All About Those Baseline Assumptions About Femini$m in Pop

EPISODE #37

With Meghan Trainor’s new singles “No” and “Me Too” ubiquitous on the radio dial, a larger discussion about the uneasy relationship between social movements and selling records takes a feminist bent. Memories of the polarizing 2014 hit “All About that Bass” come to the surface, reigniting debates over whether Trainor’s songs express radical thought or package it for mass consumption.

Or is that distinction a distraction, forgetting that manufactured pop can still pack a political punch? That might depend on how you listen. Andi Zeisler, author of We Were Feminists Once, professor Robin James, blogger Jenny Trout and writer Andrea Warner join for a dive into the complexities of feminist pop politics.

SONGS DISCUSSED

Meghan Trainor – Me Too

Meghan Trainor – No

Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass

Spice Girls – Wannabe

Big Sean – Dance (A$$)

Taylor Swift – Shake It off

Demi Lovato – Confident

Grimes – Flesh Without Blood

The Slits – Typical Girls

Sleater-Kinney – #1 Must Have

Jonathan Hoyle – Never Ending Road

Lizzo – Good As Hell