Hey, ladies. It’s time for another edition of Sexist Beatdown. Up for discussion this morning are girls who hate on other girls when a man gets in the way, and then write pop songs about it. As always, your hosts are that bitchy, popular ho Sady Doyle of Tiger Beatdown, and the adorably geeky woman of your dreams—me! Join us: We promise to pretend to be your friends while we try to fuck your boyfriend and ridicule your skanky dye job.
Sady has already done the groundwork on the “girl-on-girl sexism” phenomenon. In this special genre of pop music, the protagonist ridicules another woman who is either a) involved with “her man,” or b) involved with a man the singer wishes were “her man.” The protagonist typically cites purely aesthetic arguments—But she’s a cheerleader! But she has bleached hair! But she just sucks!—for hating that other bitch and attempting to convince the “man” that he belongs with her. Sady notes that this trend most recently surfaced in Taylor Swift’s beloved hit single, “You Belong With Me.
It put my hair thoroughly on end, with Taylor pleading over and over again for a boy to just go ahead and dump a girl (who apparently has goals in life outside of obsessively working to please this one dude), in favor of Taylor (who doesn’t). I mean, I know we’re supposed to be rooting for Taylor, because GLASSES, but this whole thing whereby girls who do not conceive of themselves as traditionally attractive deal with this by hating on girls who they think are prettier is just really repulsive to me, and I can’t stand it, especially when it’s framed as “empowering” rather than just insecure and gross. You have a problem with how limiting the mainstream beauty standard is? Fine. TALK ABOUT THAT. I will agree with you. But slamming “ugly” girls and slamming “pretty” girls both amount to slamming girls. So, you know. Less of that, please.
Meanwhile, Notes on Popular Culture has already provided the counterpoint for Team Taylor: “Sady calls the comparison between the two girls ‘girl-on-girl sexism.’ What Sady forgets is that this is what people do. That is what girls do, that is what teenage girls do, this is what girls do when another girl has they guy they like. It’s tame, and pretty damn fair.”
Or is it?
SADY:: let’s talk about ladies who don’t like other ladies! through the universal language of SONG! (the ladies who hate other ladies. not me, or, i would imagine you. let us conduct this discussion instead through the universal language of Gchat.)
AMANDA: agreed!
SADY: first of all, i think we need to separate the lady-disliking-lady song from the you-cheated-on-me-song (as sung by a lady). because both are venerable pop conventions. but one is pretty specifically about disliking a lady, and the other is more about being upset with somebody who cheated on you and referring to the co-cheater as a “tramp” or whatever.
AMANDA: so, you’re saying there is a difference between your unnecessary “I Hate That Bitch” song and your Jolene rip-off?
SADY: i would argue, yes! although… maybe not? (BEHOLD, as i introduce and then disagree with my own points!) because, like, in “before he cheats,” by carrie underwood, she mentions that there is “probably” a “bleached-blond tramp” in this dude’s life before introducing some truly epic automotive destruction on the possible-tramp-liker.
AMANDA: oh … “probably.” see, this is where it gets interesting. because doesn’t carrie underwood appear to have bleached blond hair?
SADY: haha, and the hypothetical tramp sings “fake Shania karaoke” at one point. PROJECTION!