Over the weekend I heard a new bachata song by Prince Royce called “Corazón Sin Cara”. I immediately loved the lyrics, noting how different they are from a lot of the music I listen to. In this song, Royce sings:

Y si eres gorda o flaca
Todo eso no me importa a mí
Tampoco soy perfecto
Sólo sé que yo te quiero así.

This flies in the face of the dominant message directed at women in today’s popular music, which is that your physical beauty is the most important thing about you. I’ll admit to listening to and loving Reggaeton – but I hate how degrading it is to women. It’s all about “sexiness” and defining a woman by her beauty, specifically her body. Reggaetoneros are lacking creativity. There are so many things in this world that they could sing about, and yet we get lyrics like this:

Tú eres una Barbie
muñeca princesa
y no es de Mattel
Tú eres perfecta
Tu cara tu cuerpo
tus ojos también tu piel
te quiero completa
baila sensual así te quiero ver
juntitos, solitos nos vamos a complacer.
- “Es Un Secreto” by Plan B

Being bombarded with messages like this on a daily basis can have a brainwashing sort of effect on one’s self-esteem, so here are some songs to help you detox.

“Corazón sin Cara” by Royce

“Ella” by Bebe

“Ella Es Bonita” by Natalia Lafourcade

“Baja Autoestima” – Los Cipotes

¿Quieres Más?

Dra. Eréndira López-García talks about how to fix self-esteem issues en español (Very much worth 10 minutes of your time.) [link]

Spoken word poetry, “Pretty” by Katie Makkai. (English – strong language) [link]

Rosie O’Donnell – Beautiful Girls (English – strong language)
[link]