The Most Sexist Song Ever

 

I just heard the most incredibly sexist song on the radio today. No, it wasn't by Chris Brown or Robin Thicke. It wasn't a hip-hop song or a pop melody, nor was it rap or heavy metal, which you would normally associate with sexist songs. No, in this case it was a country song. 

This is not to say that country songs are never sexist. On the contrary, country songs have routinely had a sexist undertone. If you don't believe me, listen to 'Girl in a Country Song' by Maddie & Tae, which eloquently describe the role most women seem to play in today's country songs, thanks to the onslaught of bro-country artists like Brandtley Gilbert and Florida Georgia Line. Unfortunately, most country music fans let it slide because, well, I really don't know. Maybe it's because the artists are cute and fill out a pair of wranglers, or in today's seemingly country music style, skinny jeans. 

Now, while most sexist songs serve only to demean women, Dierks Bentley manages to not only denigrate women, but also manages to make men look like shit. Holy crap! How is that even possible?

Well, eager to take advantage of our changing landscape regarding women's rights, Dierks Bentley released a song, "Different for Girls." Unfortunately, the lyrics serve only to demonstrate how out of touch he is with women. Seriously, I can't understand how any woman could not be offended by this drivel. As well, he attempts to relate to women by making men look incredibly cold and heartless. Way to piss off everyone, Dierks. 

Let's break it down, shall we.

She don't throw any t-shirt on and walk to a bar
She don't text her friends and say, "I gotta get laid tonight."
She don't say, "It's okay, I never loved him anyway."
She don't scroll through her phone just looking for a Band-Aid

Wow! Way to put us all into boxes.

First of all, YES women do! Many women do exactly that! This is 2016 you puritan redneck! Women may not throw on a t-shirt, but they sure as hell have an outfit in mind when they head out after breaking up with someone, and I can guarantee that outfit isn't based on comfort, but rather, what makes her ass look good. 

And while they may not say, "I never loved him anyway," they sure as hell talk shit. You know why? Because that's what people do!!! You know why? Because it makes us feel better!!!  

I know this because I have female friends, I go to bars, and I'm not stuck in the 1950's. You portray all women as sad and depressed when they lose a man, unable or unwilling to go out and let off a little steam. Newsflash, Dierks, women are empowered and don't need a man so much as they want a man!  

You also managed to make it sound as though all men, after a break up, immediately head to the bar to get laid. Sure, we'd like that to happen every time we went to a bar, but the reality is that men feel emotional pain and mask it with alcohol and hit on women in order to try and prove to EVERYONE ELSE that we're fine. What you don't mention is what happens when we go home drunk and alone. Behind closed doors we're miserable little crybabies. 

In the meantime, your little song assumes that women, sorry, GIRLS, sit at home drinking their chamomile tea and sobbing into their binky. Bullshit! I've heard way too many stories involving a best friend coming over with bottle(s) of wine to believe that all women are some variation of Bridget Jones that prefer to light a candle and write in their journal while listening to Adele.

She don't sleep all day and leave the house a wreck
She don't have the luxury to let herself go
(She won't call just to curse from a wall, she can push
When the going gets tough, yeah, the guys they can just act tough)

Yes, guys will sleep all day and leave the house a wreck and let themselves go. You know why? Because guys that actually sleep all day and let themselves go do so because they're fucking sad! Look up the symptoms of depression you uneducated hick! Lethargy, lack of energy, apathy....

It's different for girls
Nobody said it was fair
When love disappears, they can't pretend it was never there

Oh Dierks, you clearly have no awareness of basic psychology so let me break it down for you.

Men ACT like they don't care because men do not have the freedom to show heartbreak and sorrow around their equally testosterone-fueled friends. Men have to act tough around their friends in order to 'save face.' IF we were to emote to our buddies, surely the response would be along the lines of, "Man, fuck that bitch. Let's get wasted," or "Man, you just need to get laid." Why? Because, as men, we've all felt heartbreak and pain and to discuss another man's struggles is to reopen those wounds we never had the opportunity to heal because of the societal expectation of ruggedness, one that you seem to encourage.

Yes, it is different for women. Women have a support structure in other women. Women can talk and feel and get encouragement beyond "quit being a pussy." Women also have to the freedom to go out and get laid (which, let's face it, is a helluva lot easier for them than it is for men), or have a girls night out whereby the get wasted and end up stumbling down the street barefoot while they carry their 6" stilettos. 

Unfortunately, you paint women to be these emotionally fragile beings that, without a man, become vulnerable and emotional. Do you even know women? Today's woman is strong! Stronger than most men, in fact! I know too many women that after a breakup, attack the world with aggression and optimism. They'll commit to their career or their passions take the world by storm. 

In fact, I've had ex-girlfriends that, upon our breakup, get new boobs, go to Costa Rica, start screwing my best friend, got a tattoo, and countless more immediately got into a new relationship, but you go ahead and keep thinking those fragile little things stay home and mourn. 

I'm reminded of a story that happened a few years ago.

A coworker, Mike, had just broken up with his girlfriend of six years. After calling in sick for three days he came into my office.

"How ya doing, bud?" I asked,

"Man, fuck that bitch. I'm fine," he boasted.

"Bullshit!"

"Huh?"

"That's bullshit, Mike. Let me guess, you've been staying at home all day watching TV in your own filth trying like hell not to think about her. Then, you put on some clothes and head to the bar where you get completely fucked up. Sure, you talk to girls, but it still feels weird, like you're cheating on her and you feel bad about it, like you're cheating on her. Your buddies want to go home, but that's the last thing you want to do because you don't want to be alone...

"You finally get home but you don't want to go to bed because you know as soon as you close your eyes you're going to start thinking about her. You'll either be thinking about how you can get her back or how you can make her jealous. Or, you're thinking about her sucking some other guys dick the way she used to suck yours when you first got together...

"You wake up the next morning and you have about 30 seconds before she pops back into your head. You drive into work and crane your neck to look inside every Jeep to see if its her, as if repainting her Jeep in the past week is a possibility. After work you go home and start the cycle over again....that sound about right?"

He looked at me for a minute and a tear ran down his cheek as he ran out of my office.

So you see, you narrow minded and sexist prick, men feel shit, we just don't have the support and freedom that women have.

Yes, it IS different for WOMEN! 

Maybe next time you can write a song called "It's different for boys," whereby you site the struggles of men our age lacking the empathy from men that women readily offer other women in their time of need. 

Ya ass!