Stupid Girls

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"Stupid Girls"
Single by Pink
from the album I'm Not Dead
B-side(s)	"Heartbreaker"
Released	February 2006 (USA) March 20, 2006 (UK)
Format	Digital download, CD single, 12" maxi single
Recorded	The Magic Shop, NYC; Turtle Sound Studios, NYC
Genre	Pop/Rock
Length	3:15
Label	LaFace
Writer(s)	Billy Mann, Pink, Niklas Olovson, Robin Mortensen Lynch
Producer(s)	Billy Mann, MachoPsycho
Certification	Platinum (ARIA) Gold (CRIA)
Chart positions
#1 (Venezuela, Finland) #2 (Switzerland, Norway) #3 (Austria) #4 (UK, Australia) #5 (Ireland, Germany)
Pink singles chronology
"Last to Know" (2004)	"Stupid Girls" (2006)	"Who Knew" (2006)

"Stupid Girls" is a pop-rock song written by billymann, Pink, Niklas Olovson and Robin Mortensen Lynch, and produced by billyman and MachoPsycho for Pink's fourth album I'm Not Dead (2006). It was released as the album's first single in 2006 (see 2006 in music).

[edit] Background

Pink has explained that she noticed many young girls near her Los Angeles home aspire to the hypersexual personae of female pop icons, rather than careers or talents. She was inspired to write "Stupid Girls", in which she deplores the lack of good role models for girls while encouraging them to cultivate independence. "There's a certain thing the world is being fed, and my point is there should be a choice", Pink said.^[1]

Pink said the song was "brought on by several conversations I've had with women and girls. Women have fought so long and hard for our rights and equality, and now all our attention is put on being a size 0", adding that some are "living vicariously through these people who seem to shop all day" rather than focusing on issues such as war and poverty.^[2] According to International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, the song "highlights the culture's relentless and unrealistic pursuit of thinness and unattainable drive for physical beauty".^[3] Pink discussed what she called the "Stupid Girl epidemic" during an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

[edit] Reception

The single entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of February 25 at number twenty-four, the week's highest debut^[4] and the highest debut of Pink's career.^[5] In the week of March 4 it climbed to number thirteen, becoming Pink's eighth top twenty single in the United States and her highest peaking single since "Just like a Pill" (2002). Its success on the Top 40 Mainstream airplay chart, however, did not match that of most of her previous singles. "Stupid Girls" remained on the Hot 100 for sixteen weeks, and it reached the top twenty on the Pop 100 and appeared on the Adult Top 40. It became moderately popular in clubs, peaking inside the top twenty on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.

The single was a bigger hit elsewhere, reaching number two on the Canadian Singles Chart. On the Australian ARIA Singles Chart it entered at number four and is certified platinum for sales of over 70,000. It was ranked number thirty-ninth on ARIA's top 100 singles of 2006 list.^[6] It also peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Pink's highest charting single in the UK since "Feel Good Time" (2003). It reached the top ten in most countries in Europe, and it topped the United World Singles Chart for the week ending May 6. "Stupid Girls" has been nominated in the category of "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" at the 2007 Grammy Awards.^[7]

The single was congratulated by the highly successful author J.K. Rowling on her official website. She says,"'Stupid Girls', is the antidote-anthem for everything I had been thinking about women and thinness." ^[8]

[edit] Music video

The single's video was directed by Dave Meyers and premiered on MTV's broadband channel Overdrive on January 26, 2006.^[9] Meyers and Pink shot the videos for "Stupid Girls" and "U + Ur Hand", the album's third single, before the decision was made as to which would become the album's lead single. Pink described the video as "sick and twisted and insane" and said of Meyers, "He has an insane imagination. I don't think anyone ever stopped laughing during 'Stupid Girl'. I don't think everyone else is going to laugh, but just know that we all did." Pink did her own stunts for the video.^[10] According to Barry Weiss, president of Zomba Music Group, executives at Pink's label were reluctant to release the song as the album's first single until the video "hit a chord" with them.^[3] They decided to release the video before issuing the song to radio, and 8.6 million people downloaded the video when it was made available on the internet. "Radio programmers went online to download the audio from the video in order to get it on radio", Zomba's senior vice president of marketing Janet Kleinbaum said.^[3]

Pink parodying Mary-Kate Olsen in the music video for "Stupid Girls".

