Fly, Oh My

I want to preface this blog with the following: I don't like to hate on other women.  I think we should support each other, empower each other, and work together.  That being typed, I'm now about to criticize a famous-ish woman, okay?  Think less of me if you will, but read on first.  Oh, and I know some of you are going to think that I need to lighten up about this, and rest assured that it's not keeping me up at night and I'm not planning any protests.  Like a good hypocrite, I listen to this song, I know the chorus.  I just don't put it on my kids' iPods or listen to it around them.  Anyway, to the blog...

You may not know this, but singer Keri Hilson has a song called Pretty Girl Rock, and while I love the empowering theme that "I know that I'm pretty", finding validation within rather than from without, I don't like the idea that the power in the song comes hand in hand with not only the judgment of other women, but their abasement as well.  If you'd like to look for yourself, you can read the lyrics here.  Why wasn't she satisfied with being pretty?  Why she gotta hate like that?  In my estimation, she went from her self-professed 10 to maybe a 5 because she's bragging about how she made my man look at her and made him mad because she's cuter than I am.  With songs like these, we do the work for all those nice folks who say women are less than human.  They don't have to write campaign slogans or catchy tunes, popular recording artists will do the job for them!  And get paid by US, the suckers.

In the music video, Miss Hilson pays respect to other "pretty" girls who have come before her like the girls in TLC, Diana Ross, and Donna Summer.  According to this article in Yahoo, Hilson claims that this song is, indeed, for everyone.  It's supposed to empower all women, but I just don't buy that because the same song also encourages them to brag that they're prettier than other women, especially the ones with their men drooling all over the other girl walking by.  Every woman should feel sexy and sassy and strong and shouldn't even be thinking about impressing another woman's man!  As if THAT'S the proper or adequate measure of just how pretty (or valuable) you really are.

I can do the pretty girl rock, and I don't feel the need to be prettier than all of you.  And even if I were, I wouldn't have to throw it in your faces ;-).