also had no chest to speak of. People made very cruel comments. There is also a large, thriving silicone implant industry. Basically, skinny isn’t treated as desirable unless you also magically have large breasts and a booty on your skinny frame. I think all women are held to a ridiculously unattainable body image.
Ever been called anorexic because of being skinny? Or asked if you are bulimic when you say “no” to the first question? People say this to skinny people’s faces ALL THE TIME.
I agree that skinny shaming will never be like fat shaming. It just isn’t. If you’re skinny shamed, it would be by some total psycho because its assumed that someone is too skinny by default, not by a series of choices over the years. Maybe skinny girls dont have big boobs, but that is no fault of their own. Only a *really* sick person would shame you for that. Fat shaming, on the other hand, is so much more than just hating someones body. It’s shitting on the fat persons ability to control their emotions, the shame in over-eating, the idea that a fat person is greedy, selfish, and slovenly. And because they “did it to themselves” its open season for many, MANY people to say whatever hurtful things they want.
The only difference is the words being used; the intent of all harassment is to hurt and humiliate. My own suffering isn’t more significant than another target’s–we’re in this together. I don’t see the need to make some already picked apart and downtrodden person feel ostracized yet again because they’re different from me. When people say skinny folks being abused isn’t the same as anyone else being abused for whatever, the subtext is “yeah, well, I hurt worse and you’ll never know my struggles, so sit down and be quiet”.
I agree, Falkor. Body shaming is body shaming, no matter what angle the attack comes from. My best friends’ older brothers used to follow me around telling me guys like athletic girls, girls with meat on their bones, girls with curves. It didn’t matter that “skinny” was ok in some areas of social norms, because all I heard was that my body was unacceptable for male standards. It’s silly and devisive to pretend that one kind of critique and insult is more or less hurtful and damaging than another.
I just came back to say that I now have that stupid song stuck in my head. Thanks Bedhead.
*dramatic walk out and door slam*
She looks like the lost sister of Kelly Osbourne.
A normal sized girl, singing about how comfortable she is with her body because men still want to sleep with her (fat and all), while secretly pining away for the illusive thigh gap. This is the world we live in. “Look at me and how confident I am with my big ass! Now excuse me while I PhotoShop in a thigh gap and throw up my low carb lunch.” Can’t we all just be honest? No one’s comfortable in their bodies. Feel free to PhotoShop yourself skinny but do us all a favor and stop trying to sell this fairytale of body acceptance. Walk the walk or don’t bother talking the talk.
“No one’s comfortable in their bodies.”
Well some people definitely are, but realistically, I think most of us have good and bad days. I think if you’re focusing on how your body looks and not on what your body can DO, then you’ll never have a true appreciation and love for it.
….and this is coming from a longtime ED-sufferer, so trust that it took me a long time to get there.
That is truth Kitten. Glad to know it’s possible! 🙂
Kitten, I really like your line to focus on what your body can DO, not what it looks like. That is pretty great .
Thanks, ladies 😉
I agree that it is sad that she preaches body acceptance and then pines for a thigh-gap. I don’t know anyone who is truly 100% comfortable in their own body. I wish I was, I try to be. I will try my best to show my daughter that I am and hope to God she loves every facet of herself. I recently moved up a size, from wearing all mediums to suddenly (after my daughter was born) being a size large. As much as I want to accept it, I still feel flawed somehow. Stupid songs dont do anything to make me feel better or worse. It would be nice if celebrities didnt care so much about their waist to hip ratio at ALL times. But alas, like you said, this is our world.
I can’t help but think the ‘thigh gap’ thing is sarcastic, otherwise, she’s just a walking contradiction. Why would you praise someone on being so skinny that her thighs don’t even touch, and then sing about body acceptance?
Not a bright one, is she? And I don’t buy that she’s 20 years old. That’s a late 20s, early 30s face.
For someone who alleges to be “all about that bass” there appears to be an awful lot of “treble” going on in that dress!
She bugs the crap out of me. And those are extensions, right? Come on, now.
Every time she opens her mouth I like her less and less.
Has anyone seen this remake? She basically fixes the body shaming/man getting problems with the song. http://digg.com/video/natty-valencia-fixes-meghan-trainors-all-about-that-bass
She’s only 20 years old and I own an airline. Already finding her irritating and I only know of one song by her.
You own an airline–which one?
