On July 27th, 2019 Meghan Patrick had the opportunity to headline a music festival called Hagersville Rocks in a small town called Hagersville, ON not too far from Brantford. During her set, someone from the crowd yelled sexist remarks which resulted in Meghan stopping her performance to call this man out.
During her performance, she could hear a man yell from the crowd “show me your t*ts”. Once she heard this, she stopped her performance, and asked for the lights to be turned to the audience so she could see who made these remarks. She demanded that the person who said this own up to it. He did not, but the crowd quickly pointed him out to her. She sent him a strongly worded, and well deserved message: “Get the f**k out!”
This action resulted in a roar of support for Meghan Patrick. The concert went on. The next day, Meghan took to social media to address this incident directly:
Meghan received hundreds of supportive comments and messages in the days following this incident. Both fans and people from within the industry stood behind Meghan to condemn this behaviour. Of course, with anything on the Internet, some people with keyboard courage had some negative comments about how she handled the situation. Some people said that “It’s just part of the job”, “Get over it”, and complained about the language she used in her response. She took to Facebook again to say:
All I’ve ever wanted was to reach people with my music. To have a positive impact on them through lyrics and melodies. I’ve never intended or wanted to use my platform as an artist for anything but my music. However, the events of this past weekend and the reaction have put me into a position where that’s no longer the case…. and I am proud. I am extremely proud of the messages of encouragement and thanks I have received, and not just from women, but from men also.
I don’t want to drag this out, but I would like to address a few things. To the very very few negative responses I’ve received, I say this: could I have expressed myself with less explicit language? Maybe. Maybe if I’d been given the time to think through and edit a response, But I was not afforded that time. I spoke honestly and from the heart, I said what I was thinking, exactly the way I was thinking it. And maybe, the message would not have had as much of an impact without the strong language. Explicit language is used often in our society and within the entertainment industry for much lesser causes… look past it for the message.
Also, to those who have told me “it’s part of my job, I need to learn to ignore it” ??♀️ let me be very clear… it is in NO WAY a part of my job to be harassed and degraded. People who behave this way need to be held accountable, because they will not change until they are.
That being said, I have read every message that was sent to me, and they have filled me with so much happiness and encouragement. Messages telling me that I inspired someone to stand up for themselves, or that I am viewed as a role model are reassurance that I am on the right path. I am realizing how powerful that is, and I hope I can continue to be a source of encouragement and inspiration to everyone around me, not just women. Be strong, be confident, and take no sh*t, I love you guys more than you know ?⚡️ #wildasme
Patrick said to Global on Wednesday, “I’ll always stand up for myself, that’s just how I was raised and that’s the kind of person I am. But what’s more important to me than standing up for myself is the positive impact it has [had] on other people.”
“The response we’ve been getting back has been overwhelmingly positive, and not just from other women, from men too,” she added. Meghan has apologized for using the expletive language in her post on Facebook, but insisted that the language came from the heart.
In country music, the Front Porch has long been a place of reflection. A place where you can look at the life you have inside that front door. A place where time almost seems to stand still, where you can get away. It’s also a place where you can go to observe the world as it passes by you. To think about your place out there beyond the driveway.
