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Lizbeth Pacheco

Samantha Kirby

English 102

16 March 2018

Body Positivity and Body Shaming

In the music industry, there are many factors that are used to portray the visual context of

a song. Being a female, women shape themselves into how they want men to see them. This

causes for women to be looked at and often be judged by their appearance. “All About That

Bass,” a song by Meghan Trainor released in 2014 has its effects on how the society wants to

view the lyrics and the music video. The year the song was first released, Meghan’s response to

the song was not based on a topic in 2014. The controversy is that females try to look a certain

way to please men. Looking in depth at the music video, there are both genders and there are

some who are skinny and others who are more in weight. “All About That Bass” is a

controversial song because it promotes women being accepted into society by body shaming but

there are people who already have self-acceptance.

“All About That Bass” music video shows the aspect of how women should look like for

society. The song promotes body shaming and today there are teenage girls that deal with

accepting how they look. Promoting the effect of photoshop and body shaming is causing for the

audience to not understand if Meghan Trainor is being feminist or if she is promoting self-

acceptance. The use of different size range and both genders, gives the idea of how both genders

could be affected by this controversy. The use of children, barbies, and a dollhouse claims that

girls that look like barbies are the targets of when people body shame women.
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This song “All About That Bass” affects the controversy because there are women who

have self-acceptance. Since there are people who don’t judge how they look, this song does not

promote this side of the controversy and therefore some people are not affected by this song. The

song portrays the size of women and why having a perfect body figure is important in society.

The lyric where it says “I ain't no size two” is claiming that Meghan herself is not a size two but

there are women who are. Number reference in the lyrics caused the controversy to stand out.

Still referring to the previous line it was intended for men and how men could still clearly look at

women for what their size is. The line after is “cause I got that boom boom that all the boys

chase”. Meghan claims she has a butt and her physical appearance is the reason why men go

after her. This song is meant for women because women have less confidence and they feel more

affected when it comes to body acceptance.

Society plays a part in how women are portrayed. The song gives the idea that women

should look a certain way for men to look at them. Being this, the intended audience is women.

Society has high standards for women and some of those women don’t fit into the category that

society views. In today's society, many teens and younger women face body shaming either

being slim or big. Women are not seen to the same standard as men. The official music video

demonstrates different body figures including both genders, but women are more focused

throughout the song. The lyric “Yeah, my momma she told me don’t worry about your size she

says, boys like a little more booty to hold at night” refers to the idea that the more body women

have, the more men would like them. The word “booty” in this lyric claim that if you have a big

booty society will accept you more than other girls that don’t have a booty. Parents encourage

their adolescents to focus on television programs that have unrealistic features of thin actresses
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(Nathanson, Botta, pg. 310). These are forms of parental meditation styles which focus on how

parents use positive or negative comments toward their adolescents.

On the other hand, media platforms can change the level of confidence you feel towards

yourself. Confidence shapes people but the people who are confident don’t have the need to

please society. Women and their sexuality are seen through the use of social media and an article

by Philippa Roxby explains how young adolescents are influenced by social media and this ties

into the idea of having self-acceptance. Philippa Roxby the author of the article “Does Social

Media Impact on Body Image” states that “the more time spent on Facebook, the more likely

people are to self-objectify themselves”. Not only are magazines and television the only sites

where body image is talked about but also social media platforms. Spending more time on social

media platforms adapts people’s lifestyle into identifying how they want to be shaped. There can

be positivity and confidence like when the song line says “but I am here to tell you every inch of

you is perfect from the bottom to the top” but that is not the controversy of what shapes the song.

This song only has one line that gives a positive statement about being confident. The rest of the

song talks about body shaming and how it causes controversy for the audience of the song. The

music video is not to expose woman's feelings but to influence people to change how they want

or should look.

The song “All About That Bass” is body shaming young women and the article “The

Difference Between Body Positivity and Self-Love” by Eva Tingley and Kathy Deitch explains

how self-acceptance and body positivity are different but society takes part in it. Their definition

of body positive means that “one believes all bodies are good and deserve respect, no matter the

size” (Tingley, Deitch). The authors of this article promote one side of the controversy where

women should feel confident about themselves. Also, for the audience reading the article to
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know the difference between body positivity and self-acceptance and how it can affect a woman

having difficulty accepting who they are. Having respect for your body over a period can lead to

self-acceptance. The qualities we have the more we accept our size and not think of it as a

judgment (Tingley, Deitch). Being obsessed with trying to achieve a body figure can change the

idea of loving yourself. The use of a skinny man and a bigger man in the music video shows how

they are both confident and don’t need to be changed. Even though men are not the main

audience, they can still be included to show how men react toward how women want to be

shaped. Most articles are about women, but men can also have an opinion and the same effects as

women do.

As a matter of fact, not everyone may accept their body figure and some people make the

choice of changing how they want society to see them. Photoshop is to change the way you want

to look and that is portrayed through the official music video in a scene where there is a picture

of one skinny woman and another picture where the same women are edited but to look big. The

lyric used with this picture is “ I see the magazine working that photoshop, we know that shit

ain’t real come on now make it stop”. Having the concept to change your physical appearance is

to someone’s own extent but society does not always tell people how to shape out their own

figure. “All About That Bass’ and Photoshopping a Model’s Waist: Introducing Body Image

Law” an article by Marilyn Bromberg and Cindy Halliwell focus is on the idea of Body Image

Law. Body Image Law is defined as a law that helps to promote body image to younger people

in the public (Bromberg, Halliwell, p.2). The measures for Body Image Law is the idea of body

mass index (BMI) used by models. Body mass index is for models and the editors of these

photos need to put a warning to photoshopped images, so the audience knows that the image is
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edited. This creates for the audience to have an understanding that people are trying to keep a

positive side that photoshop can be used.

