Whose example are we supposed to follow?
Hey guys! So this week I was on my way to gym and a country song
came on by a young girl called RaeLynn. At first I bobbed my head
along, the catchy tune and her lovely voice distracting me from the
lyrics until about half way through when a sentence really struck
me. Now I wouldn’t say I’m the biggest feminist out there, but I do
have some pretty strong views on equality of the genders and this
song has really got me riled up. In the midst of my content bobbing I
heard the lyrics ‘somebody’s gotta be the one to cry, somebody’s gotta let him drive’, not
only immediately noticing that she is saying that women should be the weaker, more
sensitive person in a relationship but also that men shouldn’t cry and should be the ones to
drive the car, as if women aren’t capable of that themselves. Personally,I can't wait to be
able to drive in a few months and if I started to date someone who thought that he should
be the one to drive because he is a man, it would definitely be a deal breaker for me.
Throughout the song she makes various references to the reasons she thinks ‘God made
girls’, among them, wearing ‘pretty skirts’ whilst I'm assuming the men are wearing the
trousers or shorts (not that I would have anything against a man wearing a skirt), but
bearing in mind that ‘pretty skirts’ to me insinuates daintiness and delicacy which is not
what all women are about, I would find this pretty
categorising and insulting. Lots of women nowadays are
rocking the trouser pant suit like the beautiful Blake Lively
and Emma Watson for example. She also talks about women
being the ones who should drag the men to church, as if we
should be the well behaved, holy girlfriends whilst the men
are washing the trucks and driving the cars. As Cyndi Lauper
so greatly said ‘girls just wanna have fun’ and we have just as much right as men to be
reckless, drive cars and wash trucks if we so wish.
However, becoming weirdly interested in the song and it's message, I decided to look up the
lyrics and take a closer look and was pleased to find a few redeeming sentences thrown in
there. For instance, RaeLynn’s lyric ‘God mad girls (for dancin’ to their own beat)’ which to
me means that we should have our own voice and opinion that we can celebrate in the form
of dancing (if it's for you. Alternatively you could eat some cake to celebrate but I tend to
save that for birthdays). This gives me a ray of hope that she acknowledges that women
should be seen AND heard! She also talks about being ‘loud’ and ‘proud’, confirming her
disagreement with women being quiet creatures. However, RaeLynn’s overall illustration of
what a girl should be does not live up to what I would hope girls would be aspiring to.
Though all the words she uses are complementary, I can't help but feel a back hand
swinging at me. The words she uses to describe what God made girls to do and be are: to
‘wear pretty skirts’, to ‘sing in’ the ‘front seat’ (whilst the man drives of course), to be ‘soft’
and ‘sweet’ and ‘fragile’. I don't know about you but I of course hope to be most of those
things but I also hope to be much more! I want to brave and adventurous and independent
caring and ambitious and EQUAL to whoever I end up with. I want to take turns driving the
car and paying for dinners. I think it's such a shame that some girls feel it's either or, and I
think it's even worse that influential people like RaeLynn, among other stars such as Nicki
Minaj with her derogatory videos and Robin Thicke with ‘Blurred Lines’ are not leading girls
in the right direction. They have more power and influence than they think and what they
say often sticks with the young generations. If these supposed ‘role models’ or ‘successful’
people can't set a good example, whose are we supposed to follow?
I've put the song lyrics at the bottom of the page if you want to take a look
Here’s a link to the video if you’re interested: https://youtu.be/tl1uv6gB4hE
Somebody's gotta wear a pretty skirt,
Somebody's gotta be the one to flirt,
Somebody's gotta wanna hold his hand so God Made Girls
Somebody's gotta make him get dressed up,
Give him a reason to wash that truck,
Somebody's gotta teach him how to dance,
So God made girls.
He needed something soft and loud and sweet and proud
But tough enough to break a heart
this is a good thing??
Something beautiful, unbreakable, that lights up in the dark
So God made girls, God made girls
He stood back and told the boys, "I'm 'bout to rock your world."
And God made girls (for singing in your front seat) whilst they drive??
God made girls (for dancin' to their own beat)
He stood back and told the boys, "I'm 'bout to rock your world."
And God made girls.
Somebody's gotta be the one to cry
Somebody's gotta let him drive
Give him a reason to hold that door so God made girls
Somebody's gotta put up a fight,
Make him wait on a Saturday night
To walk downstairs and blow his mind,
So God made girls.
Something that can wake him up and call his bluff and drag his butt to church
Something that is hard to handle
Somethin' fragile to hold him when he hurts
So God made girls, God made girls
He stood back and told the boys, "I'm 'bout to rock your world."
And God made girls (for singin' in your front seat)
God made girls (for dancin' to their own beat)
He stood back and told the boys, "I'm 'bout to rock your world."
And God made girls
Somebody's gotta wear a pretty skirt,
Somebody's gotta be the one to flirt,
Somebody's gotta wanna hold his hand
So God made girls, God made girls
He stood back and told the boys, "I'm 'bout to rock your world."
And God made girls (for singin' in your front seat)
God made girls (for dancin' to their own beat)
He stood back and told the boys, "I'm 'bout to rock your world."
And God made girls
Somebody's gotta wear a pretty skirt,
Somebody's gotta be the one to flirt (and God made girls, yeah)
Somebody's gotta wanna hold his hand
So God made girls