Misogyny in Pop Music: The Nice Guys and the Pick Me Girls

TW: Attacks on women are mentioned between 06:02-06:35 

We’re diving back into the world of misogyny in songwriting, but this time we’re focusing on pop music released over the past 15 years. We touched on all your favorites, nobody is safe, we cover 5 Seconds of Summer, Ed Sheeran, One Direction, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Avril Lavigne, Paramore and even Harry Styles, nobody is safe this week. The two main misogyny tropes that are repeated by these artists are “the nice guy trope” and the “pick me girl trope” otherwise known as “the cool girl trope.” The psychology behind how these aren’t just harmless media tropes but can genuinely be detrimental to not just those who listen to these songs, but the people who write them is mind-boggling. 61% of women who have been murdered, were murdered by a man they were lead to believe loved them, and growing up with songs like these burrowing deep into our psyches and changing how we view women can breed this kind of behavior. So buckle up and listen to this informative yet hilarious rendition of Name 3 Songs.

!!! As always this podcast is largely opinion-based. Nothing we say is anything out than our personal thoughts and feelings based on pre-existing knowledge or facts we’ve picked up and sited kindly for you over at Name3Songs.com // If you’d like to discuss anything we talked about today in grater detail with us, you can find us on Twitter @Name3Songs or @sara_feigin & @jenna_million

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Women Who Hate Other Women: The Psychological Root of Snarky (Psychology Today by Dr. Seth Meyers, 2013)
Do Women Really Hate Other Women? #EliminateGirlHate (Lone Wolf Mag by Natalia Borecka, DATE N/A)
The Sinister Logic Behind ‘Nice Guy Syndrome’, Explained by Psychologists (The Independent UK by Rachel Hosie, 2016)
Why nice guys finish last, according to the experts (The Independent by Caroline Mortimer, 2015)
California Gunman’s Apparent ‘Manifesto’ Details Hatred of All Women (NBC News, 2014)
The Problem With Ed Sheeran And “Nice Guys” Like Him (Pitchfork by Michael Teller, 2015)
Now even Playboy are dragging Ed Sheeran over his ‘toxic masculinity problem’. Yes, really. Playboy (Babe.net by Roisin Lanigan, 2015)
All the times Ed Sheeran has insisted on reminding us that he’s had sex (Daily Edge Ireland, 2017)
One Direction release ‘Little Things’, still ‘love’ you even though you’re fat and terrible (EW by Grady Smith, 2012)
Paramore will no longer play “Misery Business” for an incredibly feminist reason (Hello Giggles by Toris Sheffield, 2018)
Hayley Williams doesn’t want Paramore track Misery Business on playlists in 2020 (Metro UK by Katie Storey, 2020)
Better Than Revenge by Taylor Swift (Genius)