So what do you guys think of WAP?

[doberman]

The unfortunate thing is that I heard the song and had it stuck in my head for 2 days.

 

[stracci2000]

Wap, huh?
I just watched the video and read the lyrics.
It's far from poetry.
The imagery is totally geared towards men.
I'm sure that super-cute leopard outfit with the pasties is not for the ladies in the audience.
All this video does is sexualize women even more.
We fight and fight for men to see us as intelligent individuals, and this video just pulls us right back, saying we are airheads who just want to jump in bed with some guy based on his large d!ck.

 

[Maria D]

Here's your WAP

It's got the W and P, but where's the A?

edited to add:

 

[telephone89]

I definitely have mixed feelings about it, but if you listen to these women, they ARENT doing it for men. They are owning their own sexuality. Instead of letting men control them and telling them what they can enjoy/when/how, they are saying FU, this is what I like, deal with it.
It's also super catchy haha. As a funny side part, theres a petition with 70k signatures to remove Kylie Jenner from the video. She doesnt even do anything????

And a HELL YES to the Ben Shapiro shit. His wife told him a WAP is a medical condition Unfortunately that makes you wonder if she's just a sahara when theyre at it, which is not something I want to think about!

 

[Austina]

Just Yuk, Yuk, Yuk. If that’s art, I’m happy being a philistine.

 

[stracci2000]

they ARENT doing it for men.

Then why are they dressed like prostitutes?
Why aren't they wearing jeans and T-shirts?
This video is for teenage boys and 20 something males.

 

[PintoBean]

Then why are they dressed like prostitutes?
Why aren't they wearing jeans and T-shirts?
This video is for teenage boys and 20 something males.

I think there is a difference between the women choosing to dress this way for their video, versus the video girls who are given their "outfits" in a male artist's video.

I also think the video is for my eyes too, because it is visually different from the skinny models I grew up seeing, like Helena Christensen in Wicked Games. This is a different body type from the 90s waif and I like that it is also being celebrated as sexy.

 

[inne]

And a HELL YES to the Ben Shapiro shit. His wife told him a WAP is a medical condition Unfortunately that makes you wonder if she's just a sahara when theyre at it, which is not something I want to think about!

Well, wouldn't you be if you were married to Ben Shapiro?

 

[stracci2000]

This is a different body type from the 90s waif and I like that it is also being celebrated as sexy.

Yes, I agree with this.

 

[nala]

I teach high school. If we ever go back, I’m afraid that I will hear the boys referring to girls as WAPs, the way they did when THOT became popular in a rap song. They think that most teachers aren’t familiar with the terms so they use them liberally. In that sense, this term has not empowered women but merely added to the language of hate against them.
thot—that h... over there

 

[inne]

Wap, huh?
I just watched the video and read the lyrics.
It's far from poetry.
The imagery is totally geared towards men.
I'm sure that super-cute leopard outfit with the pasties is not for the ladies in the audience.
All this video does is sexualize women even more.
We fight and fight for men to see us as intelligent individuals, and this video just pulls us right back, saying we are airheads who just want to jump in bed with some guy based on his large d!ck.

I don't think this song is some great leap forward for feminism. But the thinking that women are either intelligent OR explicitly sexual is a problem. No one worries that men writing sexual lyrics are making it difficult to take men seriously, either individually or as a group (I'm imagining people wringing their hands about Robert Plant setting men back 100 years )

While it's for sure a difficult issue to navigate, we can't resist that kind of sexism by picking a side and putting an end to sexually explicit performances by women, however over the top and silly they may be. Having only men represented in that cultural space is much worse.

 

[OreoRosies86]

Love it. It’s not made for men. Don’t care about a man’s opinion regarding WAP.

 

[Maria D]

As a funny side part, theres a petition with 70k signatures to remove Kylie Jenner from the video. She doesnt even do anything????

IMO, she *is* doing something. She is publicly engaging in celebrating her sexuality by looking and walking in a sensual way. I believe the outcry is because she gets more video time just for being White and beautiful than some of the Black artists who actually write/sing/dance.

