Thank you.
It's kinda ironic that Angelus Errare is complaining about how "not representing" bigger girls is somehow "body-shaming," but then thinks that just "representing" bigger girls is not enough body positivity, and we have to tackle of body-shaming to make up for it.
Not really, you guys are like livid over all of 3 words she uttered. It was in poor taste, but you people have basically be attacking Nicki as if she's built her entire career off of body shaming skinny women and it's what she's known for. It's such a stupid argument to try and levy; then when people pointed out how dumb of an argument it was the goal post moving began, and it became about how she needs to be MLK figure for the black community; you people reach this conclusion based on a reductionist viewpoint of why the black community is in the shape it's in. It's cringeworthy reading through and through. If Nicki had a history of body shaming the poor skinny girls out there then I would completely understand the outrage and angst over it, or at least I'd be more willing to entertain the notion that Nicki is a horrible person that many of you have been trying to argue unsuccessfully.
This becomes even more hilarious when people were going on tirades about how girls need to not idolize being full figured because it's bad for you when Nicki released the album cover, also going on about how women should be modest in dress as she sat there in a pair of Jays and a bikini thong, the same type of swim wear girls of all sizes have been wearing since the 90s and Sisquo released Thong song.
Anyway Angelus Errare, the problem with this isn't that Nicki is bigger than the average Hollywood model/singer, it's the rest of the song.
You know, the glorification of violent drug-culture, and the problems that poor/urban, especially black, people face due to this continued perpetuation of OMIGOD DRUG AND VIOLENCE AND MONEY MADE FROM BLOOD SO COOL BECAUSE I GET BRAND NAME STUFF.
Ah yes the reductionist argument. If you want to talk about the social issues plaguing poor people/minorities. Talk about them in full or don't speak on them at all; stop simplifying it to cause and effect. It's no more Nicki's job to address that, than it is Eminem to stop talking about AKing a bunch of kids because Little Timmy or Crazy Pete just might do it.
Since we're going to talk about the subject, I'll talk about it in full. The idea that poor people are selling drugs and are into gang violence because of music is an argument brought forth by those who don't have the mental fortitude to actually research the subject at any depth. If the argument they put forth was correct then drug dealing would be primarily an American product as rap is an American product.
The truth is culture influences music much more than music influences culture; people in urban cities have been dealing drugs and the like since the 80s and well before; rap music "glorifying" it didn't become a thing until the mid to late 90s. The actual reason for the violence and drug use/sales is simply due to availability of avenues of success. If you're poor you simply don't have many. When your educational institutes are below subpar compared to everyone else's (as the education system and it's value are tied directly to money put into it by the community) many kids are going to lose interest because there is no engagement. Then you look at their home life in which for many of these kids their father isn't in the picture most likely because he's in prison. He's not in prison because of rap music. He's in prison because despite whites and blacks dealing and using drugs at the same proportional rate, our "war on drug" laws of the 90s disproportionately targets African Americans. Because they do, cops are more likely to be in a black neighborhood shaking down people for illicit drug use/distribution.
People want to levy the argument that rap music/suggestive lyrics are the cause of the rampant drug dealing/usage among poor/black people are singing nonsense; because I just previously stated despite this misconception the reality is blacks and whites consume and deal drugs at proportionate rates. So now the question is...what is the excuse for whites? It's easy to sit here and point to suggestive lyrics as one of the "problems" but the reality is, it's not really one of the problems at all. It's commentary on the current state of our nation. You think girls are going out and fucking "ballers" and "drug dealers" because rappers are telling them to? You're not very bright if you believe such foolishness. Look throughout any country on earth and you're going to see the exact same occurrences within the more financially stripped segment of the population. They simply don't have many avenues for success so they turn to instant gratification. That is a human tendency, not a black one, not a poor one. In S. Korea, Russia, France and pretty much every other country...in these places among the poor populous many girls will use their body in order to get out of their current situation if they feel that's the best avenue for success. They see other girls who "made" it and assume they can make it too, despite also seeing how many women don't make it, or their situation worsens. Many turn to drugs to cope or deal because they feel they can get out if they do. They see locals who did such and ascribe to be like them; doubly so if these people take an interest in them and give them a sense of belonging that they can't get elsewhere.
The argument levied also becomes dumb when you realize that majority of Nicki Minaj's fanbase are affluent 12-16 year old white girls not poor struggling black girls. That is what it means to have mainstream appeal, to get that demographic buying your album. Young white men and women consume rap/hip-hop/pop at a
much higher rate than black youth do because the former group has much more disposable income. Yet you're not seeing white girls by the dozen lining up to actually suck a drug dealer's dick. You're not seeing a bunch of rich white girls going into the hood to find them a "gangsta". They're not doing that because they don't need to. The kids who are doing, aren't doing it because some rapper told them to. They're doing it because they don't have many other avenues to get out of their current situation. Which is again why you can go to any country in the world, look among the poor populous and see the exact same phenomenon happening the world over. Music is a symptom of social issues, not a cause. It isn't in 2014, it wasn't in during the Beatles boycott, much like it wasn't when Elvis was banned from some radio stations because parents feared he was corrupting the youth, much like parents were trying to boycott Eminem, Marilyn Manson and other artists. It's pointless and utterly stupid as all of those artists just like kids are ultimately products of their environment.
You are basically making the argument "because America mistreats you, every single artist needs to be a shining beacon for black youth because it's their responsibility". It's not more Nicki's responsibility to be the beacon of truth for the black community than it was for Marilyn Manson to be the beacon for white community at a time kids were going around AKing schools and the like. It's a dumb reason to hold Nicki to a different standard than everyone else, and really is just a reductionist form of shift blaming the problems in America from our legal system, the political system's view of poor people, the lack of funding to better those who are poor, our horrible laws to everything else.
Either we talk about the issues effecting the poor in depth or we don't talk about it at all. The reductionist derping about "the music is evil and making our kids want to sell drugs, and makes little girls want to suck drug dealers dicks. Think about the kids <insert artist here>" is hollow and addresses very little. You people can continue to point to music, videogames and other things as the cause; but no matter how much you want them to be...they never will be. Because despite all of it, our crime rate continues to drop, our teenage birth rate continues to drop (at a much slower rate). While at the same time music/videogames/movies continue their upward trend of glorifying violence, sex, and drug usage. You're merely looking for scapegoats because you don't want to admit/realise that the issue are much bigger than something so convenient as music.
