Pink - Stupid Girls (Sony)

Pink's video for the new single "Stupid Girls" has touched a nerve, and she has deservedly received praise for taking on shallow, destructive images of young women. Separate from the images however, does the recording hold up? The answer is yes. It is not musically unique, but it is brilliant at aggressively asserting its point while remaining radio friendly.

Go to Pink's official site to hear "Stupid Girls."

Rate it yourself.

Many critics may claim that we've certainly heard this message before. Pink's "Stupid Girls" boils down to encouraging women to cast off stereotypes of being dumb, but pretty, sexual objects in favor of intelligence and personal ambition. It is true we have heard this before, but it has been quite some time, at least in a pop song, and instead we've been bombarded by, as Pink so effectively puts it, "stupid girls."

To be fair, however, for every Jessica Simpson or Lindsay Lohan in current pop music, we have much more positive images such as Kelly Clarkson or Gwen Stefani. Pink focuses on those who "travel in packs of two or three / With their itsy bitsy doggies and their teeny-weeny tees."

Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of "Stupid Girls" is that it is making a serious point while remaining radio friendly. In the past year when Lindsay Lohan attempted serious music, radio ignored her, despite strong online support for "Confessions of a Broken Heart." Stepping outside her usual musical range, she failed to fit the radio mold.

Alternatively, Pink attacks her target from within a radio friendly comfort zone. "Stupid Girls'" light pop-reggae beat fits neatly into current playlists, and the single has already become one of the most frequently added pop singles at mainstream radio stations. If Pink does indeed engineer a change in tone, she has recognized that the most profound institutional changes usually come from within.