"Wet Ass Pussy" Cardi B song being called empowering

submitted by X_Act from self.GenderCritical

All over Twitter, I've been seeing women, even some I agree with usually, trying to make the claim that this song is women feeling entitled to sexual pleasure, even though it's objectification and dismemberment of female bodies being perpetuated, even by women....of course, when have women not contributed to this narrative for as long as time? It's bankable...it's our currency as women....female entertainers have done this forever. But women now going out of their way to call it empowering and "sex positive" as some sort of feminist anthem? No.

Look at the Daily Show tie in a segment about sexism against female candidates (Kamala Harris recently) and Cardi B talking about choking on dick.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I0S5Xs_G-b0#

Then they stupidly ask "why are female candidates treated this way?"

I don't know, maybe because you liken their rights to dick sucking.

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[–]MezozoicGay 54 insightful - 5 fun54 insightful - 4 fun55 insightful - 5 fun -  (5 children)

But let me tell you how I got this ring

Ask for a car while you ride that dick

He bought a phone just for pictures of this wet-ass pussy

Lyrics is implying that she got good status because she slept her way up. And that she is getting her items by sleeping with people.

Again, how is that empowering?

I thought that "I want a promotion on work, but boss will not let me, so I will have sex with him and get promotion" is a big problem for women, who are not getting their fair pay or promotions until they fullfil sex wishes of men who hold more power. Seems it was not misogyny, it was just women empowering! Looks like women were never oppressed, it all was just empowerment.

whore

And calls herself a whore like it is something good. I guess they are calling it "reclaiming of slur"?

[–]Marsupial 43 insightful - 4 fun43 insightful - 3 fun44 insightful - 4 fun -  (1 child)

It makes me sad that people think a man buying them things means they're empowered. Buy your own fucking car. Stand on your own two feet and build an independent life where you don't need men's approval to survive. Prostitution is not empowerment.

[–]boxcar-gypsy 18 insightful - 1 fun18 insightful - 0 fun19 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

How did we get here from Destiny's Child "Independent Women"

This is so depressing

[–][deleted] 33 insightful - 6 fun33 insightful - 5 fun34 insightful - 6 fun -  (1 child)

Not to mention the man Cardi B married is a serial philanderer that coerced her into an "open relationship". She was once arrested for fighting a stripper that he had an affair with.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/nyregion/cardi-b-indicted.html

Edit: a word

[–]MezozoicGay 25 insightful - 4 fun25 insightful - 3 fun26 insightful - 4 fun -  (0 children)

Very "empowering". Like someone said on this forum - "neo liberal feminism is like american dream, sacrifice everyone and yourself for a chance that you will be one of those millionaries who will be using everyone else as toilet paper".

[–]onemoredaydream 12 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 0 fun13 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Pop culture is more and more, fully embracing actual whores. It feels weird to say that, because I so often associate it with people who think all women are inherently sinful, but there's some truth in it.

Most of the women today with the fastest rising incomes are women who are on OnlyFans. I think this is causing a trickle-down effect, where all women and men are beginning to put a price on female sexuality.

There are so many people who frame these women as "smart", "playing men", "getting the bag at all costs", but like, at the end of the day you are getting paid for people to watch you have sex??

You can't untangle the degradation from it and it's sad that these women are the highest earners.

[–]Carthimundia 46 insightful - 3 fun46 insightful - 2 fun47 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

I've read several hot takes saying this is just role reversal (women are the sexually dominant ones!) but it's clearly just the same, tired objectification. The background beat of the song says 'there's some ho's up in here.' How is it empowering to suggest that women can only be sexual if they are 'whores'? Fuck off with this whore shit. If this song truly reflected a role reversal the women would be fully clothed with lots of naked men writhing at their feet. As an aside...I've also seen a few TIMS claim that they LOVE the video because it confirms that women can get aroused by themselves as women. Yes, boys, a video directed by a man for the male gaze 100% proves autogynophillia in women...

[–]MezozoicGay 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It would be role reversal if it was SHE who was paying them, and who was throwing money on those (hm, is there a word for manwhore in English? Our language have those, but translator is not translating them to english) for them showing their abs.

And while it is she who is paid for such behaviour and who has less money and depends on rich men to buy her stuff - it is not role reversal.

