In the music industry, there's an incredibly thin line between feminist pride and sexist objectification. Cardi B has walked that line for a while. Dupri had criticised her and some of her peers, calling them "strippers rapping," and in the videos, Cardi B defended her work and former profession as expected. But she also did more. While she defended her propensity for explicit content, she also implied that she only spends so much time talking about her genitalia because With this admission, she was touching on a complicated double standard that has plagued women in the music industry for a long time.
I feel they're all rapping about the same thing. I don't think they're showing us who's the best rapper. For me, it's like strippers rapping and as far as rap goes I'm not getting who's the best. In her Instagram video response, Cardi said, "Okay guys I have seen a lot of people saying nowadays female rappers only talk about their p— and now that Jermaine Dupri brought it up I'm going to say something," she said. She clarified in the video that if her audiences wanted more content that wasn't sexual, she'd provide.
So don't blame that on us when y'all not the ones who are supporting them," she finished. Cardi's always toed that line, successfully pushing boundaries and building a cult of controversy around her. In the past, female rappers and musicians who sang about sex and performed in a sexually provocative fashion were heavily criticized by feminists, seen as products of a music industry that profitted off selling women's bodies. This fad was partly the product of second-wave feminism, which railed against any and all stereotypes that seemed demeaning to women.
As feminism advanced, however, it became apparent that criticising women for their own choices was antithetical to women's liberation on the whole. This kind of criticism soon became known as slut-shaming; and since that theme's caught on, women who perform their hypersexuality of their own volition become celebrated and accepted.
To most, Cardi B fits into the camp of women who perform and own their aggressive sexualities. Therefore, she must be a feminist icon even if a problematic one , right? As her Instagram Live comments inadvertently reveal, Cardi B's decision to make hypersexuality a part of her image is not, actually, entirely her choice. Instead, it was dictated by the desires of consumers, revealing that once again, sex sells.
