The Misogyny Tour?

On the way to work this morning, I heard on the radio that, this fall, Sugarland is going on tour with Kellie Pickler.

You know Kellie.

The one that did that one song, which was written by men, by the way, which explains to all of us how women don't like eating steak, drinking beer, driving fast or having sex.

I'm so glad she cleared that up, by the way. I was really getting tired of telling SweetPea that we couldn't possibly have sex (since we're both women, after all, and, therefore, between the two of us, couldn't conceivably want to).

Also, it reminds me how glad I am that Neighbor and I only indulge in white wine spritzers at our driveway parties during cocktail hour.

I know, they're just songs, right? Why the hell do I get so mad?

I get mad because the thing about misogyny is that it's accepted in our culture to the point where it's not even noticed.

When you have songs that portray women in the light that these songs do, the characterization of women as weak, superficial, prissy and amoral becomes a part of the greater cultural "background noise".

You may not know why it just doesn't feel "right" to invite your coworker "Betty" over for Super Bowl Sunday, even though you've already invited your coworkers Frank, Jim and Pete. You may not really know why you don't appreciate it when your spouse has a meeting with a hot client, even though your spouse has never given you cause to believe he would stray.

Because these songs contain themes that are not uncommon to the "background noise" of our culture, the implications become part of our interactions with each other.

That is where the problem is. That's why these songs piss me off.

You hear them on the radio again and again and again until they become a part of your subconscious.

Ever get a song you haven't heard in ages stuck in your head for no apparent reason?

Songs stay with you. They stay in your head. The more they become part of your subconscious' workings, the more they affect your dealings with other people.

By the way, don't let that other song fool you. It's misogynistic, too.