[–]MarkTwainiac 26 insightful - 3 fun26 insightful - 2 fun27 insightful - 3 fun -  (2 children)

I came across this video of a 90 year-old woman being shown the WAP video with the sound off by her grandson. Her appalled facial expressions as she watches are priceless and spot on.

At the end she says, "I wouldn't like to see this sort of thing, nah! You know who would like it? Men would like it!"

https://youtu.be/KznjaZvQkUw

[–]Comatoast 17 insightful - 1 fun17 insightful - 0 fun18 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

HAH, this is wonderful. She's got that mix of disgust and laughter that most of us probably had. It was my first time seeing the video, but I'm glad that I was able to watch her expressions in between to balance it out.

Honestly, I don't think even a good chunk of men would appreciate this. I've heard so many complain about the overblown near nudity and sex in their comics and shows and are pretty pissed about it. Their response being in the line of "If I wanted to watch porn, I would have watched porn. This is too much." This is certainly not empowering though.

[–]MarkTwainiac 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes, I agree that this would put off a lot of men too. These women really don't look sexually appealing. It's a perfect illustration of the kind of raunchified phony feminism that Ariel Levy plumbed and discussed so insightfully in her book "Female Chauvinist Pigs" 15 years go.

[–]Marsupial 26 insightful - 1 fun26 insightful - 0 fun27 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Turning yourself into an object to be abused for men's pleasure is empowering now.

[–]Mencantbewomen 25 insightful - 2 fun25 insightful - 1 fun26 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

So I'm supposed to praise and be prideful of a song and two rappers that perpetuate sex is the quickest way to get to the "top" in the name of female pleasure?

No

I'm very tired of this bullshit.

[–]jjdub7Gay Male Guest Commentator 20 insightful - 1 fun20 insightful - 0 fun21 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

And here I thought we'd already seen the grossest of Cardi B's lyrics. This song is a prime example of why feminism has been realigned (reassigned?) as a "conservative" ideology in the post-modern era.

[–]MarkTwainiac 19 insightful - 1 fun19 insightful - 0 fun20 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I saw this video several days ago and my jaw is still dropped. Wish these young female musicians weren't taking their cues from misogynistic men and porn, but from other women who've been fabulously successful in music without turning themselves into debased sex objects. Like these amazing performers:

https://youtu.be/Brp8Va8XVQw

https://youtu.be/6OjW1TDANxk

https://youtu.be/wDjeBNv6ip0

https://youtu.be/w9qsDgA1q8Y

https://youtu.be/TzFnYcIqj6I

https://youtu.be/0H6re3PCP3E

https://youtu.be/VQ_Wqtnlv4U

https://youtu.be/6zpYFAzhAZY

[–]onemoredaydream 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

thank you for this, i am going to watch all of these over the next few days

[–]MarkTwainiac 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Hope you enjoy. And share. Young women need to know they don't have to pander to the misogyny of the music industry. Other highly successful artists to look into: Nina Simone, Lesley Gore, Phoebe Snow.

[–]MarkTwainiac 18 insightful - 1 fun18 insightful - 0 fun19 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

women...trying to make the claim that this song is women feeling entitled to sexual pleasure

There is not one frame of that video in which any of the women in it appear to be feeling one iota of sexual pleasure!

[–]moody_ape 18 insightful - 1 fun18 insightful - 0 fun19 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

you know what would be truly empowering? being famous in the music industry without the need to self objectify.

[–]Blank-out 17 insightful - 1 fun17 insightful - 0 fun18 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ew saw a TIM on the fediverse referring to the song and how his going to play while wearing his knee highs and swishy skirt or some other bull-shit. FYI Still doesn't make you a women, just some pathetic guy in a skirt promoting myogynistic trash. :P

[–]onemoredaydream 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think you make a great point - in the popular culture's imagination, "strong woman" looks like a stripper. Women are only "strong" insofar as they can be unashamed of how sexual they are. There is no other axis of power given to women in popular imagination.

While women were oppressed for their sexuality, they were also oppressed in other, more pernicious ways - like the lack of cultural respect, the lack of women being able to be anything OTHER THAN a wife/mother or a "whore" (someone paid to be sexual).

[–]msteacherlady 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Hol' up- Wet Ass-pussy? Cool, cool. Chasers and TIMs can go to town with that shit for all I care.

Missy Elliot did this schtick way better.

[–]StupidHappyPancakes 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It's truly disturbing how often I see jokes about sucking dick every time I see Kamala Harris mentioned.