I love Meghan Trainor’s song “All About That Bass” in which she is apparently encouraging women to embrace their curves and hating on the idea that women should be “stick figure, silicone Barbie dolls.” The message that she is conveying, though, could actually be counterproductive to a societal norm of recognizing beauty in all body types.
Firstly, the message that Trainor is sending through her lyrics is that female bodies are inherently sexual and that women should embrace their curves because “men like a little more booty,” which apparently makes the woman in the image below (a stereotypical, skinny, pretty, white woman) very uncomfortable.
She additionally says that she has “all the right junk in all the right places,” meaning that she has curves, or fat, in places on her body that are generally considered attractive and/or sexy, probably her ass and her breasts. This is especially prevalent in the music video for the song where many of the dance moves are very butt-focused, like in both the screenshots of the video above and below. This line makes it seem as though Trainor believes that there is a right place for fat on a female body and that fat should enhance a woman’s sexual features. The idea of women being fat in only specific places on their bodies in order to be more sexually attractive is definitely not a fat positive or feminist stance on female bodies. Fat can be considered sexy in any place in the body, from the belly to the back to the cheeks to the ankles, and Trainor is unfortunately just enforcing another impossible stereotype for women.
Also, fat should not be seen as something sexual, neither should a lack of fat. Human bodies are made for so much more than sex, and female bodies in particular are seen so often in culture as symbols of sex, and being a fat sex symbol is no better than being a skinny one. Trainor uses the idea that men like fat asses to make fatness seem acceptable. Telling women that men like a specific trait and that makes it a good trait is certainly not a feminist idea. I should be allowed to live in my own body without having to justify my beauty by saying that men think I’m sexy so it’s ok.
One lyric from this song talks about “skinny bitches,” who the woman in heels below is a symbol for, and definitely gives a negative connotation towards skinny women, implying that being fat is better than being skinny. In this way, Trainor is trying to impose a new standard of beauty that is just as unattainable for some people as being super skinny is by shaming skinny women. “Skinny shaming” should not be a substitute for fat shaming, we shouldn’t be shaming anybody about their body type!!
The cast of the music video is also problematic. Trainor and her four main backup dancers, seen below, as well as the other female presenting dancers in the video, are all pretty much the same body type, and they aren’t even fat!
In a song that is supposed to be about empowering fat women, having a bunch of women who, while they might not be stick thin, certainly aren’t fat, play as if they are fat is incredibly damaging. Additionally, Trainor has two young girls in the video, seen below, who are very thin, sending a message to the young girls who watch the video that this is the ideal body type for their age.
The only truly fat person in the video for a song ABOUT BEING A FAT WOMAN is the MALE presenting dancer below who doesn’t even get much screen time.
In a society that shames fatness, telling women that very mid-sized people are the fat people in our world completely discounts a whole group of people AND makes mid-sized people think that they are fat, which is damaging in a world that shames fatness.
In addition to the lack of size representation in the music video, the lack of racial representation is prominent, too. Depending on what you consider “dark-skinned,” there are no more than three dark-skinned people, one of them being one of the children, one of them being a backup singer (most of whose face is covered by a wig as seen below), and one of them being part of Trainor’s main group of backup dancers, in a cast of about 14.
None of these cast members get much screen time. The range of skin colors is very slim. There are only two male presenting cast members in the video, and the white man below is meant to represent a potential Ken-Doll-like boyfriend type for Meghan Trainor.
So, the main takeaway I get from the combination of the lyrics and the video from All About That Bass is that white (and sometimes black) women should strive to have big butts, avoid being skinny, avoid being fat, and to do all of this in order to be sexually appealing to conventionally attractive white men. Definitely not the fat power anthem that we need.
I really enjoyed your commentary. I never thought about how damaging the lyrics or music video of “All About That Base” was until reading your post. I remember when this song was released in 2014–I loved it. I used to sing it almost as a source of empowerment. However, looking back, the idea of me telling myself I had “all the right junk in all the right places” at the age of 10-11 with the idea that men would find me more attractive makes me cringe now. I rewatched the video after reading your post and am also shocked with the lack of racial and size diversity among the dancers. If you’re going to try promote a message you need to put in the work and show it with your actions (ie. having a more diverse cast).
I used to listen to this song a lot, but I didn’t really think about the lyrics too much and I didn’t even see the music video. For some reason I thought people in this video would be bigger, but they weren’t which is interesting since it’s supposed to be a power anthem to fat people. I also loved how you brought up the point that for people who are skinny, that being fatter isn’t that easy for them either. This just perpetuates the idea that women will never be enough and that how women look caters to the male gaze. Some men may want skinny women and others may want fatter women. There is no one perfect beauty standard. Even if it was being skinny, this song can make those who worked hard to reach that skinny beauty standard feel that they did that for nothing if men want fatter women and vice versa. Female beauty shouldn’t be based on the male gaze.