 

[telephone89]

Then why are they dressed like prostitutes?
Why aren't they wearing jeans and T-shirts?
This video is for teenage boys and 20 something males.

They aren't dressed like prostitutes. They are dressed like women who love and appreciate their bodies and want to show it off. Considering Cardi B was also a stripper, I mean that probably contributes to her aesthetic too lol.
Do you really think body suits are what prostitutes wear??? Besides the one scene with the leopards and nipple covers, I dont even think their outfits are that scandalous. Britney spears in her "slave for you video" was probably just as scantily clad and suggestive.

 

[telephone89]

Well, wouldn't you be if you were married to Ben Shapiro?

You bet your ass

IMO, she *is* doing something. She is publicly engaging in celebrating her sexuality by looking and walking in a sensual way. I believe the outcry is because she gets more video time just for being White and beautiful than some of the Black artists who actually write/sing/dance.

Thank you for explaining, I appreciate this! I heard about the controversy but didnt really understand.

 

[House Cat]

Then why are they dressed like prostitutes?
Why aren't they wearing jeans and T-shirts?
This video is for teenage boys and 20 something males.

Why is it assumed that revealing clothing is for men? There are a lot of women who like their bodies and want to wear this kind of clothing for themselves.

The only prostitutes I’ve ever seen in person were meth-heads who were wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

 

[lyra]

Not my cup of tea. It's not there to empower women IMO, it's there to create hype and bring in the money, which is exactly what it is doing. Or is she donating profits, I don't know. I'm cool with artists doing their thing, I'm just not the target audience.

 

[Tekate]

I was too young to understand what was going on 'there' and I was afraid to ask anyone why, had I known I would have been more comfortable with my body, I thought there was something wrong with me.

I'm curious, why? If it had been around years ago, what would be different for you?

 

[House Cat]

I just read the lyrics. I don’t think this is meant to be empowering. It reminds me of the dirty rap from the 90’s and early 2000’s, except it’s being done by a female artist. I think the song is more for shock value than empowerment.

 

[Calliecake]

With everything happening in the world I find it awfully hard to clutch pearls over lyrics in a song. Songs with crude lyrics have been around forever.

 

[fluffboll]

Just as all "art" isn't art, all music isn't art. I find the song mindcrushingly unimaginative and boring. Just another couple of singers trying to peddle their wares through sex. Music should make you think or feel something. This song does neither for me - but then I'm a middle aged woman, not an adolescent male.

 

[Elizabeth35]

Empowering would be if she was purchasing her own ring and car, and the sex was just for fun.
Not a fan but if you like it, go enjoy the song.

 

[telephone89]

Why Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s Empowering Anthem “WAP” Is So Important

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” is the epitome of female empowerment, and it arrived at the perfect time. Here’s why it’s so important right now.

www.complex.com

This is a good write up on why people are finding this song empowering. Here are a few excerpts I liked.

These ludicrous critiques show, once again, that sex is only a taboo expression in music when women—specifically women of color—explore it. Love-making, sex, ****ing, or whatever you might call it, isn’t a new theme in music. In fact, many of America’s “greatest hits” were tracks from Lynyrd Skynyrd, George Michael, Pearl Jam, and other male artists who explored sex and drugs in their lyrics. So why do we only hear criticism like this when artists like Cardi and Megan do it?

While some might find the explicit nature of the “WAP” video to be off-putting and harmful to Black womanhood, the gag itself is that Black women have little to no control of how society views us, with or without Cardi and Megan’s collab. Adultification begins as early as our pre-teen years, stereotypes dated as far back as colonization are unavoidable, and fatphobia is highly ingrained in how society perceives Black woman bodies. Black women shaking their butts and describing their sex life in music is not what sets Black women back; it’s the people who justify harm toward us because of these actions.

Black women deserve to be viewed the same when they choose to display feminst expression through dance, vocality, and clothing. Whether demonstration exists through the form of a protest with signs that read “My body, my choice” or a colorful music video where Megan Thee Stallion is seen doing the splits in a tiger-print bodysuit, all women deserve to express their sexuality how they choose, without the criticism from others.

