Sex n money

An edited version of the dissertation I wrote for my BA back in 2019 when I was 21. This essay explored the reclamation of wealth and the body by female RnB musicians, as a means of asserting their power, owning their sexuality and taking their representation out of the typical control of male hands, I revisited it a year later and re-wrote it as I found it was still so relevant I really wanted to get it out there for people to read and give me feedback on.

SEX’N’MONEY : NEW FEMINIST REPRESENTATIONS IN RNB MUSIC. 

By Daisy Riley 

INTRODUCTION: 

 Considering RnB music as an ever-more influential cultural discourse, as it has found it’s way into the mainstream UK music scene (although often from the US) I have become  increasingly interested in the changing representation of women that has also found its way into the spotlight. 

From watching recent RnB videos, and the controversy they inspired I saw that the relationship between female artists and their own bodies was changing – or perhaps not changing, but finally shifting into the spotlight. Seeing so many female artists in a genre generally viewed through a male gaze proving that multiple aspects of womanhood can co-exist, means to my mind we are seeing a truer representation of women’s power than ever before. 

In this essay I focused on the case studies of three videos that I deemed to show new reclamations of femininity – Pynk by Janelle Monae (2016), MILF$ by Fergie (2018) and WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion (which isn’t RnB but I’ll explain myself!). Analysing these sources brought around revelations about women’s claim on the masculine imagery of ‘sex’ and ‘money’ and he way that these terms have been re-defined to sell RnB music to a more aware audience. 

 RnB of ofcourse, has a long and interesting history, intertwined with race, gender and the individuality of those who perform it. Perhaps due to it’s surge into the mainstream, and consequential blending with the ‘sex-sells’ world of pop, RnB songs have (generally) historically had quite a lot of focused on two things; sex and money.  

I have been battling this essay to maintain a read-able workcount, so please forgive the lack of conversation around the rich history of this genre - and it’s interesting feminist past - as I chose to focus on the current representations I have been seeing and what they mean for women in the present, to enable me to reach deeper levels of investigation on a smaller topic. 

In the past perhaps these two traits (sex and money) may have been a means of differentiating the sexes: women being sexualised for promotion and profit, while men showed off their wealth, using expensive things to show off their manliness and using money to, in turn, attract women. However it has become apparent that something has changed. 

Instead of being objectified in RnB music videos, women are starting to challenge stereotypes, to self-commodify, to transgress past their set ‘boundaries’ and to empower themselves in the process.  

My original case studies here were two music videos made in recent years, by American Female musicians and producers, which subvert the norms that we have come to expect from RnB music videos. They are; Milf$ by Fergie (2017) because it reclaims the role of the mother and her milk as something powerful and beautiful, and Pynk by Janelle Monae (2018) because it celebrates the female body, it’s reproductive power, and it’s sexuality. I selected these videos because they are recent examples of the ways that female RnB musicians are using  4th wave of feminism to combat sexism in a new way. 

As mentioned above the recent video for WAP is something I decided to include too. It may not be RnB but more of a Hip Hop/Pop genre, but I couldn’t help myself from including it as it fits into this essay so perfectly, as the video explores not the natural reproductive body, or the ageing mothers body, but the strong, independent, powerful side of women who are embracing and asserting their own sexual desires, their own attractiveness and their own bodies from a sexual perspective - and is the latest example of women sending shockwaves across the internet because they talked about sex.

In this research project many influential theorists have driven the discourse, however there are a few concepts that are integral to the approach that I took. 4th wave feminism is the underlying link between these videos and their potential for reclamation and celebration. This perspective is new, often powered by modern communication methods like technology, the internet and social media where music videos now exist and are discussed on an equal platform. It is a ‘wave’ that retains ‘a desire for empowerment without telling women how to experience their sexuality’ (Phoca & Wright, 1999, pg. 171). The different but equally true representations of female sexuality and power in these videos are a great demonstration of 4th wave feminists using personal empowerment to strive for collective empowerment. 

There is also a lot of importance in the concept of the female gaze here, it can be argued to be the defining factor that makes these videos different to those which came before, which were made by men, for men (Pynk and Milf$ had female directors, WAP had a male director but female co-creative director). As discussed by Theorists Gamman and Marshment the gaze is very important to any debate here, as the gaze through which we are viewing the performers needs to be considered to understand how they are intending for viewers to understand their message.

