Megan Thee Stallion is women empowerment.
- Emelah the Blogger
- Feb 13, 2021
- 9 min read
Updated: Feb 16, 2021
Yes, her work is feminism. In this essay, I will.
The end of a drought and the beginning of an era
Hip Hop has always been a man's game. Though we've had some women MCs come through here and there, they rarely got the acclaim of their male counterparts. Women in rap also had to endure the bowels of misogyny, and had to work twice as hard to get any recognition at all.
In the '90s especially, women combatted this double standard by either proving they were hard core (rappers such as Queen Latifah, MC Lyte) or playing up their own sexuality (Lil Kim, Salt N Peppa). Despite their talent, women in rap are rarely mentioned in conversations regarding lyricism and are almost never considered a part of the greats. One exception to this is the one and only Nicki Minaj.
When Nicki came out in 2009, she was not only the moment, but a beginning of an era. She came with the fits, the wigs, and the bars, giving us quirkiness and lyricism we haven't really seen before. She came at a time we were seriously lacking some female energy in the male dominated world, as we had a lapse in women hip hop artists after the early 2000s. Nicki held down the fort for nearly a decade, becoming our generation's "Queen of Rap".
The emergence of Cardi B. in 2017 was the first time Nicki had real competition in years, which led to cliche comparisons between the two. Sadly, even though they once coexisted in harmony, their friendship ended in a fight at a New York Fashion Week party. For this I blame sexism, and the way the media pit them up against each other. Still, to this day, Cardi gives Nicki her props. As she should.
As Cardi rose in success, Nicki began to settle down. Nicki tweeted in 2019 that she wanted to retire and start a family. Since then, she has released new music, and gave birth to a son with her husband Kenneth Petty. Though biologically Nicki only has one son, culturally, she has many.
For a minute (during Nicki's settling down phase), Cardi had the game to herself, and then came Megan Thee Stallion, who bred a new wave of female sexuality into the rap stratosphere. Megan came out the gate giving us something different. She gives us confidence and class mixed with sophistiratchet, while giving elite bars. To date, she has yet to miss, and remains humble about it (that is, when she's not in Tina Snow mode).
Today, we have a plethora of women in rap that give a variety of lyricism, style, choreography, and sexuality. Still, there's something unique about the criticism Megan gets specifically that rubs me the wrong way.
Megan be pimpin'. And what about it?
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m very sensitive about Megan Thee Stallion. Why? Because somebody has to stand in solidarity with her when she receives undeserving hate, especially given the events that transpired in the last year.
I can admit that Megan's robust sexuality was a lot for me to digest at first, but as I grew into my womanhood, she became so important to me. Megan taught me how to love myself in ways I didn’t know I should.
Megan spreads body positivity and helps women embrace their inner Tina Snow, their inner bad bitch. She is especially inspiring in a world that ridicules women for being darker skinned, tall, and voluptuous. Her branding herself as a "stallion" reclaims being tall as attractive, which is revolutionary in a world that equates tall, strong Black women to being masculine.
Black women are constantly perceived as having attributes often assigned to masculinity; we are read as “strong,” “indestructible,” “invulnerable to pain.” A 2014 OkCupid study of the dating habits of its users revealed that 82% of nonblack men had a bias against black women. Serena Williams has been likened to a man, alongside her older sister Venus; her impressive, beautiful body scrutinized for most of her career. Leslie Jones was subjected to outrageous racist and sexist trolling before the Ghostbusters movie premiere. A West Virginia official considers it perfectly fine to call Michelle Obama an “ape in heels.” A 5-foot-3-inch black woman scares a tall white man so much he shoots her in the face.
- Excerpt from As A Black Woman, I'm Tired Of Having To Prove My Womanhood, BuzzFeed News
In the intro for her hit, "Body", she states that she loves every curve, every dimple, and every mark on her body. By her mere existence, she redeems the joy in embracing one's natural body.
The same reasons that bad bitches like me love her are the same reasons men hate on her. A lot of the hate she receives has to do with misogyny, which I would also argue is an innate response to feminism.
Simply put, men hate Megan because she beat them at their own game (This is true both in the dating world and in the rap industry. She bends the rules of misogyny for her advantage).
In her words, she “treat a nigga like he think he finna do me. Get what I want then I go missing.” In Megan’s world, pussy runs the world. SHE’s the captain and HE’s the lieutenant. She's in her bag and she's in his, too. The way she spits has us other bitches leveling up, and they can’t handle it.
You can't have opinions on no shit that you ain't payin' for
Buy me everything in my cart if you my boyfriend
Invest in this pussy, boy, support Black business
- lyrics from "Sugar Baby"
She reminds women that we should be valued and showered with gifts, advocating for men to spend money on the woman they're interested in.
He know he giving his money to Megan
He know it's very expensive to date me
- lyrics from "Cash Shit"
While gifts are not everyone's love language, they are useful in courting a woman. In an era where chivalry is dead, it's important for men to rise above the dating bar (which is currently in hell) to let a woman know he is serious about her. For bad bitches like Megan, the bar must be even higher. She has money herself, so you have to step up to the plate ready to impress.
Further, she reminds men that she will not submit to them, and they are not in control of her. Here lies the problem. It's perfectly fine for men to rap about sex and to be sexual beings, but when a woman does it, all hell breaks loose (we'll get to more of this in a bit).
Megan talks about sex a lot, and is not afraid to describe what she wants and how she operates, which is also revolutionary in itself. Most importantly, she’s honest about getting what she wants.
