Okay, so I don’t want to be infantilizing at all here: I think young women are totally entitled to their sexuality and it is really dissapointing how our society assumes that young women should be asexual until marriage or age 30 (it’s okay if it’s a choice, but pushing asexuality on women can be really damaging). However, I’m really upset by the new song “Easy” by Paula DeAnda featuring Lil’ Bow Wow. When I heard it on the radio, I really liked it, until I really listened to the lyrics and watched the music video. I though it was puzzling that Paula DeAnda sings, “I’m just a young girl…” until I did a little Googling and learned that she is 17! I’m no prude, but if you look at the frame at the 45th second, it’s like, What kind of society urges girls to act like this? Not to mention, it’s highly doubtful that this young woman is copying moves from the Pussycat Dolls of her own accord… her wikipedia profile implies that her label put a lot of effort into making her marketable.

Not to mention, the politics and power dynamics of this song are totally off. She says “When I’m out shopping it’s like having a gun.” Unfortunately, basic women’s studies 101 classes would detail that although things like being pretty and acting hyper-sexual can feel like having power over guys, if guys weren’t in the picture, women wouldn’t do these often self-diminishing things (after all, from what I understand, if you want weave as big as hers, it’s quite painful) and it’s all mostly done in an effort to please guys.

With this in mind, however, this is an insanely catchy song that I probably won’t stop listening to.