First I explore the monetary aspects to these videos, and the way that ‘wealth’ and value are dealt out differently for men and for women in terms of erotic capital, social capital, cultural capital and of course also the typical economic capital that these successes bring. And for this chapter will draw strongly on the discussion of these different sorts of capital by Catherine Hakam and Bordieu. This chapter will also explore the means by which these capitals are acquired, in non-traditional ways by considering the new working body. (Now, when I use the term ‘the working body’ I mean the body as it goes through change and has to work (e.g. women giving birth), but also literally the body that has been exercised and changed and put to work to achieve specific goals related to gender (e.g. for a woman to appear slim to fit societal standards))

After this I will delve into exploring the feminine body and the way that the bodies of the performers are represented; their styling, their actions, their movements, the colours and textures used and the way that these directorial choices affect the representation of the musicians gender and sexuality. 

Obviously media theory in relation to feminism is vital here, as my texts all take a media format, are often shown and discussed on media platforms, and often are the products of musicians who are part of the celebrity world. I will consider both the semiotics of the images – using Barthes development of Saussure’s theory to look at the signs and signifiers in the videos and their potential meanings, and the rhetoric of the lyrics. I will apply some cinematic theory to analyse the moving image, for example Mary Kelley’s work on images and desire, in which she considers the ways that women are rejecting the ascribed images that they see of themselves in the media, and also work by Laura Mulvey on pleasure and cinema, in which she gives simple description of the way that the male gaze is implemented through film and the consequences it has; ‘in a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly’ - but we’ll see about that!

However as we must remember music videos are in part advertisements, or at least promotional content, so when they do try to promote a feminist message it suggests a change in what their audiences are looking for too, and the line between real activism and jumping on a trend can be hard to find.

Delving into the differing but equally interesting reflections on femininity in these videos Pynk is the most physically exploratory. It uses obvious imagery of vaginas and lyrics about inside the female body – even when referring to sex most other artists would never use such obvious/explicit imagery, and if they do show the female body it would be done in a sexualised way, not in an artistic, beautiful, natural way. This video also references some phallic symbols, and some potentially non-heterosexual interactions – which are usually only in RnB music videos for the pleasure of the male protagonists, so there’s a lot to talk about there. MILF$ is interesting because of its focus on specifically mothers instead of single young women; and not as celibate older role models, or as ‘forbidden fruit’ who are sexualised by young men – but as just normal, sexy women in their own right, who love themselves and empower themselves by embracing their natural femininity.  WAP is straight up about sex, something lots of female rappers & RnB artists are comfortable talking about, however it raised a lot of eyebrows and drew a lot of criticism, which I found to be such an interesting representation of both sides of the debate and the varying ways these kinds of topics can be interpreted. All of these videos are about women taking power from their own bodies and their own abilities, and transgressing past the boundaries set around them. Obviously this is not an extensive list of progressive feminist artists who break these boundaries, but these case studies just give very clear examples of the larger issues at hand and the broader stereotypes and ‘rules’ that are being knocked down by the fourth wave.

CHAPTER ONE: 

MONEY: The working body and its economic status. 

As briefly mentioned in my introduction, wealth is a huge theme in the RnB music world. So seeing these case studies in which women flex their economic muscles and show their own value is a welcome change for me, for others it is controversial. In discussing the bodies of Janelle Monae and Fergie, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion as ‘working bodies’ I am referring to several things, which it may be best to define again quickly now. 

Under this term I will consider the physical activity of the body in these videos (natural or by choice), so; exercise and fitness, ageing – and working (plastic surgery/makeup) to prevent it, the physical work of motherhood and birth, and also the more literal work of having a job and making the money, all through a feminist viewpoint. 

Generally speaking, the obsession with showing off wealth is about displaying an artists success, and ultimately their power (as we are all very aware by now, money is the most common route to power at many levels) As women reclaim this power in the videos for Milf$, Pynk and WAP, money actually becomes a less important part of their ‘wealth’, and we see female power stemming not just from these women’s growing wallets but from their physical bodies, their strong personalities, and their minds.

