Music Video Review; All about that Bass by Meghan Trainor

Meghan Trainor is an upcoming artist but her new song “All about the bass” will surely ring bells. The pastel ridden video is a catchy soon I already at No.2 in the charts. Surprisingly Meghan is not a teen herself and interestingly has been in the music business for a while in 2011 she had an album titled Ill sing with you. Through first impression it seems that just like the bass guitar in a song is like its thickness Trainor related the body to that but before you start judging her you’ll realise the video is actual quite empowering.

The clothes used in this video adheres to the stereotypical conventions of a pop music video as the artist along with the other performers in this video are wearing clothes that are considered fashionable/stylish and even mainstream so to speak. However this is song is walking on thin ice because on one end of the scale she is giving of a positive vibe but on the other end there are cracks because even though she is portraying a positive message its not as straight forward as it seems.

First of all the song at a glimpse is overall has the right intention but are they executed in the best way? Through lyrics like “'Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase/and all the right junk in all the right places” it seems that Trainor still looks male approval. Critics are not impressed; “Loving yourself because dudes like what you’ve got going on is a pretty flimsy form of self-acceptance,” writes Feministing. But that is not to say that has ever stopped us from loving catchy pop songs before now has it? However the song still might be a good entry point for many women to realize that the standards they are held to are unrealistic.

"Yeah, it's pretty clear, I ain't no size two/ But I can shake it, shake it, like I'm supposed to do..." are the first lines of consequence in the song, so right off you know it's an anthem to empowerment and a call for positive body image.
"If you got beauty, beauty, just raise 'em up/ 'Cause every inch of you is perfect, from the bottom to the top,.." she continues. The choice is yours, as Black Sheep once sang. You can either become a victim of a negative vicious cycle or use that to empower yourself so it all depends as an individual to determine where you come on that scale. Now we can look at colour symbolism. Colour symbolism is highly culture-specific and variable. It is clear that in most of Europe and America in the 19th century and early 20th century, pastel colours were considered "youthful" and were used more often to flatter the complexion, not denote gender. 

Pink was considered more flattering for brown-eyed, brown-haired people and blue for blue-eyed people. When pink or blue were used in gendered ways, it seemed to be a matter of fashion -- a temporary trend -- not a tradition. Nor were they used consistently the way we do today (pink=girl, blue=boy). First, pink became so strongly associated with femininity, that when a boy or man wears it is is no longer "just a color", but an act of defiance or personal expression beyond the aesthetic. Second, it eventually crowded out other colors in the options for babies and little girls. Finally, pink has been adopted by manufacturers of thousands of products as a way to differentiate their wares and sell more items, especially for children.

So there it is. Before 1900, pink and blue were two of a range of pastels appropriate for babies and children, symbolic of gender to the same extent that shamrocks symbolized luck -- in a light-hearted, fanciful way, not a moral imperative. From 1900 to around 1940, their modern associations were taking shape, but were often reversed in some parts of the United States, and still not taken too seriously. From around 1940 until the mid-1980s, pink and blue had their now-familiar associations, with regional exceptions and lots of other options. Since around 1985, pink has been not only a strong symbol of femininity, but neutral and non-pink options have been gradually edged out.First, pink became so strongly associated with femininity, that when a boy or man wears it is is no longer "just a colour", but an act of defiance or personal expression beyond the aesthetic. Second, it eventually crowded out other colours in the options for babies and little girls. Finally, pink has been adopted by manufacturers of thousands of products as a way to differentiate their wares and sell more items, especially for children. 

So there it is. Before 1900, pink and blue were two of a range of pastels appropriate for babies and children, symbolic of gender to the same extent that shamrocks symbolized luck -- in a light-hearted, fanciful way, not a moral imperative. Since around 1985, pink has been not only a strong symbol of femininity, but neutral and non-pink options have been gradually edged out.