Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
W.A.P. By Cardi B Feat. Megan Thee Stallion Can Be Liberation From Purity Culture

W.A.P. By Cardi B Feat. Megan Thee Stallion Can Be Liberation From Purity Culture

Last updated on: June 28, 2023 at 5:00 am by Matthew Distefano

0 Comments

W.A.P. By Cardi B Feat. Megan Thee Stallion Can Be Liberation From Purity Culture 2023-06-27T15:38:51-06:00 Matthew Distefano

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A lot of people reading this are not going to agree with me. Some of you will be out-and-out furious with what I have to say. But I’ve never been one to shy away from controversy and I’m not going to start now.

The song W.A.P. by Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion, aside from being an absolute bop, is women’s liberation at its finest. Sure, it’s full of vulgarity and raunchiness. White evangelicals will squirm in their pews upon listening. Conservative politicians will consider placing a ban on it. But isn’t that kind of the point? Isn’t the point to make certain people feel uncomfortable? That’s often the hallmark of good art, to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.

Obviously, if you’re a hip-hop head like me, the point of this song is crystal clear. Generally speaking (and not just in hip-hop, but everywhere), it’s men (often but not always white) who are allowed to “behave badly.” After all, do we not live in a culture who rewards promiscuous straight white men with titles like “hustler” and “baller,” while calling the same type of women “slutty” and “skanky?” Oh, and let’s not pretend women of color aren’t treated even worse! If this was a song by a man about how desirable his penis is, we probably wouldn’t even be talking about it. But because it’s a song by two women of color, it still causes waves (even on my Facebook page as of late). And let’s be real: I’m sure Ben Shapiro is still hot and bothered by it (probably in more way than one, though he wouldn’t admit it).

Anyway, while I was within the stifling confines of evangelicalism, it was always assumed that men would be nasty. We weren’t supposed to be, but it was assumed that we would “fall short.” Women, on the other hand, were held to a much higher standard. Fall short, and they would be called “used goods,” or, heaven forbid, what our youth pastor once said, “an already licked lollipop.” Gross, dude. Just gross.

Cardi and Megan just flip this B.S. on its head. And they do so by making some of us uncomfortable. While so much of our culture is centered on men bragging about how many women they’ve slept with (I realize the reality is that most hip-hop is not actually like this, but bear with me), Cardi and Megan flip the script. It’s the two of them who become the braggadocios ones, not the men. It’s a gender role reversal, and I’m here for all of it. When Megan says, “when I ride the d***, I’ma spell my name,” she is staking claim to the man she is sleeping with, whereas the general cultural assumption is that it’s the man’s job to do this. And we don’t even need to be talking about sex here. Historically, we could be talking about land ownership (if you’re white), voting (if you’re white), running for President (if you’re white), etc. (if you’re white). The cultural assumption has always been that it’s a (straight white) man’s world. Megan is just saying, “hold on now…”

In reality, this is what people find offensive. Because let’s keep it all the way 100. We all want to have sex in the way Cardi and Megan talk about having sex. There’s not a man alive that I’ve met who doesn’t want what they are talking about. The offense, then, is that they are talking about it. They are women. And Black (Cardi is also Dominican)! And that’s what offends people, not the things they talk about (which is really what all of us desire for our own sex lives).

This is the precise reason we need art like this. Art should be shocking. When Cardi talks about having a certain body part touching “that dangly thing that swings in the back of my throat,” some of us are shocked. How can a woman say this? How can a Black woman say this? My response is…exactly! The fact that people are offended may in fact be the point. Often, we prove people’s points for them by our actions. This is such a case.

So, my advice is to ask yourself why you are offended by art like this. Is it because you really don’t think people should behave like this? If your wife started spelling her name with her hips as she rides you tonight, are you going to say, “hold on dear…the Lord wouldn’t like that,” or are you going to enjoy yourself? Since we all know it’s the latter, why are you then mad if a woman of color decides to create an absolute banger that I to this day can’t get out of my head? It seems more about your particular sensibilities, perhaps one rooted in a white supremacist, patriarchal culture that wouldn’t give two sh*ts if a man was talking.

Think about that. Or, don’t. I’ma get back to this track, ’cause sometimes it’s funny to drive by the church I used to attend, knowing that what’s coming out the Bang & Olufsen speakers would absolutely trigger them.

Peace.

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Also, if you’ve been digging my work on here, and want to see me be able to continue writing as close to full-time as humanly possible, please take a look at my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/mjdistefano. Even $1 a month helps bigly!

Previous Post

April 21, 2023

Returning To Eden: An Illumination Of The Mysteries

Next Post

August 24, 2023 Donald Trump And Exposing The Religious Right

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I have to admit I was stunned by this show. I couldn't tell if y'all ..."

Bill Bond

Addressing the Recent Heretic Happy Hour ..."

"I'm so perplexed at how people who talk about others (women, immigrants, etc) with such ..."

Paul

Addressing the Recent Heretic Happy Hour ..."

"Guys like Andrew miss the whole point of being Christian, relationship at any cost, hence ..."

Patrick Dennis

I Debated Andrew Wilson, Here’s What ..."

"I went to an evangelical website and ask them why they would vote for Trump ..."

Guerillasurgeon

An Evangelical Case for Trump as ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Book Review Early Church Eschatology eternal torment Hell Hermeneutics LGBTQ+ Mimetic Theory Mysticism News Old Testament Podcast Poetry Politics Prayer Religion Sacrifice Satire Soteriology Theology Uncategorized Violence

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 June 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did God tell Moses from the burning bush?

Select your answer to see how you score.

That he would build the temple That he would be king of Israel That he would lead Israel out of Egypt That he would become Pharaoh

Books by This Author Books by All Set Free

See All Titles »