Country star sparks huge backlash after singing about women 'taking a slap'

Jessie Murph is an American country artist who quickly rose to online fame through her series of covers and vlogs, but while her career is just getting started, people are quick to criticise her "insane" lyrics. The 20-year-old's recent single, 1965, is overflowing with nostalgia for an era of "handwritten letters" and "showing up at the door with flowers". What comes with this romanticising of the 1960s is a huge cause for concern from fans, as they accuse the writer of going back on women's rights, as she quite literally sings the line "giving up rights". The most diverse lyric in the song states: "I might get a little slap-slap, but you wouldn't hit me on Snapchat." Suggesting that the way she craves "loving like it's 1965" would also require her to "give up a few rights," which she's willing to do.

The controversy doesn't stop there; another standout line in the song mentions an unsuitable age gap, which was more common in that era. It states: "I would be twenty, and it'd be acceptable for you to be forty." While the singer does address that this would be inappropriate, it still left listeners confused about her messaging. In a bid to further romanticise this period of time, the rising singer makes references to having "nine daughters and her partner cheating on her". It's safe to say these controversial statements have had an impact on fans, especially those thinking of younger audiences who may look up to the country star.

After performing on Jimmy Fallon, Jessie's song gained further traction as she danced around in a dress with a beehive hairstyle reminiscent of the 60s era. The performance sparked an online debate about her "glamorising misogyny" and what impact these sweeping statements could have on this generation of women.

An X user, australbird, wrote: "Jessie Murph is 100 percent a right-wing propaganda plant lmao. I know that sounds crazy, but this girl no one has ever heard of shows up and starts talking about how she'd give up her rights and BE OKAY with being abused and cheated on by a man with a 20-year age gap? C'mon."(sic)

Another user posted: "Jessie Murph's new song 1965 has a lyric that says 'I might get a little slap slap, but you wouldn't hit me on Snapchat,' referring to how she would rather be subject to domestic violence in 1965 than modern-day dating, and I cannot stop thinking about it. That's so insane."

Others chimed in to agree that Jessie was choosing to lean into a "trad-wife" aesthetic, a name given to the movement for types of women who are choosing to stay at home and adhere to traditional gender roles. Along with this image, these types of women often hold conservative values and promote right-wing views.

In response to the backlash, Jessie herself has claimed that the song is complete "satire". When someone asked if it was a joke, she replied: "That is quite literally the point."

Other fans that have had time to digest the lyrics have come to a different understanding: that if anything, the country star is doing the opposite of romanticising the era but instead highlighting just how much was wrong with it. Often modern dating can be compared to"'the good old days," and Jessie may have simply been reminding fans that they weren't quite as good as people often remember.

However, satire usually requires an understanding, and if listeners aren't getting it, maybe her message has fallen flat. Albeit controversial, the song continues to blow up and currently sits at over 4 million streams on Spotify alone.