I couldn't think of a clever title for this particular piece of writing but it most resembles the columns I used to write for Wahid's Words, so I've just come up with a title that will hopefully be a recurring style of writing on this blog.
In the song, the girls basically point out, one by one, every trope that girls in country music are expected to fall under, and what is wrong with each of them. I'm not going to review the song because I feel like ya'll should just listen to the song anyways because it's very accessible. Instead, I'm going to talk about the social implications of this.
The "country girl" image has changed considerably since the rise of the "bro-country" sub-genre. Whereas the charm of southern belles used to bank on the fact that they aren't afraid to get out of their designer gowns and strap on some cowboy boots, put on some jeans and get down and dirty in the mud, slowly but surely, this charm is more and more being attributed to "long-tan legs" that are visible due to the insanely short shorts that they donne and their long hair that blows in the wind while they are sitting on the shotgun seat of the male singers' trucks.
Whew, that was long. What Maddie and Tae, these girls that are only 18 and 19 years old, have done, is point out this shift in the image of the ideal country girl, and tackle the issues as to why this is wrong. Now for any of you who know me, I take a very Laverne Cox and Nicki Minaj stance on women's right to express their sexuality. So my problem with this image is not that they are wearing short shorts- its that they are expected to if they want to fit the mold. And the girls in various interviews have expressed this exact stance (I will be providing links at the end of the post, if anyone is interested in further reading), so I just thought that was worth mentioning.
Secondly, let's address their age. They are teenagers, and for their DEBUT to Nashville, they present this tongue-in-cheek, shitting-on-every-one-of-your-faves lyrical masterpiece. They directly throw hurls at Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line. (Again, if any of you know me, I'm a HUGE Thomas Rhett fan- I love his twang and his bad-boy-but-good-to-you persona and his tone and everything. But I couldn't help but snap along to the line "shakin' my moneymaker ain't ever made me a dime.") The fact that these teenagers had the courage and guts to challenge literally all the artists that dominate the very charts that they are trying to enter is truly astounding.
If you read some of their interviews, you'll also see that they have pretty genuine personalities, and don't necessarily filter themselves all that much. One thing that does stick out to me is, they play every question of "do you hate these songs?" by saying that their lyrics were all in good fun and they love the songs they are mocking. This is awesome because they have the ability to step outside of their love and respect and admiration for otherwise incredible artists and recognize the underlying sexism and misogyny behind these songs.
Also, let's not forget, Maddie and Tae are both girls that perfectly fit the mold of what is expected from the girls in these country songs. Blond, light-eyed, long tan legs, the whole ordeal- yet another reason they should be applauded. They realize that the systems that exist to benefit them naturally hurt the people that are not them.
Finally, let's just talk about the response this has gotten in country music. Many of these "bro-country" singers have spoken against this song, claiming that it labels them as sexists, which they aren't because all they do is sing about reality, where girls do want to grind on men that look like Thomas Rhett. Brian Kelley, from Florida Georgia Line, claims that he has never encountered a girl who doesn't want to be a girl in a country song. And herein lies the exact issue that the girls are trying to tackle- it's not that they don't want to be the girls in these songs it's that they want to have a voice even if they are the girls in these songs. Also, Kelley's tone is literally like, "you want to be treated well and get a say in what we do? How dare you!?"
Anywho, this is a little bit jumbled but I have midterms to study for. I'm just going to let you guys form your own opinions on the song, but I just wanted to bring attention to two undeniably brave young girls and a very risky move they made for the sake of standing up to an oft-overlooked effect of treating women like trophies.
And here are the links to two Washington Post articles about this song:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/12/10/girl-in-a-country-song-hits-no-1-by-mocking-bro-country-the-bros-arent-laughing/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/07/15/meet-maddie-tae-the-duo-making-waves-and-calling-out-the-party-bro-country-trend-qa/
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