Respectability of African American Women Today: Michelle vs. Nicki

After the elections, there have been many debates over the character of Nicki Minaj and Michelle Obama. Janell Hobson attacks the depictions between these two women during the 2012 elections, and how both these well known celebrities are representing African American women in our post modern 21st century society today.

Image taken from US weekly

In her article, Hobson addresses the elegant and dignified respectability of Michelle Obama; representing African American women in a rather inspiring manner during the Democratic Convention. Political Analyst Sophia A. Nelson, in her blog, claims that “Michelle Obama has redefined black women”. Nelson mentioned:

“She effortlessly destroyed harsh stereotypes about who black women are, and made us something we rarely ever get to be in public: feminine, soft, vulnerable, loving, warm, proud, compassionate, smart, affirmed, dynamic, bold, reflective, humble, and fun all at once”. 

Captured from Industry Blitz 6/13/10

On the other hand, there is our other new inspiration: Nicki Minaj. A point which Hobson seemed to hit right at its pinnacle was the concern that Minaj could be the possible role model for African American women today. Her demeanor, adherent plasticity, attitude, and affection for artificiality is an aspect that is unhealthy for women to strive for. The mentality which Nicki Minaj monuments is not one that any woman should work to achieve. Nicki’s recent “endorsing Mitt Romney” debacle through her music has spurred a lot of controversy; and after analyzing both their goals under theoretical lens, it can definitely be concurred that Nicki Minaj is the “black woman making an obvious farce out of the raced, classed and gendered stereotypes we are expected to embody” .

 All in all, I am an advocate for women’s rights, and our femisphere can only prevail when there are more respectable, dignified, well educated, empowering, formal, adherent, and strong women like Michelle Obama who speak for all females in society. Both Nicki & Michelle rose from the depths of a troubled childhood, yet we can see that in the end, it is  the decisions we make and the opportunities we can obtain which ultimately help us reach our goal. Nicki & Michelle are but proof that we can make the best with what we have, and shape who we are today.

The Actions behind Nicki Minaj’s “Endorsment of Romney” Debacle

The crazy spectacle question which has plagued the internet: Did Nicki Minaj endorse Mitt Romney? Some say no, and some say yes.

Well the answer is none of above.

Nicki Minaj’s actions and lyrics are only a certain pressing problem in society. In a recent music video called “Mercy” on a Lil Wayne dedication mix tape, Minaj rapped ““I’m a Republican, voting for Mitt Romney, you lazy b—— are f—ing up the economy,”.

Of course, this punched up the public sphere. Millions of comments and death threats were thrown at Nicki, huge tantrums, deadly FaceBook posts, & of course the Twitter feed sky rocketed. So then Nicki exposed that she was NOT endorsing Romney, but tweeted that was actually just “creative humor”.

The question here is not whether Minaj endorsed Romney or not, but rather why on earth it is important whether she does or not, and WHY she pulled up those lyrics in the first place.

PopDust’s featured photo to portray Nicki endorsing Romney

Nicki Minaj is a mainstream pop culture artist, an icon, who represents American society. Her music airs on every channel and she is supposedly a representation for African American women in our U.S culture. Did Nicki know that her rap lyrics would affect us so strongly: of course she did. 

Her actions are always intentional. Everything she does, every song she raps is intentional. She knew that her rap would not go unnoticed!

Why is Nicki Minaj at the pinnacle of her career? They say its because of her music, and yet it is her music which causes all of us to burn with fury and bang up the Twitter stream. She needs the publicity, its what makes her who she is today. Imagine if Nicki did absolutely nothing controversial…what would she classified as then? That’s right, boring.

It really doesn’t matter whether Minaj endorsed Romney or not, because she is JUST a rap artist who is trying to bring more publicity to her uprising career, and some heat for the elections coming up.

In the Civic Youth voting trends phamplet, it was estimated that “the last two election cycles (’06 midterm and ’04 presidential) saw increases in the young voter turnout rate, signaling a more engaged young adult population. This change, coupled with advancements in communications and Internet technology, and reinvigorated get-out-the-vote efforts targeted at young people, were early signs that young people would be more involved than ever in the 2008 election…”. 

Ever since the evolution of media, there has been a raise in youth voting, and politicians sure are smart and discreet about it. Would it be so surprising if this was a political plan the entire time? Maybe Obama knew that an African American rapper endorsing Romney was going to bring outrage, and hence operated the scene to bring youth in through anger and vote. He is known for attracting and associating with the youth, so its not as far fetched as one would think.

Our youth really needs to step up and look beyond the picture. A headline shouldn’t captivate everyone and automatically overflow our social news feed. Instead, we should look into the headline and use a bit of this uncommon feature called common sense. We need to hone our critical thinking skills and try to actually process the stuff we read before we throw the death threat. Just some basic questions for your future analyzing: Why would Nicki endorse Romney? What will she get out of it? What will the politicians get out of this? Is Nicki Minaj really worth listening to if her supposed response is that it was all just “creative humor”?

Okay, maybe not the last question.