In Milf$ Fergie is more than happy show off her very toned body, she obviously keeps herself fit and is confident in this. She is surrounded by famously ‘fit’ other celebrity mothers. The typically beautiful bodies used in this video are potentially controversial. While I see a video in which women are showing they can still be sexy, powerful and successful after becoming mothers, I can also understand seeing a video which excludes the ‘average’ or mothers body and presents an unrealistic image of perfection, as in truth it only features tall slim models and curvy Kardashians – body types that are not easily achieved for many women, and may arguably only be in the video for promotional gain. 

I would put forward the argument that yes, the women in the video are all beautiful, but they are also all very wealthy, famous, talented, successful mothers and I believe that this is the reason they feature in the video – their generally accepted ‘beauty’ is, I would argue, a by product of these other successes. 

Looking in turn at Pynk, the ‘fitness’ of the womens bodies is considered very differently, in a way that makes sense in relation to the songs focus on the power of the natural body the figures in the video present a much less ‘extreme’ image of beauty, one where the bodies appear naturally strong and healthy. In this video we actually do see a group of women working out together. They are not aggressively pumping iron, sweating in a gym, but doing gentle, pulsing exercises together outdoors – if anything this is a little humorous and light-hearted compared to Milf$’s very sexualised and serious dancing. 

It is interesting to look at the reasons that women may have for exercising their bodies; is it to keep themselves looking ‘beautiful’, is it to gain physical strength and power, is it for mental relaxation or escape, to compete in a sport, to get healthier, as a career or simply because they enjoy it? In this analysis it may be useful to consider the idea of body works by Shilling (1992) which defines the reasons people may work out as ‘body work’ – working to meet a short term goal (e.g. trying to go to the gym 4 times in a week) or a ‘body project’ – which would be working towards a long term goal (e.g. growing your hair or training for a marathon in a years time). The choices to undertake either bodywork or a body project may stem from personal preferences and goals, or from outside pressures, only the individual undertaking the work could determine their own reasoning. However in this kind of context it gives a big opportunity for viewers to critique the artists body work in comparison to their own views and ideals. 

One could argue that these videos back up the myth of stereotypical beauty equalling natural health, (which obviously is not always true) however due to the array of different body types, and inclusion of bodies that have been famously altered by surgery, in these  videos they seem to me, through a 4th wave feminist perspective, to say that fitness, cultural capital and success are not given to women. But they are now things that women can choose to achieve, just as men can.

As discussed by Janice Miller (2011) female musicians do work in a context that carries very high expectations about what their bodies should look like, and because of this, their position offers ‘an opportunity to, in turn, consider how some forms of embodiment can be understood to resist such limitations’. (Pg. 3) Meaning that women are aware of the pressures placed on their every choice, and can use their platforms to resist the expectations put upon them. I believe it would be short sighted to dismiss these videos as ‘shock value’ pieces or as stereotypical, sexist RnB content. When they could so easily be interpreted as progressive, boundary breaking pieces which demonstrate how women can use their own bodies to resist the limitations placed upon them – in a world where women loving and embracing all parts of themselves could be considered rare these videos show just that – women loving all sides of themselves. 

Myra Macdonald (1995) writes that ‘the body has historically been much more integral to the formation of identity for women than men’ and so when females think about their body they have to think about defining their femininity through their body. They have to consider all of the work it does and all of the things that can damage their image or limit their perceived power: menstruation, the pain of gynaecological disorders, changes by childbirth, sense of loss from loosing a breast or loosing their hair, etc. This vital importance of the body for women is something enforced by the patriarchal dominance in the RnB world – and in the wider world in general, but it has not been understood enough to make allowances for the feelings of women when they are told their bodies are ‘wrong’. 

