He focuses on her physique as opposed to her intelligence, character, hopes, and dreams. This, to me, is a borderline compliment because Derulo is completely dumbfounded by this woman’s beauty which is flattering but that’s it. With this in mind, it is almost like Derulo is mesmorized by the woman, causing him to say how he wants to marry her and take care of her so she will no longer be “Tired of forking that 9 to 5” as Derulo put it. Throughout the chorus of “Wiggle”, there is a toy flute being played which reminds me a bit of the flute like instrument, the been or pungi, used in snake charming. By suggesting such a thing, this allows women to be objectified and seen as a man’s possession, therefore reverting society back to the 17s when women were actually considered property. While this may be a sweet thought, the execution is anything but.
At about forty seconds into the song, the lyric is “Got me in this club making wedding plans/If I take picture while you do your dance/I can make you famous on Instagram” which could be interpreted as Derulo wanting to praise a specific woman by marrying her and showing her off to the world. He could be laughing at the fact Snoop Dogg suggested he “Holla at her” as opposed to just trying to spark a conversation. It is possible that Derulo attempted to accomplish the same thing by realizing that what he just said to a woman was ridiculous. According to Robin James’ “All Your B/Ass are Belong to Us”, Minaj sings, “Yeah, he looooves this fat ass”, which is followed by a cackle to reinforce the sarcasm she used when delivering that lyric. Perhaps Derulo was trying to accomplish what Nicki Minaj did in her hit “Anaconda”. It starts out, “Hey, yo, Jason/Say somethin’ to her/Holla at her/I got one question/How do you fit all that in them jeans?/(laughs)” and the laugh is to not go unnoticed. Derulo objectifies women’s bodies from the beginning of the song until the very end. Similar to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”, “Wiggle” is a catchy, popular song, that flies under the radar in terms of being sexist.
This 2014 hit is catchy but it is also incredibly sexist which is why I wish people still remembered this song–so society can realize how its music affects all people. “Wiggle” by Jason Derulo is one of those songs that most people have probably forgotten about by now.