NICKI MINAJ IS JUST THE MOST RECENT IN A LONG LINE OF DEMONIZED WOMEN

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We’ve all seen it. The recent Paper Magazine cover is just the latest in a long line of ‘shocking’ celebrity images that give the keyboard warriors a chance to shake things up on twitter. Think back to the 2014 Winter issue of Paper Magazine. Kim Kardashian and the balancing champagne glass… you know it. 
The recent Nicki Minaj cover has caused uproar on social media and fuelled the ever present empowerment/consent conversation.
The image itself shows Minaj with 2 ‘clones’. Minaj, topless and seated. The first clone draped over her shoulder with her hand covering her nipple, and the second, in between her open legs with her tongue out. 
Personally, I’m not too keen on the image. I understand that ‘sex sells’ but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I disagree with perpetuating that tired old tradition that sleazy men use as an excuse, in order to defend objectifying women. BUT, though this is my wider and more political view point, what I am COMPLETELY against is the unapologetic slut shaming that has been directed at Minaj since the magazine cover launched. 

I have seen many people trying to disguise their slut shaming under the pretence that ‘they are worried that younger girls who look up to her will try to recreate images like this’- but Minaj has never proposed to be a role model for young girls. Nicki Minaj is a rapper well known for her explicit and sexual lyrics. Celebrities far too often become confused with role models which is problematic because they then hold an unrequested social responsibility. 
This slut shaming has also been excused under the guise that they ‘feel sorry for her being exploited’-Now, of all the women I can think of, Minaj is not the one I’d imagine to feel pressured into doing anything she didn’t feel comfortable doing. She is a self professed ‘Boss Ass Bitch’ and to use this as an excuse to covertly slut shame her is not only clutching at straws, but also neutralises the strong and empowered persona she has cultivated throughout her career. 

The issue here is far wider than just Nicki Minaj. I am not writing this to defending Nicki Minaj as I, myself, find many of her choices questionable. The issue is OUR bodies. Women’s bodies and how they are STILL seen as public property/something to be discussed as though we are a commodity to be bought and sold. 

Slut shaming coming from men sitting behind their laptops is no surprise, horrible, yet not surprising. Sadly, most of the really personal, really spiteful comments I read were from women. This is strange to me for 2 reasons, the first, and I thought, most obvious- 
WHY IS IT ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS?
If it’s not hurting you, and no one is asking you to partake, then really, it has nothing to do with you. This theory can be applied to many areas- people’s opinions on gender neutral bathrooms is my personal fave. 

The second,  why should women censor themselves? Female sexuality is a conversation that has been led by men for too long. We need unapologetic women standing up and bringing the discussion to the forefront. We need women bringing female sexuality into public consciousness, just as it has been, but under the control of men, for decades. What we don’t need, is other women slut shaming, and pitting themselves against each other thus becoming distracted from the bigger issue. Instead what we need is to unite as a sisterhood, and to BE the change that we need to see, in order to deconstruct the current sexist and patriarchal view of the female body.

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