in regards to body work in WAP its very obvious that both women’s bodies work hard - they are both fit, both dancing, both able to do the splits.. it is also very obvious from the lyrics and the visuals just how much these womens bodies are worth. In other words how much erotic capital they posess. This is abundantly obvious from many aspects of the video. The revealing, confident outfits that are worn emphasise the curves of these artists and being inside a lavish mansion with giant golden butts and breasts on the walls it’s obvious what their ‘prized’ posessions are. The mansion features a giant front garden with a huge fountain depicting nude women outside, and as we move through several rooms the links between these womens bodies and their wealth – or their power - become ever more evident. We see strong links to nature throughout, with Cardi in a leopard print room and Megan in a white tiger printed room. Of course these 2 big cats work on a simple level as references to the ‘pussy’ in the title, just as the snakes in another room could be a phallic symbol, however to my mind two powerful big cats (a species where females do the hunting, childbirth, dictate to the male when to mate, and have a lot of control over the pack) work on a deeper level to symbolise the long established link between femininity, power and the natural world. (Think mother nature, natural goddesses, witches and the creation of life…) 

It is important to consider all of the meanings or connotations of a text when utilising Critical Discourse Analysis as I am in this essay, to correctly understand the power structures in these videos. I must consider not only the bodies themselves, but also the locations these bodies act in, the clothing they wear and the social status of the bodies; along with much more. 

While WAP takes place in this mansion full of powerful women, and Milf$ takes place in a glowing white set and retro neighbourhood full of stereotypical housewives, Pynk then seems to exist in a timeless fantasy world. The women in the video wear girly pink clothing, things that feminine teenagers may wear. They move in spaces that remind the viewer of a teenage dream; singing and dancing in a roofless vintage car, lounging by a swimming pool, and even having a sleepover situation in a teenage bedroom.  This suggests that women can still have innocent fun at any age (regardless of the expectations placed on an aging women), and provides a safe, familiar setting for Janelle to gently raise questions about the work of the female body and why it has become so taboo. 

One setting that interestingly appears in both Pynk and Milf$ is that of an old-fashioned, retro diner. I had several ideas as to why this may be the case. First perhaps it is to show how far we have come, the era of the diner was also an era of housewives and sexist stereotypes. So perhaps having the old retro diner as a setting  just contrasts with past ideas of the location, and even present-day ideas about diners as stops for truck drivers and local men. These women are reclaiming this masculine space together. 

Time is a vital element of both videos as feminism is hugely related to the passing and changing of time and of the different issues and work women face as they age. For example different generations of feminists would be shocked by the newer interpretations of feminism, 3rd wave feminists who ‘burnt their bras’ would be shocked to see young women today celebrating their equality by wearing less clothes and emphasising their feminine traits. 

This sense of new work coming with age is an especially prevalent area of discussion in Fergie’s Milf$ which focuses heavily on the characteristics assumed of women when they reach motherhood, and the way that women can transcend these stereotypical ‘roles’ to work their bodies in different ways.  

Milf$ opens to a pastel coloured scene of glamorous celebrity mothers looking after their own matriarchal neighbourhood. They trim hedges and stand outside their beautifully cared-for houses perfectly filling their apparent housewife roles. Chrissie Tegan is breastfeeding when the milkman passes and frowns at his gaze, in fact every woman he sees frowns at his presence. His intimidated but also infatuated reaction makes it obvious that these women hold some kind of power over him. Breastfeeding in public is an ever popular issue, something natural and harmless, but which many people claim to find offensive to see in public, yet here it is in the first 30 seconds of a music video. Fergie’s decision to include this specific scene does suggest that feminism is something she has considered for this video, It’s not just another sexy RnB video, but a 4th wave feminist expression of women’s wealth, power and the strength they gain from the capital of own bodies and motherhood. 

All of the mothers in this video are famous mothers. They appear beautiful and sexy, something we often see of celebrities, but not something we often see represented of mothers. Once a woman becomes a mother, we, as a society, tend to dismiss their sexuality and see them as old, innocent and ultimately of little ‘use’. These mothers are all famous for their beauty, their bodies, their success, their social media presence –not traits one would necessarily link to a mother figure. We see lot’s of the mothers taking selfies – celebrating their worth with pride, ofcourse they are still attractive and powerful enough to ‘work’ purely by sharing pictures of themselves and making money for it. It’s interesting that taking selfies is specifically included, as people who take selfies are often dismissed and not taken seriously - much like mothers, but in reality can gain a lot from a good photo. 

