in defense of the genre: a post about pop music

We're going to talk about One Direction.

How did they become my favorite band? We just don't know...

You know them as that boy band from the X Factor, that boy band everyone is obsessed with, that boy band that you're too good for, or if you're my dad, One Dimension.

So why are they so important anyway? They're just a band, right? Yes and no. It is true, despite what their fans will tell you, that they're just pop singers, as opposed to angels sent from heaven to wreak havoc on your sanity. Although they do that. But, in all seriousness, why are they important? Aren't they just makers of conventional pop music?

No. And here's why. The answer is three-fold.

(At this point in the post, I feel it is important for me to tell you that I, Kate, am 21 years old, of sound mind, and I love One Direction. There, that's out of the way.)

1. They aren't just making conventional pop music. Last year, they released their sophomore album Take Me Home, and, defying all bubblegum pop norms, it is almost entirely sex positive. Here's just a sampling of lyrical content:

• "tonight let's get some / and live while we're young"
• "if you don't wanna take it slow and you just wanna take me home / baby say yeah"
• "I want you to rock me"
• "So baby if you say you want me to stay, stay for the night"
• "Would he please you? / Would he kiss you? ... Would he touch you?"
• "And every time we both touch I only want more"
• "Wish that we could be alone now / If we could find some place to hide / Make the last time just like the first time"

Whew...Gotta fan myself after that.

In layman's terms, this band is DTF. But more importantly, this band thinks it's pretty awesome that the elusive 'you' in these songs is too! A girl? Who wants to...you know...do the things? Well, I never! No, no, this is not the Victorian Era; this is the 21st century, where girls, just like guys, want casual, no strings hook ups. One Direction doesn't shame you for that. And, on top of all that, they say that, if you are indeed into that sort of thing, you should say so. I know abs are pretty sexy and all, but asking for enthusiastic verbal consent might actually top a toned bod. Good thing 1D delivers on all fronts.

Ah yes, the age old mantra: the boy band that sings shirtless together, stays together.

2. They are ridiculously interactive with their fanbase. I know, these days, you can't be famous unless you're on 800 social networks and follow every single one of your fans on every single one of them. But "famous" people aren't actually obligated to do that, and they don't owe their fans anything via these networks. And let me tell you, if you're unfamiliar, the fanbase of One Direction sometimes think they're owed something. (That is a post for another day on another blog, but I digress.)

However, the boys of One Direction take it in stride and are so ludicrously appreciative of the people who put them where they are today; they are all too aware that it wasn't really only them five who got them to the top. Sometimes I don't know how to handle the official retirement of the fourth wall when it comes to this fandom, so I can't imagine how they do. But they do. And watching their lives unfold on twitter, instagram, vine, ad infinitum ad nauseam is ridiculously entertaining.

3. They have totally and unabashedly erased the shame that is liking boy bands after age fifteen. I am 21 years old. I can go into a bar, order a whiskey neat, and wax existential with sophisticated and intellectual university students, and (sort of) hold my own. But I can also throw back one too many vodka cranberries, put on "Stole My Heart" and dance with a bunch of other legal lushes who too are in love with One Direction. Because I am not the only old lady who has had her life actually kind of ruined by this clown academy of a boy band. And it's fine to admit it in public–in fact, at a party in my own apartment last year, they came up in conversation and suddenly you had new friends depending on who your favorite member was. (Team Louis 'til I die, bitches.)

Louis Tomlinson does not have time for your irrational and unfounded dislike of pop music

Sure, everyone in my generation still loves Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. But we could chalk that up to nostalgia and our silly youth. Liking One Direction would mean, heaven forbid, post-puberty, we like boys who harmonize, don't play instruments, and put out entire albums of pop earworms. But we do. And it's totally okay. Because there's nothing wrong with liking pop music. Just like there's nothing wrong with liking heavy metal or soft grunge. Or (the horror!) all three.

So don't write the lads of One Direction off. They're doing it big and probably doing it better than you. In fact, perhaps you should ask them what their secret is. Do you have 15 million followers on twitter like Harry Styles has? Didn't think so.