The video shows Pink as an angel and a demon who try to influence the future of a young girl. The angel shows her a series of images demonstrating the stupidity of current trends in female celebrity, and the images feature Pink in various roles, including a finishing school teacher, a dancer in a 50 Cent video, a girl attempting to attract the attention of an instructor at the gym, a girl who uses her emergency inflatable breasts at a bowling alley, a girl at a tanning salon, a girl with bulimia who considers calories "so not sexy", and an old woman in a pink tracksuit. (50 Cent is played by the rapper's cousin; Pink commented in the making of the music video that his nickname is "25 Cent" because of the similarity in appearance between him and his cousin.^{[citation needed]}) Pink also plays characters meant to represent the opposite of "stupid girls", such as a female president and a girl winning a game of football. The video ends with the girl choosing a football, educational toys and a keyboard over a set of dolls; the demon is defeated.

Some of the negatively portrayed characters in the video are parodies of young female celebrities such as Mary-Kate Olsen, who provides the basis for the Boho-chic dressing style of the girl who visits a Fred Segal clothing store;^[1][2] Fred Segal is a retailer popular with celebrity "stupid girls".^{[citation needed]} The redheaded girl who accidentally hits pedestrians with her car is a parody of Lindsay Lohan.^[1][2] The scene in which Pink washes a car in a bikini is a parody of similar scenes in the the video for Jessica Simpson's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" (2005)^[1][2] and a 2006 Carl's Jr. television commercial featuring Paris Hilton.^[2] The digital video shots showing Pink in bed with a man parallel those in the Paris Hilton sex tape 1 Night in Paris.^[1][2]

The video debuted on the U.S. MTV Total Request Live countdown on January 31 and peaked at number six; it remained on the countdown for fourteen days, until February 23.^[11] The video was retired on the Poland version of MTV's Total Request Live, and it won the MTV Video Music Award for "Best Pop Video" in August 2006 (see 2006 MTV Video Music Awards).^[12] When she was receiving the award, Pink parodied Paris Hilton by talking in a higher pitched voice and acting overly excited. Nicole Richie, Hilton's co-star on The Simple Life, co-presented the award.^[13]

[edit] Track listings and formats

(Other remixes of the song include Hani's Stupid remix and the Kardinal Beatz remix.)

[edit] Charts

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Vineyard, Jennifer. "Pink's 'Stupid' New Video Features Fake Breasts, Fake 50 Cent". MTV News. January 18, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Gardner, Elysa. "Pink's video pokes fun at 'Stupid Girls'". USA Today. February 14, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Conniff, Tamara. "Think Pink". Billboard. March 10, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
4. ^ Hope, Clover. "'Check On It' Nets Fourth Week At No. 1". Billboard. February 16, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
5. ^ Bronson, Fred. "Chart Beat - As 'Stupid' Does". Billboard. February 16, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
6. ^ http://www.aria.com.au/pages/ARIACharts-EndofYearCharts-Top100Singles2006.htm
7. ^ "FOX Facts: Complete List of Grammy Award Nominations". Associated Press. December 7, 2006. Retrieved December 9, 2006.
8. ^ "Jkrowling official website 'For Girls Only, probably'"
9. ^ Cohen, Jonathan. "Pink Asserts Vitality On New Album". Billboard. January 24, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
10. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer and Bowyer, Patrick. "Pink Would Rather Fall Off A Car Than Get Glammed Up For Her Videos". MTV News. December 21, 2005. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
11. ^ "The TRL Archive - January 2006", "The TRL Archive - February 2006". popfusion.net. Retrieved January 1, 2007.
12. ^ Cohen, Jonathan and Hope, Clover. "Upsets, Upstarts Prevail At Quirky VMAs". Billboard. September 1, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
13. ^ Amos, Joel D. "The VMA’s best moment of 2006: Pink and 'Stupid Girls'". SheKnows. September 1, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
14. ^ [1]
15. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} "P!nk - Stupid Girls". MusicSquare. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
16. ^ ^{a b c} "Pink - Billboard Singles". Billboard and All Music Guide. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
17. ^ "MAHASZ Kislemez TOP 10". MAHASZ Online. Retrieved January 1, 2007.
18. ^ ^{a b c} "Pink - Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved December 18, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Chicago Sun-Times article
• The Guardian article
• The Independent article
• PopMatters article
• Women's eNews article
• The Oprah Winfrey Show episode summary
• MTV interview