Milf$’s emphasis on celebrity, money and success in the digital age is even apparent in the songs title – which changes the common abbreviation of Moms I’d Like To Fuck, which is an offensive categorisation and sexualisation of a certain group of women, to Moms I’d Like To Follow. Fergie is replacing the sexual value placed on her with her economic value and power. This is funny, as is the ironic frequent use of the lyric ‘you motherfucker’. It is almost a direct address to the people who dismiss or fetishize mothers, with a masculine confidence, sure to make them uneasy. A classic example of people fetishizing or sexualising mothers in a negative way could be the music video for Stacey’s Mom which shows teenage boys showing an obsessive objectification of a friends mum – largely just because she is a mum and that means she is like ‘forbidden fruit’ or someone you would never expect to have sex appeal. 

Myra Macdonald (1995) wrote that categorising women becomes ‘distinguishing virgins from whores, mothers from sexual beings, ‘feminine’ women from ‘feminists’, or, more banally the beautiful and valued from the ugly and devalued’. Her groupings and comparisons between virginity, motherhood, beauty and value against whores, sexual beings, ugliness and the devalued are very interesting as even though to become a mother you have to be a sexual being, it still seems that once you actually give birth you suddenly become associated with innocence and virginity, and need to maintain these associations to be deemed beautiful, or even acceptable. Each comparison suggests you’re a virgin or a whore, a mother or a sexual being, etc. you cannot be both. Actually both of these videos explicitly show things that relate to both motherhood and the natural power of the working body – but also things that are deemed the ‘ugly’ and taboo parts of womanhood, showing how truly beautiful and natural they are. 

The main example of the ‘taboo’ being shown in the video for Milf$ is the use of milk. Milk is often associated with motherhood, as the ‘mothers milk’ that is given to the baby, but is also often linked to purity, goodness and virginity. Despite its seemingly innocent connotations it is still a taboo part of the female body because it is linked to weakness, and as most people who grew up female know - the working bodily functions and fluids of the female body are often seen as monstrous and not ‘okay’ to discuss.

The use of milk by Fergie is an interesting reclamation of female sexuality and of the power of the working female body. We see her in a bathtub full of milk and pouring a bottle of milk over her self in slow-motion, before seeing shots of all the celebrity mothers pouring milk over their own bodies. This contrast between the ‘goodness’ of the milk and the sexual way the women are using it is in itself a power play, as the successful mothers own their sexuality and are confident enough to use it to discard the stereotypes placed upon them. 

The milk theme continues in the actual lyrics of the song, playing on its likeness to ‘Milf’ and saying ‘let me see your milkshake’. Fergie repeats ‘I got that Milf money’ throughout the song, which is very assertive and powerful, supposedly not typical of the modest housewife she portrays to begin with (although this in turn shows she’s smashing the stereotype of who a housewife can be too). She continues this very confident ‘masculine’ tone saying ‘didn’t mean to make you nervous’ (she totally did) to her intimidated male viewers. As pointed out by Janice Miller (2011) most music videos give women a role of being passive, nurturing, and romantic, there to please the male.

But in this case Fergie literally spells out the word independent in the lyrics, almost patronising patriarchal-minded men as she explains that she is a working mother, and a sexual being. 

As these women reclaim their bodies and free themselves of the ‘housewife’ shackles they previously wore, their value also shifts. Thinking about the other kinds of capital a person could hold (aside from monetary), one may consider Bordeiu’s definition of cultural capital or, more relevant for these videos, Catherine Hakam’s definition of erotic capital (2010). 

In all of these videos cultural capital is important; it is the reason people may watch them, read up about them or understand their references and celebrity cameos. 

Erotic capital is the value and potential for trading of the body and its erotic appeal, along with the power it gives for it’s owner to progress into higher social levels and groups, it is also a vital kind of wealth in these videos. 