If you don’t want a pimp then what you fucking with me for?
- lyrics from "Outside"
Man, you knew I was a player 'fore you met me, need to relax
You know that you gon' hate me if I get to playin' get-back
I ain't turn into no bad bitch when you met me, boy, I been that
You tryna make me somethin' that I ain't, and I ain't with that (Nah)
- lyrics from "B.I.T.C.H"
To sum it up, Megan intimidates heterosexual men. She’s 5’10, confident, bold about her sexuality and honest about not wanting to be in a committed relationship. Honestly, men could learn a lot from her, but they’re too upset that they don’t possess the qualities listed above.
The hateration increased after she got shot.
Like any celebrity, Megan has always had haters, but there was a noticeable increase of critique around her after she was the victim of a shooting in July 2020. Tory Lanez, a Canadian artist who some of us were actually rooting for prior to this event, decided to shoot Megan in both of her feet after leaving a party at Kylie Jenner’s house.
Everyone wanted the tea. Why did he shoot her? Were they dating? Who started it? Blah, blah, blah. None of that matters. A woman was shot and a man was arrested for possessing the gun used to wound her. No other details were necessary. Still, rumors persisted. Memes were made. People were skeptical of Megan being the victim, even after she came out with her truth and there was video and photo evidence of her wounded feet. If Tory would have shot Kylie Jenner, no questions would have been asked. He would have been in chains and back in Canada before TMZ got a hold of it. The misogynoir against Megan is brazy.
Despite all the evidence, there are some who still don’t believe Megan to this day (men and women alike). Some went as far as to blame Megan's attitude towards men for her attack, saying shit like, "Y'all want us to protect her? Do you hear what she say about us?" Meanwhile, Tory gained a whole new fanbase. And has other abusers like DaBaby and Chris Brown collaborating with him.
Not enough male rappers showed up in solidarity with Megan. Though I am thoroughly disappointed by the rap community’s silence/gaslighting of Megan being shot, I can't say I'm surprised.
But y’all mad about WAP?
A month after being shot, Megan dropped yet another collaboration that dominated the summer, and hateration rose again. Black men, Black women, republicans, the elderly and the prude lost their shit. People were more outraged about the raunchiness of "WAP" (the lyrics and/or the video) than when Megan was shot. This is inexcusable and pathetic.
People actually looked up the lyrics and purposefully listened to the song just to critique it. Huh? Republicans even tried to ban it (which honestly, makes the song even more iconic). People blamed Meg and Cardi, saying they were bad role models, and that this is the result of not having a father.
If you don’t like sexual, explicit music, then don’t listen to it! What did you think a song titled, "WAP" by Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion was going to be about?
It's not okay to put the responsibility of raising children to music artists (as Meg once said, "I'm a rapper not no mutherfuckin model"). Also, we have got to stop blaming Black single mothers for everything. Being raised in a single parent household does not equate to being morally corrupt, or being sexually promiscuous. Also, there is nothing wrong with being a sexual being. If Meg and Cardi want to talk about how wet their pussies are, who are we to judge?
Honestly, they had me from the first “there’s some whores in this house.” It was like a clarion call. It was a celebration of sexuality, a celebration of pussies, and a celebration of women being free. Now I know who the real hotties are.
The hypocrisy of WAP's criticism becomes apparent when it's compared to Megan's male counterparts. Artists such as 21 Savage and DaBaby rap about fucking bitches and getting their dick sucked all the time. Most recently, "Throat Baby" was a top 10 Billboard hit, yet it didn't get half the outrage.
The only difference between songs like "Throat Baby" and "WAP" was the fact that women were owning their sexuality instead of men. Plus the word "pussy" makes people hella uncomfy.
Yes, Megan was the rapper of the year.
On November 16, 2020, GQ named Megan rapper of the year, and of course, there was outrage. Niggas on my timeline was mad af, saying that Lil Baby should have won instead. But the truth is, Megan was the rapper of the year, and here’s why:
She has three EPs, with several songs on the Billboard Hot 100
She gave away bitcoin to fans (which can be saved to earn monetary interest)
She has three #1 hit collaborations - "Hot Girl Summer" with Nicki Minaj, "Savage (Remix)" featuring Beyonce" and "WAP" with Cardi B.
(Beyonce has not been on a feature in 3 years, and only works with other icons)
All the proceeds for the Savage Remix went to Houston families suffering from the pandemic
She speaks up for the protection of Black women
She started a scholarship fund for women of color
She performed on multiple award and talk shows
(She can dance while performing)
She can kill a freestyle
She has bomb lyrics
She was acclaimed by Lil Baby himself
She accomplished all of the above despite:
Grieving the loss of mother and great-grandmother (they died two-weeks apart)
Being a shooting victim
Working towards a degree in health administration from Texas Southern University
Not having an album out
On November 20, 2020, Megan released her highly anticipated debut album Good News, which she named to encourage us after the hard year we all experienced.
Though real Megan stans agree that her album could have been better (Tina Snow is still her greatest work), it was still a great album. It debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
At the end of the day, Megan is undoubtably an icon in the making. In a world dominated by men, and in an industry where misogyny runs rampant, Megan made a way. She's accomplished so much already and I can't wait to see what's in store as her career continues to flourish. Haters can stay mad while Meg stays in her bag!
As she states in her song, "What's New":
Tell a hater, "Fuck You"
They keep coming telling me these bitches mad, what's new?
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