I know this is supposed to be THE WORST SONG EVAH according to Teh Internetz, but I’m really hard-pressed to understand why this song, in particular, is the target of so much uniquely vitriolic ire, especially since it’s virtually indistinguishable from about 97,000 other over-produced garbage tracks.

I do, however, have a sneaking suspicion that it has less to do with the actual quality of the song, or the quality of Rebecca Black’s vocals, than the fact that it’s a song which fails utterly to demonize, mock, or marginalize anyone, sung by a girl who looks her age, and, in the much-viewed video, is not provocatively dressed and not does suggestively pose in appeal to a very specific straight male gaze primed to expect and exclusively appreciate pornified images of young women.

And not only is she not submissive to the straight male gaze, she is actually LEADING a co-ed group of cheering kids, a figure of power in her own video — a power commanded by her enthusiasm rather than her tits, which is something rare even in videos of actually, in-the-real-world powerful female performers like Madonna and Lady Gaga. This looks more like a Justin Bieber video than a Miley Cyrus video.

It may be cheesy as hell, but it’s also weirdly transgressive.

Gee, it’s almost like Rebecca Black has become a figure of mockery for failing to conform to Patriarchal expectations of female performers or something. Huh.