Nicki Minaj busted into the world of popular music in 2010
with her debut album Pink Friday. The album had seven chart topping songs on
the Billboard 100 and Minaj was the first female to receive this honor. So what is Minaj doing with all this
fame?
With the
release of her Video “Anaconda” many believe that Minaj is having a negative effect on her target audience of teens. In the video Minaj hardly wears any clothing along with her back up dancers.
The real
question that needs to be answered is whether Minaj is making a positive impact
on her audience or is her work objectifying to women’s bodies?
To answer
this question, we have to determine whether we are looking at Minaj like we are
in the 1920’s,or whether we are looking at her in the 21st century.
If we were to time travel back to the 1920’s Minaj would be called names much
worse than a “flapper". Society has always made slow steps in accepting the
sexuality embraced by women. I mean, we do show our ankles nowadays.
Why should Minaj not be able to express herself? Or why shouldn't any woman be able to express herself? Is it because the way that society will look at her or the way men will look at her? The only reason we tell our children to dress appropriately is to protect them from the way that society will look at them or more importantly the way that the men of society will look at them. In today’s
society women are still blamed for rape. So much of the feminist movement is
based around the rape debate and how women aren’t “asking for it” based on the way that they are dressed. So why are
we blaming Nicki for embracing her body? Nicki’s work concerns parents because
they don’t want their children to follow in her footsteps but would it be such a
bad thing for teenage girls today to embrace their bodies?
When
Marilyn Monroe first became popular she was under the same scrutiny that Minaj
is under today. Monroe is still known as a legend in the minds of young girls
and adult women alike. Both Monroe and Minaj took great steps in shocking America
with their provocative pictures and music.
Back in the 1900's Marilyn was known as a sex symbol, which is the way that many look at Minaj today. Monroe was a role model, even if she was a sex symbol who drank, smoked and used drugs. Monroe was more than one of the most beautiful women of her time, she was a role model who showed young women that they could triumph over a harsh past and still be able to grow up to be anything that they wanted.
If we look at Minaj from the future will we see her as just an objectifying sex symbol? I don't believe so. I believe that we will look at Minaj as another ground-breaking woman like Marilyn Monroe. We will look at her as someone who paved the way for women to embrace their bodies, and not worry about the judgments of society. At the end of the day society will continue to progress how it is going to progress, and women like Monroe and Minaj will help push society towards these needed progressions.
I liked how you compared Nicki Minaj to Marilyn Monroe but I'm wondering if their is anyone better to compare Minaj to? Someone who was also in the music industry from that time? Though I do get they are very comparable.
ReplyDeleteI think you should have added Minaj's music video even though (in my opinion) is inappropriate for many age groups. Of course I think we are all old and mature enough but I don't think its appropriate for younger age groups. If someone hasn't seen the music video before they may not have a full understanding where you are coming from.
It's hard to tell if Minaj is promoting women to embrace their bodies or just portraying herself as a sex symbol to make it in this industry!
Good blog though, you should add a little more of your own opinions next time!
I really like your topic. Your argument is really strong and makes so much sense. I feel like society has made some major strides in trying to accept women as being strong, powerful and open to expressing themselves in many different fashions. I like how you argued that the only reason we believe that how or what certain people do is inappropriate (like Nicki Minaj) is because that is the way we have been taught, and because we are already programed to think this way then we are closed-minded in a way. It all really connects well and it does make you think about how we will see women like Nicki Minaj in the future.
ReplyDeleteI really like this article. Honestly at first I didn't really like Nicki Minaj because of the bad image that she conveys, but after watching a few interviews, learning about her background, learning about the meaning behind her songs, I genuinely think that she is a good artist, except maybe that if you look at it from another perspective you would think that she was very shallow. Nicki Minaj has also changed societies perspective on the ideal body image, and even so, people still judge her and people still judge he body. You can never really please society. And I really like how you ended this article "society will continue to progress how it is going to progress" we really are progressing, except it will take a couple of years to notice the difference.
