The Stupid Girl Culture

A few nights ago, I was on YouTube watching videos of farting horses, when I stumbled across the music video for Mickey Factz and Marsha Ambrosius's For The Culture. Now, as hilarious as flactuating horses are, there's only so long you can watch these kinds of videos before the howling laughter eventually simmers down into this kind of pathetic, forced chuckle. So I thought to myself, Enough of farting horses. Let's check out this music video.

And it's not the best song in the world. I mean, it's alright, but it doesn't really show off Marsha's voice. The thing is, I happen to be one of those people who always reads the comments on YouTube. I think it's because I like to laugh and shake my head at the ridiculous stuff people come up with, and the 'inventive' new spelling and grammar rules they like to apply to their sentences. Itz Partiklily Funni Wen Dey Say Sumfin Lyk Shez A Stoopid Ass Bitch Al Da Wile Dey Tipe Lyk Dis. (I just think it's interesting that the only words these kids are comfortable spelling independently these days are swear-words. Just an observation.) So I read the comments. Here's a small selection of them, for your convenience:

SHE IS OGLY.

she is a man or a women

she looks like a old reck, i mean what is she, 50 ?

LOL...this ugly bitch looks like gonzo from the muppets but not as cute and her teeth need to be filed down...

What pleasant human beings they are. And I bet you're expecting to see a real monster, aren't you? Well, see for yourselves:

The eye makeup isn't that great, but so what? Maybe this is a bit of a pointless question, but why is there so much talk about one woman's face? Why not talk about Mickey Factz's face, or even better, talk about the song? Why is music no longer about music, but instead about aesthetics, about bodies and bums and boobs? Why is it image selling music, and not music selling music?

Going back to what I said a few days ago about young society's fascination with the term 'hater', I find it extraordinary that you're not able to criticise the actions of someone like Beyonce, while it is deemed perfectly acceptable to make comments such as the ones above about the physical appearance of someone like Marsha Ambrosius. What do these women have in common? They're both talented. Where do they differ? Beyonce is 'bootylicious', and Marsha Ambrosius used to be overweight. Hypocrisy, anyone?

I call this The Stupid Girl Culture based on the 2006 song by P!nk, Stupid Girls, which I frequently direct people to as a point of reference (i.e. You're a twat. Look at this. This is you.) The ironic part is that these 'girls' - the famous ones, anyway - aren't actually stupid; they're actually pretty clever, because they know that the fastest way to success is through their image. Stephanie Germanatto didn't get anywhere until she reinvented herself and became Lady Gaga, and Lady Gaga would have disappeared into some hole somewhere long ago if she hadn't kept upping the weirdness by donning meat dresses and one-thousand-inch heels. Rihanna wouldn't have become the superstar she is today if she'd kept churning out comparatively innocent songs like SOS, and Beyonce would be fully eclipsed by both Rihanna and Lady Gaga by now had she not decided to star in post-watershed adverts, bleach her hair and allegedly her skin, too. They're smart women who promote stupidity, and for not-so-smart girls being brainwashed by these music videos, photographs and adverts every day, the effects are obviously damaging. That's why now we can't have someone like Marsha Ambrosius on a song without the majority of the comments being in reference to what she looks like. The same is true not only in music, but in literature, too. As a writer, I can't begin to describe how frustrating it is to walk into a bookshop and see the shelves lined with novels apparently written by Katie Price. I may never become a published writer, and the knowledge that this might not be true if I had bigger boobs and was happy to show them to the world, disgusts me.

I think we need to ask ourselves if this is what we really want, for ourselves, for our sisters, our daughters, our mothers and our nieces. Do we want to live in a world where what a woman looks like and what a woman does with her body is considered more important than the skills, talents and thoughts she has to offer? Because in embracing this Stupid Girl Culture, not only are you closing yourself off musical talents like Marsha, but you're also closing yourself off to great female writers, scientists, artists, politicians and philosophers. And that would be a real shame.