Taylor Needleman
Instructor’s Introduction
In WR120: Black Female Lives Matter students are invited to use a topic or problem located in an assigned text, a conversation they’ve participated in, or popular culture as the motivation for their Academic Essay. Taylor’s essay uses the concepts of misogynoir and adultification to frame her analysis of the media controversy surrounding Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s song “WAP.” The essay is a wonderful example of how theory can help us better understand current events. From the start, Taylor is in control of the story she is telling, combining relevant history, insightful examples, powerful analysis, and sophisticated prose style. She succeeds in showing readers how “WAP” functions as an anthem of empowerment for Black women, even as public conversations about the song reveal the hypocrisy and bias endemic in American culture. Additionally, Taylor demonstrates that any topic can be worthy of serious academic inquiry.
Jessica Bozek
From the Writer
Whether you’re a hip hop super-fan or you’re still yet to download Spotify, you’ve likely heard the discourse on Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion’s hit single “WAP.” Many listeners celebrated the song for its “sex positive” message, yet high-profile conservative figures also accused the song of being a threat to American society. “Misogynoir in Media: How the Public’s Reaction to ‘WAP’ Impacts Black Women” explores how public opinion reinforces the intersection between racism and misogyny, and how black women are reclaiming the power that they have been robbed of.
Misogynoir in Media: How the Public’s Reaction to “WAP” Impacts Black Women
If you were scrolling through Twitter on August 7, 2020, then you know that everyone was talking about “WAP.” “WAP”–an acronym for “Wet-Ass puss*”–is a hip hop song by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion, released as the lead single of Cardi B’s second studio album. In the song, the two women rap about how they want men to pleasure them, with many explicit sexual references. After its initial release, many people hailed the song for its “sex positive” message. “WAP” remained on the US Billboard Hot 100 for multiple weeks–it was the first female rap collaboration to do so–and it was certified 7x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. However, the song was not without its critics. Many prominent conservative figures denounced “WAP” for its explicit lyrics, claiming that the song’s message would bring permanent damage to American society. According to them, Cardi and Meg are godless and fatherless; Republican politician DeAnna Lorraine even stated that “WAP” put “the entire female gender back by 100 years” (Brown).
In contemporary American society, Black women are constantly criticized, discriminated against, and abused on the basis of their race and their gender. “Misogynoir” is a term coined by Black feminist Moya Bailey to describe this intersection and how particular biases influence people in our society. The extreme criticism, hatred, and blame that Cardi and Meg received is a clear example of misogynoir in action. “WAP” in of itself is not a detriment to society. It is the language with which we discuss the work that has a greater impact. The public’s unfair response to “WAP” heavily contributes to an already established unhealthy relationship with sexuality and gender roles that is forced upon Black girls and women.
Characterized by its strong beat, rhythmic vocal style (rapping), and breaks, early hip hop formed in the 1970s in the Bronx, New York City with Black, Latinx, and Caribbean DJs collaborating on soul and funk music. As the genre continued to evolve, hip hop became mainstream in the late 1980s and early 1990s with its golden age, as many artists gained major success while pushing the boundaries of the genre (MasterClass). Nowadays, hip hop remains popular in the public eye, with artists such as Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion continuing to innovate and redefine what “hip hop” means.
Throughout hip hop’s presence in the American music scene, male artists have been celebrated for music about sexuality and overpowering women; however, when Black female artists make music about the same topic, they are berated. Tear da Club Up Thugs and Three 6 Mafia’s “Slob on My Knob” is a popular hip hop song featuring many sexual references that frame women as sexual objects, manipulative, money hungry, and irrational. Thirteen years after its release, the song remains a classic at kickbacks and parties. Even self-identified “progressive” people will excitedly dance and sing along when the song is blasting on speakers on a crowded dance floor. Yet, hip hop listeners refuse to be as forgiving with Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion as they are with male rappers. According to Aria S. Halliday, assistant professor of gender studies at the University of Kentucky, listeners have a hard time receiving this content in Black female rapper’s music because Black women are “supposed to be the dancers . . but [they’re] not supposed to be the ones who are navigating and telling people what [they] want” (Ajohnston). American culture affirms gender roles. Men are the ones with the ideas, the money, the power, and women are meant to remain submissive. For Black women, this is amplified in that stereotypes of them as sexual objects, “hood-rats,” and “welfare queens” (Cooper 116) contribute to the misogynoir that is evident in the music industry as well. For example, in “Slob on My Knob,” Three 6 Mafia asserts that a woman will have sex with him because her “parents all schummy,” and treats her like a transaction in that he “bounced out and never came back” after being intimate with her (Beauregard and Houston). Conservative speakers, however, choose to condemn “WAP” because they find it acceptable for men to treat women like objects, yet horrendous for women to own their sexuality. Their aim is to preserve their patriarchal conception of American society.
What makes “WAP” unique from other female hip hop music is that it isn’t just about women taking the mic to make music about their sexuality, but it also features them talking about men in the same domineering way that men typically talk about women. In the song, Cardi B demands that a man will “make it cream, make [her] scream,” and Meg Thee Stallion later raps that she is so excellent that a man will “pay her tuition just to” be with her intimately. Men in the music industry have a long history of abuse of women. For example, in hip hop specifically, singer R. Kelly sexually abused multiple women over the course of almost 30 years before being sentenced. When rumors arose about his abuse and during his trial, a lot of people continued to support R. Kelly with the defense that the “allegations against him [were] ‘a sure way to bring a good Black man down’” (Hinton). Speaking from the point of view of the UK music industry, rapper Ray BLK says that she was initially deterred from speaking about her assault “at the hands of a fellow musician” because a friend told her “that it wouldn’t be fair to ruin a Black man’s career” (Hinton). Black women are constantly targeted as victims of sexual abuse because abusers are concious of the fact that law enforcement and the public are less likely to be invested in their cases. That, in combination with the fact that “talented men” (Hinton) can get away with almost anything, leads to an extreme problem with sexual assault in the music industry. So, if the public is willing to push assaults by men under the rug, then why is the public so afraid to hear women talk about sex in a dominant and aggressive manner? The actions of men have caused actual, physical harm, yet women like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are just voicing their autonomy. Society still sees this as worse, somehow. Knowing that people believe reclaiming your autonomy causes major harm to others influences Black women to succumb to society’s expectations of them.