ReplyDeleteI liked this post a lot! I thought you used a very understandable comparison and allowed the reader to really comprehend your point of view. I do agree with Anna, that commented above, in the fact that there may have been a more prominent music figure that you could have compared Minaj to just so the two had more in common than empowering women, but I did like your views and thought that the post was very insightful.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog post. Nicki Minaj is known for being out there. Whether its her crazy new hair style, something she wore to an awards show, or her song lyrics she has definitely made a strong name for herself within the past few years. I really liked your comment on how women are still being blamed for rape. This is a very important topic to be covered. No one is ever asking to be raped in any sense. So it becomes very frustrating when women are constantly taking the blame for this horrific action. Additionally, Nicki Minaj is embracing what she is made of and showing herself off in many different forms. She is known for being out there with her style and music, and we can't judge her for that. She can live her life how she wants to and I think she is doing that to the fullest. Also, your reference to Marilyn Monroe was a great way to reemphasize your point. Overall, I really enjoyed your blog post.
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was done extremely well. To start off with your title made me interested right off the bat, before reading your blog I thought to myself how do I view Nikki Minaj? Once I got to reading I couldn't stop. Your examples were great and so were your outside media sources! One of my favorite things about your blog though would b how you tied it back to Marilyn Monroe. We all know who she is and that she had a huge impact on your society so I like how you compared Nick to her and pointed out how they were similar. Overall I think your blog was put together very well!
ReplyDeleteI really like the "we do show our ankles nowadays" part, it's an attention grabber. I think you used really effective language and it was really well written and easy to follow. I like that you compared Minaj to Marilyn Monroe. I really like that you took the approach you did, defending Minaj and her right to express herself the way she wants, not judging her for showing too much skin. I agree that it's important for women to embrace their bodies because there is so much self body shaming prevelent nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting and there are many ways you could have gone with it. I have to disagree with some of your points however. Marilyn Monroe was seen as a sex symbol and a role model because she was one of a kind, her rebellion against the social constructs of the time are what made her such a powerful influence and person to look up to. Contrary to Monroe, Nikki Minaj is only one of dozens of sex symbols (JLo, and Beyonce come to mind) and instead of rebelling against social constructs she is embracing them. Nikki Minaj is not just embracing her sexuality or femininity, she is embracing media culture and seeking more fans. After all, there is nothing that today's media and pop culture love more than sexualizing women. Society is contradictory, they blame women for rape because they show their bodies and then encourage women to bare it all in popculture.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed your blog post because I have been thinking about this for a long time myself. Is Nicki Minaj's behavior acceptable or is it just something that people should make a fuss about? I loved the comparison to Monroe because looking at her picture, I know that back in the 20s that photo must have been seen as oh so scandalous but in today's time, we don't make anything of it. I believe that Minaj's actions are perfectly fine because every man or woman has a right to show off what they want to show off. And the comment brought up about how women are blamed for rape, I thought this is a very pressing matter. Saying a woman is at fault for rape because of her appearance is outrageous. Consent is what is needed, without it, it's rape. Simple as that.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post but I don't know if she should be an example of a ground breaking symbol. Although you provide some really good points, I just feel as though at some point they can contradict. I don't listen to a lot of Minaj but I have seen some parts of her music videos and just feel kind of awkward that she would want that anywhere but then again those are the points you are arguing and have done an excellent job.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of your main points. Nicki and Marilyn are both not the ideal "model thin" and embrace the fact that they are not. I can see why parents are nervous about their children acting like or dressing like her, partly because they dont want them to be judged because it is different, but partly because they are only kids where Nicki is an adult.. It is a little inappropriate to an extent. I personally think it is kind of unfair to say Nicki is being appropriate when Marilyn did the same thing (expressing them selves) Part of why Marilyn is considered such an icon is because she was the first to do this. Where Nicki is more of a modern day version.
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