The F-Bomb Is Dropping

Feminist is becoming a very charged word despite a remarkable number of people trying to shut it down. TIME memorably said it should be banned. This backfired royally with a massive media backlash.

A variety of pop stars and actresses have come out against feminism in the recent past as I have said many times but some minds have finally started changing.

Beyonce perfectly displays how feminism isn't an all or nothing game. Find the space where you're comfortable that aligns with your beliefs.

Lady Gaga and Katy Perry both said the label didn't apply to them. After an education about the equality the word really represents, both have changed their tune. Neither will be marching in a rally any time soon but let's enjoy baby steps.

Taylor Swift hung out with Lena Dunham and realized that she was absolutely a feminist. She even had some interesting things to say about how she's often reduced to her relationships and inability to keep them. I loved how she played on this trope in her video for Blank Space.

Unfortunately, not all minds are so open. Despite several outcries, Kelly Clarkson still hasn't made any response to the ugly and ignorant things she said about feminism and feminists a year ago. I can't listen to her music anymore because of what she said. I lost all respect for her. It's a combination of the blatant hypocrisy and her breathtaking, willful ignorance.

Clarkson has been out of small town Texas long enough to figure out what the word means and how the independence she values epitomizes it. She's called out music execs for sexist behavior and the amount of attention paid to her weight but somehow she's not a feminist.

Maybe she doesn't want to alienate the conservative country crowd she's been courting so hard since she feel in love with Brandon Blackstock. It might explain why Carrie Underwood is still singing the same old song. Although country music seems to be changing its tune with Girl in a Country Song and Quarterback.

Please name any other group of people celebrities can openly misrepresent and bad mouth without media backlash? Who else can consistently be reduced to its extremists without anyone major complaining?

You can't touch religions although Christian extremists and hypocrites are vocal enough to make this surprising. Gamergate has created a very discernible barrier between normal gamers and misogynistic troglodytes. Mormons have come out against the polygamist minority, especially since the poly folks started getting their own shows. I can't think of any group that earns such open dismissal and derision from society.

Amy Poehler said she doesn't get why people like Shailene Woodley come out against feminism. "But then they go on to explain what they support and live by -- it’s feminism exactly. I think some big actors and musicians feel like they have to speak to their audience and that word is confusing to their audience. But I don’t get it. That’s like someone being like, "I don’t really believe in cars, but I drive one every day and I love that it gets me places and makes life so much easier and faster and I don’t know what I would do without it."

A blog I just discovered has the best response to those type of women: "You are either a feminist or you actually think you should get paid less for equal work."

Until some of these women learn what it means to get their cars taken away from them, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Madonna don't need my money. Any production with Shailene Woodley, Susan Sarandon, Demi Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dita Von Teese, or Gwenyth Paltrow can look somewhere else for their box office dollars.

I'm gonna go crank Taylor's new album and see what Bustle and BuzzFeed have to say today.

PS - Some of the above women say they're 'humanists.' It's a lazy cop-out to say they love equality but are scared of the f-bomb.

Girl in a Country Song

A new single just dropped from a new country duo Maddie & Tae and I'm madly in love. Both Maddie and Tae realized that women have no agency in popular country music and it would suck to be them. A soon to be hit single was born.

They're calling out bro country for objectifying women and treating them as props in their story. I tweeted about this but I was careful to use #YesAllWomen instead of the equally accurate #feminism. 

These are things that feminists have been saying about women in all forms of media for decades. Unfortunately pop stars which have a more liberal target audience have been denying the f-bomb including Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, and Taylor Swift (who has barely been country since her second album). 

Country caters to a more conservative crowd. Even though feminist values and ideals are what make this song amazing, calling it such seems like a losing battle not worth starting. It's better to see women responding so strongly to the message of the song. Once they're on board the whole equality boat we can tell them what it's been called the whole time.

To really sell the point of how revolutionary this song is for contemporary country music, here's some of the more empowering, BS-calling lyrics,

I hate the way this bikini top chaffs. Do I really have to wear it all day?

I got a name and to you it ain't pretty little thing, honey or baby.

Like all we're good for is lookin' good for you and your friends on the weekend

We used to get a little respect and now we're lucky if we even get to climb up in your truck, keep our mouth shut and ride along like a girl in a country song

There ain't no sugar for you in this shaker of mine

Sure I'll slide on over but you're gonna get slapped

I ain't your tanned legged Juliet

Can we put on some real clothes now?

I only regret I haven't yet found a video to share with you. 

Music: Girl in a Country Song by Maddie & Tae