top of page
Writer's pictureBridget Buckley

My 12 Year Old Hates Boy Bands: A Feminist is Born


It just sort of came out of the blue really.

As I sat on the couch reading Rolling Stone magazine and my twelve year old daughter colored a map for her history class, I came across an article about the band 5 Seconds to Summer. It stated that they were something like ”every little girl’s boy band dream with a bit of punk thrown in.”

Only slightly recognizing the band (come to find out I was actually thinking of 5 Seconds to Mars), I asked my daughter, “So do you like the band 5 Seconds to Summer?” She quickly went on (as 12 year olds do) to tell me about a girl at school who wears purple.

Once I was able to get her a bit more focused on the topic, she went on to tell me that “purple girl” also wore 5 Second to Summer t shirts.

“Ok…yes, but do YOU like them?”

She said she didn’t really know.

So we put the history homework to the side and pulled out Spotify.

What. The. HELL?

I am all for musical expression and freedom…and I have admitted before that my kids listen to unedited versions of Mumford and Sons, Nathaniel Rateliff and Green Day, but lyrics like “My girlfriend’s bitchin’ cause I always sleep in..she’s kinda hot though” and “She looks so perfect standing there in my American Apparel underwear” are not just ridiculously stupid, but they degrade the idea of the strong woman I would want my daughter to become.

Fortunately, my daughter was MORTIFIED.

Seriously pissy.

And it was beautiful.

I decided it was time to scrub the musical abuse from our ears with some good old rock and roll feminism.

Time to go and listen to Emmylou Harris, Debbie Harry and Stevie Nicks.

These women would eat the boys of 5 Seconds to Summer for breakfast.


8 views0 comments
bottom of page