WAP and the Spectacle of Sexual Liberation via @YouTube

“Could it be that we’ve done ourselves an enormous disservice by engaging in the spectacle of sexual liberation rather than the actual conditions that would make real life women, everyday women more free? “

“Could it be that we’re encouraging women to lie about their empowerment while leaving women to fend for themselves in a misogynistic culture? Yeah. That’s what’s happening.”

Okay so I enjoyed that she brought up questions to help challenge those who maybe are not as familiar with the wide range of feminist discourse that exists about women’s sexuality/ sexual liberation/agency.

I also love that she asked her viewers to contend with the coercion & agency that has & can coexist but more specifically when it comes to the image/on stage persona that women in rap who are sexual in their music tend to have.

It brings me back to my account circa 2014/2015 when I was one of the few people #OnHere begging y’all to reject choice feminism lmao

(So glad this has caught on as common thought. I used to get a lot of push back.)

It’s also why I chose to focus more on basic info about consent and rape culture when I wrote about WAP. I knew most of the other discussions would be about whether or not it was empowering. https://link.medium.com/15tEP397r9 

Which brings me to my first comment about the FH video.

As I’ve said many times before when discussing choice feminism, we need to be specific about a few things.

1) when we speak of “empowerment” what kind are we discussing. Individual empowerment (through being presented more choices even when the total of choices are few)or collective empowerment (socio-cultural/institutional change that give women* more agency)?

In my WAP essay, I mentioned how women in hip hop and dancehall let me know that there were more choices than was being presented to me by my community. Sex for pleasure just because was not an option I was presented.

Saying no because I did not want sex was not an option I was presented (with clarity). The only option I was presented was saying no cuz that’s what good, god fearing women did. Saying no meant you would still have value (VS saying yes which devalues you).

I threw that in the essay not because “empowerment” was the theme of my essay but because we HAVE to acknowledge when the openly sexual woman changes the way other women(& girls) conceptualize their options. We HAVE to.

FH made 2 great points when it comes to choice & the openly sexual women(even if just performance).

1) for BW the options are few.
2) women like Kim/Foxy/Meg/Cardi are people’s avatars to live viciously through 1/2

Even when that “sexual freedom” does not translate to their real lives. 2/2

But again, without the performance or the spectacle existing,MANY girls and women don’t even know that the performance/real life attempt* to (I said ATTEMPT) to have control of their sexuality is an option.

Which brings me to my 2nd comment.

2) The closing was a little hooks-esque lol “eating the other” vibes. Not an insult. Y’all just know that I think that subset of analysis can get a likkle myopic about what women want/desire IRL.

I have not forgotten how extremely HORNY the women on my feed were when WAP draped lmaooooooooo

Queer/LGBT+ & hetero alike. Many were very turned on after watching the video/listening to the song.

FH said something along the lines of WAP(or music/videos like it) reflect men’s desires.

I know what she was trying to say but she missed the mark. WAP is not a male gaze video. It’s a capitalist pop spectacle (as with all mainstream music)

But gaze wise it was very fem(me). Corsets, feathers and gowns. Pretty and soft colors. They (the team) new that the girls and the gworls were gonna go up for that video. They wanted their women fans and gay fans to lose it.

That said. I said this the 1sr time Stali was clocked for trying to distance herself from hoes and I’ll say it again. The personas & presentation though way less male centric than that of the women before, music wise still has elements of male centrism.

We got in trouble for saying that last year. At least I think it was last year lol

Y’all harassed Raquel specifically for being the most visible one to say it before she wrote the essay.

The reason why *eye* said that city girls/ stali/ Belcs ect still male male centric music is because even within this more powerful reimagining of their sexualities, their relationships with men are at the center.

Where I think FH gets it wrong is by not acknowledging that the sexual things (specifically) that WAP/& co* depict are also what women desire even when they don’t fuck men (hi).

Which is why I reminded y’all that women were big HORNY.

This assumption that women don’t actually really want the “scandalous” type of sex they’re making art about/consuming art about is hooks-esque

Hooks-esque.

Limited range on acknowledging all the reasons women might do SW or present as sexual as spectacle.

Mocking the typea of presentations of femmes & fems who are sexual or feminine either as spectacle or innately.
Not say long FH mocked anyone.

I appreciate her saying that people should reimagine sex and sexual liberation outside of patriarchal scripts but I also feel like bae erased us queer women when she said that because many of us BEEN doing that. 5ever.

Unintentionally of course.

It gave me much hetero vanilla/ only aware of hetero kink vibes.

Like when folk don’t know how to acknowledge the isms informing kink & the subversive nature of kink at the same time.

Regardless, great video. I do appreciate the accessible education FH provides.