Megan Thee Stallion embodies the feminism we need today
It’s been said time and again that the rap and hip hop community has struggled with misogyny for decades. Women’s roles within rap are normally limited to “fuck objects,” drama to avoid, or mothers to beg forgiveness from.
This hostility has made it difficult for female rappers to make their unwavering mark in the industry. Take Lil Kim and her immediate self-sexualization in order to make it big.
Similarly, there’s the case of Nikki Minaj and the never-ending talk of her bodily alterations in order to be more sexually marketable.
Despite both women being able to spit fire, their successes are often attributed to their sexual rhetoric and personas. What’s more, the rise of feminism was slow to include these women as powerful icons.
This has changed in the last few years. Megan Thee Stallion’s rise is the response to decades of misogyny and the result of a thriving intersectional feminist culture.
Flipping Thee Game
With unwavering sexual lyrics often bordering on misandry, Megan Thee Stallion, also known as her recent character Tina Snow, has continued the legacy of self-sexualization but with a twist.
For her men are continuously and by default presented as disposable and usable in the same way that women have been presented in rap.
In aligning herself with the culture of gratuitous sex and a hustler’s mindset Megan Thee Stallion has created a path of displaying female sexuality without centering men.
This kind of feminist approach has only been possible with the rise of mainstream intersectional feminism…
Intersectional feminism is feminism (the promotion of the equality of genders). It focuses on how other parts of a person’s identity connect with gender.
For example, a Black Queer woman’s experience and needs will not be the same as a heterosexual white woman’s. Therefore, the feministic movement needs to adapt and take into consideration these accompanying identities to better serve “the people” as a whole.
Thee intersections and influences of success
Megan’s rise as a Black female rapper from Houston, TX is due to a mix of her talent, hustle, confidence in her sexuality, and her devotion to completing her college education.
Furthermore, Megan Thee Stallion promotes body positivity and calls out the mainstream’s idea of one acceptable body type.
Y’all not use to a natural body and I can tell 😛 Get use to it hoes BIG OLE NATURAL 36 DDS
— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) March 29, 2019
Megan’s past with rap and hip-hop plays a part in her rise as well.
Megan’s mother and momager, Holly Thomas died late March due to a brain tumor. Holly was an emcee who went by the name Holly-Wood and was active in the 80s, working on mixtapes in the Houston area.
As Megan’s role model and manager, Holly Thomas’ history as a rapper surely shaped Megan’s confidence in her craft.
Thee Stallion is not alone
Megan Thee Stallion is among other artists that have been fearlessly taking up space within the community.
City Girls, Cardi B, Rico Nasty, Coi Leray and Young M.A. are all women with talent that display and represent different types of real sexualities within the culture.
The community continues to try and pit female rappers against each other – like the “beef” between Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.
This idea that there can only be one female rapper at a time has been largely unsuccessful with Megan Thee Stallion, something we look forward to in the world of female artists.
Thee Feminist Icon
Megan Thee Stallion dishes out the female equivalent of the long-standing misogyny in the rap community. Yet, she does so by continuing to promote healthy competition among women and overall support.
Megan Thee Stallion embodies the feminism we need today.
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