“Keep It Real Challenge: Photoshop's Impact on Body Image” article written by Armelle

Djoukoue has multiple ideas of how women feel about themselves. The use of social media,

television, and magazines are what causes images to be photoshopped. The way humans see

other human’s physical appearance are not always the reality of how they look. Celebrities don’t

show their imperfections to media platforms and therefore society sees those people as being

perfect. Celebrities are role models and their audience expect them to reveal themselves even if

they are not perfect. If celebrities are more secure with their image, others will get the idea that

there is no one that is perfect (Djoukoue, Pg.1). Photoshopping an image can boost someone’s

self-esteem, but it is not reality.

The platforms that promote the idea of body image influence their audience to believe in

what is best for them. Photoshop and body shaming are what makes teens and young women

think that it is okay to change their appearance to be able to fit in society. Self-confidence is not

promoted as much and therefore women think more about their imperfections and how they

cannot be accepted in society. “All About That Bass” has many controversial issues which make

women feel less accepted in society. The use of body shaming and having self-confidence makes

the audience which is women to think about their body image. Songs with music videos

intentions are to influence the audience to make them concerned about their appearance and

rather not promote having self-confidence. Young women should be able to look up to their idols

and not have the idea of body image based on reviews of other opinions.
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Works Cited

Barber, Nigel. “Why Women Feel Bad About Their Appearance.” Psychology Today, Sussex

Publishers, 2 May 2013,

www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201305/why-women-feel-bad-about-t

Heir-appearance.

Bromberg, Marilyn and Halliwell, Cindy. “All about that Bass and Photoshopping a Model

waist: Introducing Body Image Law.” University of Notre Dame Australia Law Review,

vol. 18, Article 1, (2017), pp.1-19. http://research-

repository.uwa.edu.au/files/14293328/All_About_That_Bass_and_Photoshopping_a_Mo

del_s_Waist_Introduc.pdf. Accessed 02 March 2018.

Djoukoue, Armelle. “Keep It Real Challenge: Photoshop's Impact on Body Image.” UMKC

Women's Center, 29 June 2012,

info.umkc.edu/womenc/2012/06/29/keep-it-real-challenge-photoshops-impact-on-body-i

mage/. Accessed 02 March 2018.

“Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass.” Genius, 30 June 2014,

genius.com/Meghan-trainor-all-about-that-bass-lyrics.

MeghanTrainorVEVO. “Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass.” YouTube, YouTube, 11 June

2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PCkvCPvDXk.

Nathanson, Amy, and Renee Botta. Shaping the Effects of Television on Adolescents' Body

Image Disturbance. 3 June 2003,

journals.sagepub.com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/doi/pdf/10.1177/00936502030300030

03. Accessed 02 March 2018.

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Rox, Philippa. “Does Social Media Impact on Body Image?” BBC News, BBC, 13 Oct. 2014,

www.bbc.com/news/health-29569473. Accessed 02 March 2018.

Tingley, Eva, and Kathy Deitch. “The Difference Between Body Positivity and Self­-

Love.” Books for Better Living, 17 Oct. 2017,

www.booksforbetterliving.com/difference-body-positivity-self%C2%AD-love/. Accessed

02 March 2018.
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Annotated Bibliography

Barber, Nigel. “Why Women Feel Bad About Their Appearance.” Psychology Today, Sussex

Publishers, 2 May 2013,

www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201305/why-women-feel-bad-about-t

Heir-appearance. Accessed 02 March 2018.

This article from “Psychology Today” explains how women feel about their appearance. It states
how women care about their appearance because society evaluates women’s appearance. There
are surveys conducted where men have higher self-esteem than women but then it also states that
women are more concerned about their appearance than men. It focuses on how women have
insecurity and how they spend money on clothes and cosmetics to enhance how they look. It is
unbiased because it presents the use of surveys on men and women and how much they are
concerned with their appearance. Therefore, this article can be used to explain how women
develop certain factors to feel confident about their appearance.

Bromberg, Marilyn and Halliwell, Cindy. “All about that Bass and Photoshopping a Model’s

waist: Introducing Body Image Law.” University of Notre Dame Australia Law Review,

vol. 18, Article 1, (2017), pp.1-19. http://research-

repository.uwa.edu.au/files/14293328/All_About_That_Bass_and_Photoshopping_a_Mo

del_s_Waist_Introduc.pdf. Accessed 02 March 2018.

This scholarly article that was found through the University of Arizona library database focuses
on how women develop their body image. It states that if women see images of thin people, the
effects would be that those women want to be like them and look into having an eating disorder.
The article explains how body mass index (BMI) is promoted by models to influence the effect
of photoshopping in women who want to have the same body image. On the other hand, there are
people like the government who stopped models from promoting body mass index. This article is
unbiased because the authors conduct studies and research. I would use this source because it
shows one side of the controversy where the government in certain places is against the
promotion of body mass index and the leading causes that come with it.
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Djoukoue, Armelle. “Keep It Real Challenge: Photoshop's Impact on Body Image.” UMKC

Women's Center, 29 June 2012,

info.umkc.edu/womenc/2012/06/29/keep-it-real-challenge-photoshops-impact-on-body-i

mage/. Accessed 02 March 2018.

This article was found through the UMKC Women’s Center website and its focus is on
photoshop and how the media uses this as an advertisement. It states how women and girls are
targeted when they watch television or look at magazines because the images promote the effect
of photoshop. This causes for these women to be pressured and influenced by celebrities to think
about the idea of getting a perfect body as the article explains. This is unbiased because it is
stating facts and using examples of research studies that were conducted. This information could
be implied for the use of how some people are influenced by the way other looks and the
unrealistic image of how photoshop creates controversy with those who strive to reach a body
figure that is not real.