Black girls are stereotyped to be more sexual and mature as children, yet grown Black women are judged for being sexual beings. According to a study by the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, African American girls are seen as “more ‘adult-like’ than their white peers” (Morris) starting as early as 5 years old. This means that they are “perceived to need less nurturing. . . and to know more about sex than their white peers” (Morris). This problematic ideology promotes sexual misconduct, victim blaming, and pedophilia towards Black girls. Society does not allow these children to be children, yet, when they are adults, society does not allow them to be adults either. The “WAP” music video features many sensual visuals, such as Cardi B seductively addressing the viewer from within an entirely cheetah print room (Fig. 1), and Cardi B, Meg Thee Stallion, and their backup dancers dressed in leather and fishnets dancing in the water (Fig. 2). Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion got a lot of hate for their video because the visuals are “too sexual” and their costumes are “too revealing.” When the “WAP” music video was released, Cardi B was 27 years old, and Meg Thee Stallion was 25 years old. They were adult women. Adult women have sex, and there is no shame in talking about that. Yet, the public wanted Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion to be more conservative, more pure, more childlike. The public seldom accepts Black women as they are. When they are kids, they must be adults. When they are adults, they must be kids. This gives Black women and girls a really warped sense of identity, where they feel like they can never do anything right. Society pushes figures such as Michele Obama and Kamala Harris as role models for Black women–Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion are instead seen as cautionary tales. But, Aria S. Halliday notes that you cannot have “an Obama” without “a Cardi” or “a Harris” without “a Meg”: “if you have a positive, you have to have a negative, that’s the way science works, right?” (Ajohnston). In reality, Black women are not monoliths. No one fits perfectly into a stereotype, not even those who are viewed as the pinnacle of the stereotype. In a segment of “Carpool Karaoke” with Late Late Show host James Corden, Michelle Obama sang along to Missy Elliot’s “Get Ur Freak On” (Kelly). Cardi B regularly discusses politics on her Instagram, even interviewing now President Joe Biden just before the 2020 election (Ajohnston). Black women are capable of being multifaceted, yet instances like the public’s reaction to “WAP” makes women feel like they have to choose to be one stereotype or another.
In the two years since its release, “WAP” has become an anthem for Black women’s empowerment, autonomy, and independence. Despite the pushback, women throughout the country have been motivated to take ownership over their sexuality. Yet, clearly, the work is not quite finished. Black women are still persecuted and exploited on the daily. After Rihanna’s halftime performance at the 2023 Super Bowl, some people criticized her for being a “park and bark,” despite the fact that many white singers such as Celine Dion and Adele are constantly praised for their stand alone vocal abilities. “WAP” is a vehicle of change–if Black women can reclaim the way in which their bodies are discussed, then they can also change the way in which their bodies are received in society. Words are power, and that power is being balanced out–shifted away from the white men who have held it for so long.
Works Cited
Ajohnston. “’WAP’ and the Politics of Black Women’s Bodies.” The 19th, 21 Mar. 2021, https://19thnews.org/2021/03/wap-and-the-politics-of-black-womens-bodies/.
Beauregard and Houston. “Tear Da Club up Thugs – Slob on My Knob.” Genius, https://genius.com/Tear-da-club-up-thugs-slob-on-my-knob-lyrics.
Brown, August. “California Congressional Candidate Slams Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘WAP’.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2020, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-08-07/cardi-b-megan-thee-stallion-wap-congressional-candidate-james-bradley.
Cardi B. “Cardi B (Ft. Megan Thee Stallion) – WAP.” Genius, https://genius.com/Cardi-b-wap-lyrics.
—. “Cardi B – WAP feat. Megan Thee Stallion [Official Music Video].” Youtube, uploaded by Cardi B, 7 August 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsm4poTWjMs.
Cooper, Brittney. “Bag Lady.” Eloquent Rage a Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower, Picador, New York City, New York, 2019, pp. 100–124.
Hinton, Patrick. “How Misogynoir in the Music Industry Has Created a Dangerous Environment for Black Women.” Mixmag, 14 July 2022, https://mixmag.net/feature/misogynoir-music-industry-black-women-dangerous-environment-r-kelly-blackout.
Kelly, Amita. “Watch: Michelle Obama Sings Stevie, Raps with Missy, on ‘Carpool Karaoke’.” NPR, NPR, 21 July 2016, https://www.npr.org/2016/07/21/486874847/watch-michelle-obama-sings-stevie-raps-with-missy-on-carpool-karaoke.
Masterclass. “Hip-Hop Music Guide: History of Hip-Hop and Notable Artists – 2022.” MasterClass, 16 June 2021, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/hip-hop-guide.
Morris, Monique W. “Countering the Adultification of Black Girls.” ASCD, Apr. 2019, https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/countering-the-adultification-of-black-girls.
Taylor Needleman is a freshman from southern California majoring in Costume Design in the College of Fine Arts. She would like to thank WR120 professor Jessica Bozek and her classmates for cultivating a classroom environment of constructive feedback and encouragement. She would also like to thank her family and friends for their continued support.
