Gender equality is the state in which access to rights and opportunities is unaffected by gender. This topic is has become a very prevalent issue in todays society with the Feminist movement and women empowerment. In nearly every modern day country song, all we hear about is trucks, booze, and trophy-wife women who seem to be all over the South. These trophy-wife women seem to always be dressed in tight, cut-off jean shorts, bikini tops and either in cowgirl boots or barefoot. In Maddie and Tae’s song, “Girl in a Country Song”, they accurately depict the stereotypical Southern woman in their hysterical music video. The artists comically illustrate how women and men should not be held to different standards and expectations. They depict the message of gender equality and equal opportunity through repeated satire and irony by having the men role play as Southern women.

Country artists, Maddie and Tae, creatively convey the message of gender equality through the satirical scenes in their music video. The music video starts out with two beautiful women walking down a dirt road in cut-off jean shorts and bikini tops and a truck bed full of men whistling at them. Shortly after that, it cuts to a scene where they flip a switch to reverse roles. We then see the same men in the truck bed walking down that same dirt path, wearing the outfits the women previously had on. Besides the fact that it gives the audience a great laugh, this scene humorously shows how unnatural it is for men to dress and act seductively, but when women do the same exact thing, it is encouraged. Women are urged and pressured into acting provocatively in many, if not all, things they do on a day-to-day basis. When a group of guys go out, whether that is to a party or the local supermarket, you do not see them spending an hour to get ready or trying to “dress to impress”. Unfortunately, it is not the same for women. Females in todays society, most of the time, spend a great deal of time preparing for their outing, no matter where their destination may be. Some may say it’s because they’re insecure, while that may be true in some cases, in reality it is because of the way media promotes beauty. A young woman by the name of Arielle Cutler stated in an online article from Hamilton, “Large populations of ‘average’ girls do not demonstrate clinically diagnosable eating disorders—pathologies that the culture marks as extreme and unhealthy—but rather an entirely normative obsession with body shape and size,” Cutler said. “This ongoing concern is accepted as a completely normal and even inevitable part of being a modern girl. I think we need to change that.” In most country music videos, we see gorgeous women, barely clothed, doing provocative and alluring things that are visually appealing to a man’s eye. In the music video, we are shown a clip where the three men are “seductively” washing a truck and squeezing the sponge water out onto their bare chest. While comical, it’s showing how realistically that would never happen and we do not expect men to seriously do something like that. On the contrary, women are held to absurd standards, especially in America, that they need to be stick thin, to the point where it can be considered unhealthy, and they need to look like a super model. I believe that Arielle Cutler would be in favor of the girls message conveyed in their music video. Maddie and Tae do an incredible job of providing their outlook on gender equality through their comical and easy to follow music video. 

Not only is their music video hilarious, it’s also rather ironic. Maddie Marlow, from Sugar Land, Texas, and Tae Dye, from Ada, Oklahoma, are both born and raised Southern girls. Ironically, in their music video, you don’t see them in the stereotypical southern outfits once. They are always either in jeans or knee length skirts, and they look just as beautiful as the girls in the opening scene. They are constantly rolling their eyes at the guys and their actions. They show how absurd and unrealistic their stereotype is and how no one actually fits this “perfect” image they have had painted into their heads by the media. The scenes throughout the video are also very ironic because they are extremely unrealistic and you can’t help but just laugh at them. You would never have your girlfriend plow the farm or your boyfriend seductively wash your truck. It’s just something that social media has depicted as attractive and visually appealing for women to partake in. Even though this music video is humorous and witty, it conveys a much deeper message than some may realize. Maddie and Tae’s first hit song really took a stand against sexism and outdated stereotypes that women have been given since male country artists started singing more about booze, beautiful women, trucks and their guns. They are not claiming that country music is bad, obviously because they have chosen to be involved not only in that industry but that genre as well, but rather that women in the country music industry and the women who live in the South deserve more respect and shouldn’t be given this stereotype. They are encouraging everyone to look at southern culture through a feminist, gender equality, lense. They address the topic of female objectification in a way that’s not taken so defensively and is enjoyable to listen to because of their humorous and light hearted way of presenting the issue. Their goal is to promote and influence other country artist and listeners to leave this outdated stereotype in the past, and create music that celebrates the Southern lifestyle that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. While it wasn’t easy for these 19-year-old girls to address this social issue, in a male dominated industry, Maddie and Tae boldly took direct lyrics from top male country artist’s songs and told them how wrong they were. Taking such a risky move as young, up-and-coming artists, they delivered the message in a creative and powerful way that makes their point stick with the viewer more. The two young country artists, Maddie and Tae, powerfully, yet humbly, convey the idea of equal opportunity and equal behavior standards between men and women through repeated satire and ironic scenes which leaves the viewer encouraged and influenced to leave these old-fashioned, antiquated ideas behind and move on to more encouraging and uplifting songs.