I’m a normal bmi weighted woman with a thigh gap because I have kind of bendy femurs. I don’t hate it or think it’s ugly. I don’t see why I should suddenly start hating it and aspire to thighs that rub?
This is sarcasm right? The point is to love your body no matter what shape it comes in (bendy femurs, strong thighs, twisty spine, sausage fingers…). The haterade comes from women not eating, vomiting, swallowing diet pills and generally ruining their health in pursuit of a silly body trend. Your thigh gap may be in this week, sister, but my dainty wrists will have their day. 🙂
Oh, so I came off a bit sarcastic there -but I just dislike the trend towards shoving one body size/shape/ attribute down in attempt to raise another one up. A thigh gap vs touching thighs is really not an “aspirational” feature. Some would have to be underweight in order to have one and some like me would have to be obese NOT to have a thigh gap. Karlie Kloss for example is much thinner than me yet has no gap. Yet I notice a lot of the comments on here saying a gap is *always* unattractive and a sign of the needs a sandwich – which isn’t fair.
Except absolutely NO ONE is saying that. All anyone is saying is that people should aspire to be healthy and accepting of their own body type, not focusing on one entirely arbitrary, genetically predetermined aspect of one’s pelvic structure.
I don’t see how a thinking person could not recognize how silly it is to worship a space between the top of one’s thighs.
What’s next? A prominent clavicle?
Kitten, I have to disagree. One comment above says “I think thigh gaps are unattractive” and another says “why would you praise someone for being so skinny their thighs don’t even touch”?
Yes, that *is* putting down another body type. For one thing it assumes that a thigh gap automatically = skinny. Skinny is considered a negative thing in today’s society. I am not skinny (bmi 21, just non-overweight) and my thighs don’t touch even at the top with my feet together. I don’t aspire towards skinny either.
The problem is that some people who have frames without a gap will do anything to get one. I don’t think anything of them either way personally, it’s nothing to suffer for if you don’t have one and it’s totally gravy if you have one.
YeAh I have slightly bended bones too giving a concave look to my upperleg, just like my ma and grandma
I think she’ll be around as a songwriter longer than she’ll be a singer. She didn’t even want to sing this song but couldn’t find anyone else to sing it. And she wrote 2 songs on Rascal Flatts last album.
She’s new to being in the public eye. I’d hate to have my life defined by all the stupidity that probably came out of my mouth at that age.
I can’t decide if she’s being ironic or moronic with the thigh-gap comment. Meh.
Why no outrage over her overt scalism? Bass would be nothing without treble.
Truth *fist bump*
Holy mixed messages girl!!!
Could she be saying that she likes the thigh gap In a sarcastic or ironic fashion? I mean isn’t having a thigh kind of the opposite of what she sings about.
Regardless, that shit is catchy….and I saw some YouTube videos of just her singing and her guitar so hopefully she’s not a one-hit wonder. Although she should probably figure out where she stands on these issues BEFORE doing interviews.
Not really, since some women will always have a thigh gap even if they are not “skinny bitches”. I mean Kim K and Beyoncé have a thigh gap and aren’t typically perceived/marketed as “skinny”. Adrianna is thinner but still has nice legs – how is that evil?
I’m not sure Bey’s thigh gap is entirely ‘natural’
I do know many women (and men) with truly natural thigh gaps-combinations of being truly naturally slender and/or just the way the weight is distributed.
But to follow on an earlier comment, I suspect some of the celebs with thigh gaps aren’t truly this ‘naturally slender’ nor is their thigh gap.
“Thigh-gap” and “good legs” are mutually exclusive. In other words, an oxymoron.
Or, well, a moron of some sort. 🙂
It’s weird to write this after all the Swifty flat butt stuff, but the fact is, most guys do want some flesh. They do want some booty v. no booty. Should we be measuring our value based on if men want us, no, but it’s natural to want to be wanted, so….I guess all in all, I think the song is a positive for chunky women who’ve been put down and made to feel unattractive. Maybe it makes some women feel more attractive, but let’s hope their life’s goal isn’t just to land a man.
“but it’s natural to want to be wanted”
I’d call that neediness rather than natural. Who cares if most men think your butt isn’t meaty enough as long as you are happy with it? We exist for more reasons than turning a man on.
Isn’t thigh gap down to genetics/ the skeletal structure of your hips? Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure it’s not just down to how much you weigh or don’t weigh.
I wonder which black hip hop star will be in Ariana’s thigh gap after Big Sean?