It’s also crazy that there are just black-and-white representations and no one else in between. So is this just talking about white and black bodies or different bodies in the world?
I really enjoyed this piece. Like you underscored, it is so important to analyze media that is seemingly “pro-women”. In the case of all All About That Base, Meghan is endorsing one of the most critical problems about societal weight standards, that a women should shape her body to appeal to a man. When in reality, a person should have to answer to no one but themselves, or seek approval from anyone but themselves. I remember how popular this song was at the time, and how popular it continues to be. I think the most concerning part of this is how young women internalize these messages from such a young age. I am also equally as blown away by the lack of diversity in the video and find it concerning how she uses kids as props in a video about weight goals/aspirations.
I really enjoyed reading your analysis of this video and song. When I used to listen to this song when it first came out, I remember screaming it in the car with my friends, and I never really thought about how damaging the message actually was. However, I did always think the line “all the right junk in all the right places” was a strange one, and I when thinking about what it meant at the time when I was younger, I was uncomfortable with it, but I kind of just went along with it. Even though this song came out over 5 years ago, I had never actually watched the music video until I read your media analysis! And wow, there is so much that is wrong with it. I especially agree with your point about not fat people playing a song that is supposed to be empowering to fat women. It is hurtful to fat women to hear a song about fatness that is portrayed by people who are not fat at all. Additionally, for a song that is supposed to be about empowerment, the song only talks about embracing your body type so you can appeal to men. This is not what empowerment is about. On top of all of this, the lack of other aspects of diversity in this video is just the cherry on top. This is not the song that so many think it is!
Thank you for this post! You make so many very important points. When I was younger I treated this song as a motivator to accept myself, since my body was always bigger than my friends’ and I was alway insecure about it. Poland lacks any sort of acceptance of body types other than very skinny, so the song made me feel seen and beautiful. Of course, the song CAN be treated as a hype-me-up, but if you dig deeper, you can see how the lyrics can negatively impact you (in many cases indirectly). It makes me upset that being sexy is encouraged only to impress or be seen as attractive by other people (men). I never thought deeply about the meaning of the lyrics, as well as about the music video. The song is very popular, but I feel like people rarely think twice about the meaning behind it. It is wrong to show only one body type as the acceptable one; changing the norms should never include shaming anyone for what they look like. Bringing some people up by putting others down is not the way to go.
I really enjoyed this post! It’s crazy just how often media succumbs to societal standards, even when the supposed message is to go against said expectations and standards. I really appreciate how you considered the impacts this could have on more petite women. As a petite person I have heard numerous comments about my body. Like you said, women shouldn’t be shamed at all! Comments can be harmful no matter one’s body size. There is no one “perfect” body size yet society tries to paint that picture. Thanks for bringing light to this!
Great post! I agree with a lot of the commentary you made about this song. I haven’t listened to this song since I was in middle school, but like many other people who commented I considered this song to be very body positive at that time. Upon further reexamination, I can see the harmful language and representation shown in the song lyrics and music video. I’m sure there are many people who listened to this song when they were younger and internalized the message she presented. Your post is great reminder to analyze the music we listen to and the message it presents. I think a lot of times I will listen to a song without really thinking about the lyrics and there have been many intances were are analyzing the lyrics it can change my entire perception of a song.
I used to sing along to this song and feel empowered, but the further I think of this topic on body positivity it surfaces other feelings. Firstly, like you said, sending messages like this is counterproductive to body positivity. I feel bodies should be accepted at all sizes and shapes and not just where “all the right junk in all the right places” are. I believe Meghan Trainor meant well with this song, but the end result did not land correctly and in alignment with bodily acceptance and promotion at all sizes.
Hi! Great job on your Media Analysis of the song “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor. As commented previously, I also thought this song was about empowering curvy women, but after reading your post, I think differently. I know that Meghan was attempting to show how curvy women should embrace their bodies and beauty; however, making it sexualized triggers a negative impact. In addition, when Meghan says “skinny bitches” it does give a negative connotation as you explained. At the end of the day, we are all different and should not be ashamed of how we look because of society’s opinion.
I heard this song wayyyy back when I was kid, and always made it out to be a very progressive song. But, with your post, I can definitely see this is not the intention at all. I really enjoyed that you talked about skinny shamming, too. Just because someone isn’t fat doesn’t mean they can be subjected to shame. And, to be honest, skinny shaming is often overlooked, and people act like it doesn’t exist. Trying to kill fat shaming by starting a skinny shaming “movement” isn’t going to change anything – it’s fighting fire with fire. Thank you for this analysis!
Great media analysis! I also thought that this song was meant to empower all women regardless of their body type, but after reading your analysis it seems as if this is creating a toxic environment revolving around body shaming. I appreciate how attentive you were when analyzing the meaning behind this song. It is sad to see that people with such big platforms are promoting these negative and toxic ideas. Having a platform should motivate people to spread more body positivity and just positivity in general to the world.