The parodic use of the title Big Booty Ho might repel the feminist, while drawing approval from the misogynist to Hip Hop Week’s panel on feminism and sexuality. The panel, however, turns the phrase on its head by studying the dynamic, ever changing role of women in hip hop culture, and the possibilities of autonomy and agency that they express through f sexuality. Rachel Zellers led the panel, with a calming and assertive voice, posing questions to the panel of four women: Magassy Mbow, Marshia Celina, Nantali Indongo, and Melissa Proietti. Their discussion challenged my perceptions of what it means to be a feminist and explored the varying ways women can assert themselves both through their bodies and their artistry. Images of blackness and whiteness, sexuality and issues of free speech versus censorship were the main topics of discussion. Each woman brought a unique perspective, informed by their various backgrounds, ethnicities, upbringing and education. This rich diaspora of opinions and interpretations brought incredible value to the event, and allowed for an open exploration of topics with no finite goals or conclusions.

Perhaps the largest and most controversial topic of conversation was that of bodily expression and sexuality. It is necessary to question whether taking ownership of one’s body and exposing it on a world stage is empowering or demeaning, and whether it is in fact ownership in the first place. It is important to realize the often limited levels of control artists have in the production of music, with studios, labels, managers, and an entire collaborative artistic team weighing in on each and every detail. The panelists, however, were still eager to acknowledge the power and agency of women like Lil’ Kim and Nicki Minaj, who are innovators in their fields. While a video like Anaconda’s sexually explicit content has received an abundance of flak, Minaj is owning her image as one of a black woman with a “big booty”. In media representation, her sexuality is ambiguous, making her a figure who can represent many things to different individuals. While the message of the video is offensive to many women who don’t want to think about their sexuality as merely there for the consumption of men, for others it can be empowering in its ownership of the black body as a sexually desirable one. The extensive and vast knowledge that these women had to share became evident with the discussion of industry pioneers like Missy Elliot and Queen Latifah, who “queered the norm” and opened up hip hop culture to progress and change in our definitions of female sexuality and desire. Ultimately, despite the varying positions of the four panelists, they could all agree upon the necessity of moving away from patriarchal and colonial structures that marginalize women of colour, and extract their agency.

This co-optation of power is immensely harmful, but often times cannot be stopped because artists have the right to express themselves, and censorship is clearly not the solution. The women of the panel rightly placed the power into the hands of artists, corporations, and the audience, to make intelligent and thoughtful decisions. Nantali Indongo described the system behind artists from Snoop Dogg to Kanye West, who are continually backed by large corporations who are willing to pour money into their hands to produce songs that are degrading and harmful to women [What’s the connection here? Is this so that corporations can use product placement, or physically stamp their brand upon these artists?]. Perhaps more disturbing than the singular artist’s ability to write such lines as “Bitches ain’t sh*t but hoes and tricks” are the entire teams and corporations behind them that make the publication and mass viewership possible. On another level, the panelists pointed out that our responsibility as viewers is to put an end to the propagation of a system that is frankly outdated, and at this point just plain boring.

The experience at this panel discussion was both enlightening and thought provoking. As a white woman, I am constantly thinking about women’s roles in society and the cultural practices and systems that keep us as a marginalized group. However, to universalize these claims to women of all ethnicities essentializes the experience of being a woman in today’s society, and runs the risk of building a white concept of what it means to be a woman. The five women engaged in thoughtful and exploratory discussion which aided me to see the perspective of women of colour in dealing with issues of feminism in hip hop culture.

By: Liz Mclellan

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