Argument for Dear Future Husband by Meghan Trainor | Teen Ink

Argument for Dear Future Husband by Meghan Trainor

September 8, 2015
By rad103 BRONZE, Great Neck, New York
rad103 BRONZE, Great Neck, New York
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

If you’ve ever heard this song you probably still know it, since it’s so catchy. Meghan Trainor broke boundaries with her first hit, All About That Bass and is now praised as a role model feminist. She preached positive body image and non-conventional forms of beauty. Her next single, with its repetitive lyrics and upbeat tune, is a sure pop music hit if I’ve ever heard one. However, a lot more controversy arose over this song. Feminists everywhere are lamenting the loss of their perfect icon.


The song begins “Dear future husband.” Marci from xojane.com takes apart this line, as she does with every other line in the song and perverts it to her anti-women agenda. She assumes that Trainor is assuming that she will get married. She calls the entire idea of the song “impersonal” and a “big, creepy step.” It is hard not to cringe as you read through her assessment of this Billboard topping song. It is so inflammatory and aggressive, and honestly makes her look like a crazed hyper-feminist looking to find fault. Throughout the song, Trainor requests that her husband takes her out on nice dates and call her beautiful. In return, she will be a good wife and take care of the household. Though that may be stereotypical, it is Trainor’s personal dream for her future. The critics call her “needy” and that she needs to “learn to see your own beauty instead of relying on some idiot to offer up a compliment.” However, she seems to just want a man that is kind and loving to her. She even tells off this potential lover that “You got that 9 to 5/ But, baby, so do I/ So don't be thinking I'll be home and baking apple pies,” alerting him that she also has her dreams and aspirations.


Deirdre Kaye from sheknows.com attacks Trainor’s accompanying music video. It portrays her as a typical 1950s housewife. A slew of guys come to her door looking to impress her, and she turns each one away until she finds one she likes. This video is not at all portraying real life, even if some watchers see “no indication of irony” (Marci). However, the video is so cartoonish that it looks to be anything but real. Meghan is almost mocking the stereotypical image of a housewife. Trainor admits that she was “surprised the random places people are asking me if I was being sexist” and that her intention behind the song and video were just “to vocalize what qualities she would like to see from her future spouse.”


If Trainor did not intend her music to be against the feminist cause, than people need to stop picking apart the details that can be misconstrued to create the wrong message. Meanwhile, a full ten spots above Dear Future Husband on the official Billboard, lies T-Wayne’s Nasty Freestyle. When googling the latter song, absolutely no complaints arise. Meanwhile, Trainor’s song has received so much backlash it has forced her to make a statement. The rapper announces in his lyrics, “I just hit her and I quit her/ I would never ever date her” and blatantly makes known that he will not associate with women he does not deem to be large enough in the correct areas for his liking. He says if these women do not please him correctly, he will not “feed” them. The primary audience for this song is young, impressionable boys who are still forming their opinions of how to treat women. Trainor mostly appeals to young girls, who can take away that they can have whatever image of themselves and of their future that they desire.


While some may find snippets of lyrics from the song to be problematic, there are much bigger problems with our society and more timid impressionable minds that are being guided by the wrong influences. Instead of rising up and attacking women for their own aspirations, we should band together against men who think it is acceptable to treat their female counterparts as merely possessions or objects.



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This article has 1 comment.


Cam_is_Away said...
on Sep. 16 2015 at 10:09 pm
Cam_is_Away, Non, California
0 articles 0 photos 116 comments
You made a great argument. You cited very well and you detailed your point of view perfectly. I agree with you, her song was her wish for a kind, loving husband. But that future husband wasn't the only thing she was dreaming for. She had other plans for her future as well. As you explained, songs have an influence. Her songs are not only catchy, but present much better influences on her audience. I can't wait to read more from you! Great job!