Meghan Trainor & Strong Women Make News in 2014

No matter the ups and downs we've faced, 2014 is definitely been a step in the right direction for women and body confidence. This statement was definitely echoed in ABC's year-end review of pop culture, social and political news in The Year: 2014 as the special and its host Robin Roberts highlighted the incredible women in pop culture who, in the show's own vocabulary, "revolutionized" how women looked and thought about their bodies and themselves as a whole. Roberts and The Year: 2014 interviewed "All About That Bass" singer Meghan Trainor, who revealed that while she was proud of her curves, it took quite a while for her to truly love her body just like most women.

The interview with Trainor began as Roberts narrated a story about powerful women in the music industry that were standing tall and promoting love and confidence in 2014. Everyone from Ariana Grande to Iggy Azaela were highlighted in the story and Roberts added that the role of the "damsel in distress" was being broken by these incredibly strong women who were "changing the conversation" about women's roles. Roberts introduced Trainor as "definitely not a damsel of distress" as the singer sky rocketed to stardom with a song that was an anthem for body love, despite saying in the past that she doesn't consider herself a feminist and making strange comments about her figure at the AMAs.

"I was not confident at all" Trainor said about her past as a teenager. But while in person, Trainor lacked confidence, her onstage persona told a different story. Trainor admitted that her sassy girl persona while singing was something she needed to translate to her everyday identity. So this song was one step to becoming that sassy girl in real life and the response she received from the record was something she never expected. She honestly believed that no one would hear the song, but here's what did work in Trainor's favor: 2014 was definitely a year for the women, and it was also a year all about butts. Trainor and her record label could not have picked a better time to release the song. A song that started out as being one of the many great butt anthems, became a confident and happy song about one woman who finally embraced her curves, and that's something Trainor says has made her happier than ever.

There's no question that female singers dominated the charts this year, I just hope the trend continues as we continue to hear more and more great hits about women breaking stereotypes and embracing themselves for every part of their bodies and minds. While some people may find "All About That Bass," Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" and Jennifer Lopez's "Booty" really annoying (sometimes I have to turn on Trainor's hit when it plays constantly on the radio), there is an underlying (or sometimes obvious) message of body love and confidence in the singles that can't make me hate them, despite their overplay. Let's see if both famous and everyday women can't improve upon this year in 2015, and really show the world confidence and love of womanhood.