I am not a fan of rap, nor am I a social media butterfly, so it took a journalist chat group to bring WAP (I looked up the acronym to save you the trouble) to my attention. I enjoy any Culture War issue that sends conservative analysts to their fainting couch, clutching their smelling salts. As a group, there is a succinct description of their analysis: as we second-wave feminists used to say, they are a bunch of Male Chauvinist Pigs. Just when you think the species has gone extinct, it rises, zombie-like.
To paraphrase United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart from 1964, “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it.” Is this song porn? No. Is this song raunchy? I’d say so. Is it explicit? Without question. Is it the end of American Civilization? No, that’s Donald Trump.
At first, I hesitated to even mention this; I note that a British Comedian has been cancelled for calling the song into question. I fully support the artists’ right to write, sing and release this song.
The most succinct and accurate summary of the controversy comes from my third-wave feminist daughter Rae, who notes:
---Rae starts here--------
The people who like/support this video say:
* Male hip hop artists can sing about sexuality without penalty but because Megan thee stallion and Cardi B are women they can't sing about sex and that's what's causing the ‘controversy.”
* This video is an anthem for female women expressing their sexuality and enjoying sex
* This video is important because it's all women and there are no men in it.
People who dislike this video say:
* It's vulgar in language and image.
I think the opponents aren't fans of the genre and are losing the culture war. Whether or not you literally agree with all the lyrics, the point is their right to rap them. Calling the video "porn" could be seen as condemning a woman's sexual autonomy especially when there have been similar depictions of women in male rap videos. Why weren't those videos called porn? Do men in the video somehow legitimize it?
--------Rae ends here-----------
Then she pointed me at this first-rate analysis: With “WAP,” Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion Honor Women’s Pleasure.
One other analyst noted, “I'm mostly surprised people can still be surprised. It seems like some version of this reclaiming of female sexuality be a female rapper happens every couple of years. I guess it needs to happen more often so it stops being newsworthy. I think it just blew up this time because of Kylie Jenner making it go viral.” [Jenner makes a cameo appearance]"