“WAP” has broken the internet yet again, under more scrutiny than ever before.
The song became a global phenomenon after its release in the summer of 2020 and has been certified platinum by the RIAA five times. Currently, the track has 5 million videos on TikTok after creator @besperon’s dance went viral on the app. Even celebrities such as Addison Rae, Charli D’Amelio, and Bob Saget have been shown doing the “WAP.”
More recently, “WAP” broke national news when Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion performed their smash hit at the 2021 Grammy Awards and were criticized for being too “hypersexual” for “scissoring on stage.” Many have remarked that this glorifies nudity and an overall pornographic nature.
As a woman growing up in the era of slut-shaming and consistent objectification by mass media, pushing the agenda that women’s sexuality through the means of self-expression is “grotesque” is extremely harmful. Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion did not write “WAP” to “lessen American values.” “WAP” was written to take back what has been stolen from women for centuries — the right to be vocal about being a woman with a sex drive.
Dating back to the precursors of sex positivity in the music industry such as Madonna, Salt-N-Pepa, Lil’ Kim, and Beyoncé, women have been shunned and silenced for being open about even just enjoying sex. But when Sir Mix-a-Lot releases “Baby Got Back,” essentially claiming that women are only good for their bodies, no one bats an eye. If a woman raps about sex, it makes her a slut. When a man does it, it’s seemingly “normal.”
Megan Thee Stallion has taken a stronghold on this stigma by being unapologetically sexual. In songs like “Cry Baby” where she states, “Moaning like a b***h when he hit this p****y / Damn, he probably wanna wear my hoodie” and “Captain Hook” where she raps, “I like to drink and I like to have sex,” Megan owns the touchiness of sex and just describes that sex is normal.
In her New York Times op-ed Why I Stand Up For Black Women, Megan confirms, “when women choose to capitalize on our sexuality, to reclaim our power like I have, we are vilified and disrespected.” Women need to be given a platform to reclaim the sexual uncomfortableness that men have been doing for years without the fear of being shamed. There needs to be a reassurance that being open and positive about sex isn’t dirty, which is an idea that has been passed on to young girls for generations.
This isn’t to say that young girls need to automatically sexualize themselves to learn the true meaning of strong holding your sexuality (there’s a time, a place, a maturity level, and an age). This is to say that women need the space to vocalize what looks and feels good for herself, even if it’s through the lens of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.