 

[Matata]

"Bring a bucket and a mop"?! Girl needs to see doctor asap. Who wants to wear scuba gear to have sex?

 

[Calliecake]

.

I think there is a difference between the women choosing to dress this way for their video, versus the video girls who are given their "outfits" in a male artist's video.

I also think the video is for my eyes too, because it is visually different from the skinny models I grew up seeing, like Helena Christensen in Wicked Games. This is a different body type from the 90s waif and I like that it is also being celebrated as sexy.

This. I shudder to think of all the eating disorders that were a result of the unhealthy low body weights that was portrayed as the gold stand for young women. Being at an extremely low body weight is unhealthy. it’s not something to be admired.

 

[123ducklings]

Women and our bodies and sexuality are constantly critiqued, policed, and shamed. Aside from all the obvious harm this does, it’s also just a boring, narrow way of thinking in my opinion. Anytime women reject that thinking and express confidence in their truth I applaud it. I think it’s great. I love celebrating other women and I find it empowering to see other women take back their power.

 

[Elizabeth35]

Hey-I love celebrating women too. But I think it can be done without a song glorifying sleeping with men to get cars, rings or tuition. That's prostitution---not freedom.
Freedom is getting your own rings, cars and tuition by working.
And Cardi B is not someone that I would look to to for any type of social awareness. She admits to drugging and robbing men.
Let's celebrate women in a more positive manner. We can do better than this.

 

[natasha-cupcake]

Honestly, I think it's absolutely revolting. But to each, his own.

 

[123ducklings]

Hey-I love celebrating women too. But I think it can be done without a song glorifying sleeping with men to get cars, rings or tuition. That's prostitution---not freedom.
Freedom is getting your own rings, cars and tuition by working.
And Cardi B is not someone that I would look to to for any type of social awareness. She admits to drugging and robbing men.
Let's celebrate women in a more positive manner. We can do better than this.

But who are we to tell other women what’s “positive,” “better,” and “freeing” for them? I’m not going to tell other women what to do with their bodies. WAP is topping the charts so clearly it resonates with a lot of women. When I say I love celebrating other women I don’t limit that to women who express themselves the same way I do or share my life experiences.

This thread reminds me of the phrase I often come back to when thinking about art/music/literature that doesn’t resonate with me: If it’s not for you, it’s not FOR you. Meaning that if a song/book/artwork/etc doesn’t speak to you, it’s often because it’s not made for you.

I think for women who are used to being objectified, violated, and shamed by those around them and society at large it IS positive, better, and freeing to say: I have agency over my body, I’m not embarrassed or ashamed.

 

[Maria D]

Why Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s Empowering Anthem “WAP” Is So Important

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” is the epitome of female empowerment, and it arrived at the perfect time. Here’s why it’s so important right now.

www.complex.com

This is a good write up on why people are finding this song empowering. Here are a few excerpts I liked.

Thanks for finding those; it is illuminating. I don't ever wish to tell anyone they shouldn't feel empowered by a song about sex, but just want to comment on some snippets of those snippets.

"In fact, many of America’s “greatest hits” were tracks from Lynyrd Skynyrd, George Michael, Pearl Jam, and other male artists who explored sex and drugs in their lyrics. So why do we only hear criticism like this when artists like Cardi and Megan do it?"

Criticism for graphic lyrics has always existed. Not even graphic; I'm of a generation that remembers the Stones singing "Let's spend some time together" on the radio instead of spending the night together. When my daughter was younger everyone was losing their sh*t over Eminem as if he was causing the end of civilization.

"..fatphobia is highly ingrained in how society perceives Black woman bodies.."

While I do not find the video to be harmful to Black womanhood, this line above is utter b.s., in my opinion. That is probably a whole other discussion.

"all women deserve to express their sexuality how they choose, without the criticism from others."

Nah. Yes we can express our sexuality how we choose but we don't get to cancel criticism from others. We don't get to change other people's minds or cancel their expression of what's on their minds. We can only change how we react to it.