Saidiya Hartman’s “Venus in Two Acts” made me think of Nicki Minaj… well really all Black female artists who are glorified and worshipped for their figures. Throughout history, women of color, especially Black women have been exoticized. Hartman talks about the impacts of history on the present and I think one of the impacts of male colonizer, slave traders, and masters is the dehumanization and sexualization of Black bodies. During the times of slavery it was said to be impossible to rape a Black women because they were “always in heat”. Looking at the present day, yes, many of these performers choose to sexualize themselves, however, money is still going into the pockets of the White male executives who work in the upper levels of the records labels and the music industry. The present is a reflection of the past.
“Anachonda” – Nicki Minaj (“Venus in Two Acts”)
on
I’ve also noticed that Black women and other women of color tend to be the targets of sexual fetish for their “exoticism”, and it’s interesting to see how this has deep roots in colonization and slavery. As mentioned in this post, there are female artists of color today who present themselves in an often controversially sexual manner, such as Nicki Minaj. Whether Nicki is empowering women of color by reclaiming freedom of her own sexuality in a male-dominated music industry or furthering a stereotype of Black women/women of color as overtly sexual beings is a complex question that calls for deep discussion.
I think this is a really relevant and important topic of discussion, especially now with WAP trending. The fact that the white male executives are profiting off of black female performances is a point that cannot be ignored, but others might argue that black female rappers are reclaiming their bodies and sexualities after centuries of hypersexualization. A youtuber As Told By Kenya made a video a few months ago about a shift in black female rap, where the artists are now taking power back from men and empowering women. This seemingly new mainstream wave of female rappers, City Girls, Megan Thee Stallion, and Cardi B rap about making money, profiting off of men, and discarding them when the men cannot keep up with their lifestyles. At the end of the day, it’s true that white male executives get richer and richer from the performances of black women. But I think that it’s unfair to demand that black women stop performing sexual songs so that the white men no longer benefit and stereotypes do not get perpetuated. Changing the system is a slow process, and in the meanwhile, can’t black women get rich off those who will hypersexualize them anyway?