Meghan Trainor: Haters Sharpen Their Pencils Once Again

It is less than 12 months since Meghan Trainor stormed the charts with her debut single “All About That Bass.” The song took Meghan to the top of the charts all over the world and thrust her into the public eye in a way she can never have anticipated. “All About That Bass” was undoubtedly the sound of the summer of 2014, and after its release, Trainor was widely praised for promoting a positive body image.

Many praised Trainor for urging young people in general, and young women, in particular, to love themselves the way they are. Of course, the pop industry is a fickle business, and it wasn’t long before the hacks were sharpening their pencils to criticize Meghan, claiming that her lyrics were anti-feminist and in some cases sexist.

Music Mic acknowledges that “All About That Bass” was adopted as a “feminist anthem” but claims that the song is “as far from a feminist anthem as they come.” They even go so far as to accuse Trainor of being a threat to the progress women have made tackling sexism in the pop industry. Their beef seems to be that, in their view, Meghan claims that “your worth comes from what men think of you.”

The idea that Trainor equates a positive body image to how men perceive women is echoed in the Orion. They claim that lyrics like “I got that boom boom that all the boys chase” and “boys like a little more booty to hold at night,” send mixed messages about body image by implying that body image is defined by male approval.

In the Chicago Tribune, Heidi Stevens criticizes Meghan’s latest hit “Dear Future Husband” for stereotyping both men and women in terms of gender roles and for promoting the idea of “sex as a reward.” Stevens claims that Trainor’s lyrics promote the idea that physical intimacy is a chore that you’ll get around to eventually, as long as your husband works for it.

Despite being praised for promoting a positive body image for larger women, Trainor was accused at the same time of body shaming skinny women. Fuse highlights the fact that Trainor uses the words “skinny b***hes” in her song, though Meghan denies that she was being critical of skinny women.

Trainor says she just “wrote a fun song about loving your booty and loving your body.”

It is doubtful that Meghan Trainor could ever have anticipated the in-depth analysis that her songs have been subjected to. What do Inquisitr readers think? Does Meghan Trainor simply write fun, catchy pop songs that people are reading too much into? Alternatively, does Trainor deserve to be held to account for her lyrics because she has used the idea of body image to promote her career?

How do you see it?

[Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images]