Saturday, November 12, 2011

feminism, waka flocka, and choices

I consider myself a feminist. I'm not a second-wave feminist who burns bras (even though I enjoy not having to wear bras and sleeping naked) or who doesn't believe in shaving (even though I get lazy... It's November and I'm a medical student) or who's a lesbian or any of those myopic stereotypes which do not give women room to be themselves. I'm a feminist who believes in sexual liberation with responsibility and accountability, I believe in speaking your mind and I believe that I am as mentally competent as any of my male counterparts... So I might be a riot grrrl

My definition of feminism is "feminism is the choice to be any woman you want to be" and if I want to wear high heels, short skirts, be sexy, demure, wear lipstick, and adhere to patriarchal rules like cooking for my man or giving him the biggest piece of chicken... I will because I'm making a conscious decision to do so, not doing it because I'm told it's right, but because that's the path I've chosen. I won't castigate anyone for their choice and I hope no one would do that to me.

Part of my feminism is always reminding people not to victim-shame/mock those who have been sexually assaulted, claim they have been sexually assaulted, or could have been in a situation in which they were sexually assaulted but there is so much grey area, that we can't know for sure. It propagates a horrible cycle of misogyny, where men are told it is okay to demean women and women think lower of themselves and aren't even cognizant of societal's influence on their behaviors.

Now I also like rap music. Love hip-hop/rap, my tastes range from Common to Mac Miller to Big Sean to Gucci. I am a fan of Waka Flocka's new song "Round of Applause" - I'm from Florida so I enjoy songs that I can twerk to. I was singing the song and my friend stopped me and told me how can I tell people to open their eyes and not be part of the problem when I'm singing a song that goes against my self-proclaimed ideals.

So I've been in a state of confusion of my feminism... I support women being comfortable in their sexuality/prowess as a woman but I don't support the hyper-sexualized woman. How can I like that song and sing it yet preach about equality? I enjoy rap music, the lyrics, but I recognize the degradation of women, so do I need to stop singing these songs?


If I say feminism is the choice to be any woman you want to be, I'm making the choice to be a hypocrite.

Anyways, do you think you can be a feminist and listen to misogynistic songs?

2 comments:

  1. Yes you can be a feminist and listen to misogynistic music. I look at feminism as more equal rights and opportunity and liking a song doesn't take away from that. Some rappers may support strippers and talk about hoes, but these are also the same rappers who spoil their daughters, love their mothers and would protect a woman if they saw her being hurt. Everyone is a hypocrite in some way, and being a feminist doesn't mean giving up things you enjoy, it means you should be more free to actually do it.

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  2. Its a bigger question of WHY you like the song. The long answer involves illuminati theories, and spells cast over song to make them stick in your head, but the lighter answer that is easier to swallow and you would enjoy much more is " It's provacative, it gets the people GOIN!" ...buuuuut I think they discuss running a train on a girl...no they discuss the girl volunteering and inviting a train to be run on her.....but at least Wacka will be her "Baby Daddy" in the end "YES!"

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