Pynk actually references the common phrase ‘sex sells’, when Janelle stands up in pants that say ‘sex cells’. This play on words suggests that she is aware that the sexual nature of her music video and song may help to sell the song, but that these things are just parts of a body. In this scene Janelle and her dancers also display lots of pubic hair, emerging around their underwear; embracing a taboo part of the female body just as Fergie embraces the mothers milk. In defining the taboos of the female body Phoca and Wright (1999) wrote that ‘The abject taboo – for instance bodily fluids – marks the sites which develop into the erotogenic zones…the abject therefor emerges at the symbolic boundary between the inside and outside of the body.’ (67) This explains why the appearance of milk or the focus on the vagina and labia could be seen as so grotesque; they show the inner workings of the female body. They also write that the viewer ‘attempts to expel unlawful objects by an elaborate construction of taboos’, explaining that there is no logical reason for the stigma, apart from a discomfort at the power and sexuality of the female body and it’s erotic capital. 

Janelle and Fergie self-commodify, an example of being sexual not sexualised,  using their own erotic capital, just as in WAP where the whole song is about being sexual. Janice Miller spoke about the equation between femininity and nature which I mentioned briefly above in regards to WAP; a link which is so potent that many cultural practices exist to manage it. We see the references to nature as a source of power in Pynk, with a suggestive oyster bearing its pearl, a symbolic pussycat, the desert landscape, the birdsong, etc. but as Miller writes, this connection is often intensely managed because of ‘an understanding of the female body as inherently transgressive and potentially polluting, a notion provoked by its reproductive power’. 

Other current female musicians are also embracing their cultural capital and moving onto new representations of the female body and it’s potential capital. For example the video for 100 Bad by Tommy Genesis sees her seductively rubbing money all over her body, lying on a bed of tampons and keeping intense, confident eye contact with the camera throughout. Another example of this reclamation of the female body in relation to money and the power women are taking back could be the video for Money by Cardi B where we see her successfully filling multiple roles of confident sexualised stripper, respectable queen in a museum and finally a breastfeeding mother - rejecting the notion that a woman must choose one ‘direction’ while men can have it all. There are so many examples of female musicians from many genres who are saying no to being sexualised by men and are actually expressing themselves, having fun with their cultural and erotic capital, and using it to make their power explicit. Think of Cupcakke’s extremely sexual lyrics and videos like ‘Squidwards Nose’ or Brooke Candy’s queer celebrating and body positive ‘My Sex’ – both center around power and sex, but in NO reading could one claim it was anything other than on her terms. 

On the other hand some women in the industry do still dismiss a sexualised video as something that was created by and for men, and therefor can never be feminist. E.g. the music video for Lilly Allen’s ‘Hard Out Here’ is all about how hard it is to be a woman in the music industry, and how much pressure women are put under to objectify themselves. She complains that women are forced into surgery and forced to dance sexually, etc. This is true. And whether consciously or subconsciously misogynistic values must still play a part in womens lives, because they still rule. However I believe these case studies illustrate how women are beginning to move forwards and clap back at the men who previously controlled them. 

Here is the perfect moment to return to WAP. Considering the body work of both Cardi and Megan it’s obvious they work hard at maintaining their figures. The link between this kind of female power and the power that their money brings is explicitly discussed through the lyrics and the visuals of this song. Both of these women are self-posessed and strongly feminist in other aspects of their lives too, open about their past, always made their own money, never relied on a man, famous in their own right, etc. etc. Neither are meek-mannered or ‘well behaved’ for the sake of causing any man discomfort. 

A key point from this video is the setting. The two women roam the hallways of a huge mansion, with an indoor pool, lavish rooms, even a huge fountain outside. If you didn’t already know much about Cardi or Megan, within the first 10 seconds of the video you know two thing – they are rich, and they are sexy. And from the absence of any men though out the whole video they are rich in their own right, from using their own power, cultural capital and their own bodies. Even the abundance of greenery, wild animals and flowing water in the setting add to the image of these strong women and powerful forces of nature. Their wealth is in abundance and we see this not through flashy cars, cash, or dancing women as we might in a man’s version of this video, but through their home and their lifestyle as a whole – and in their unflinching confidence towards the camera. 

It may also be worth noting that Cardi is herself a mother, and while this video doesn’t dwell on that as much as Fergie’s ‘MILF$’ it kind of serves the same purpose – mothers cannot be tied down to one stereotype or definition, and are just as powerful as ever. 

For a further analysis of WAP and the huge wealth (of many kinds) that it represents I would turn to the colours and styling of the video, with bright bold colours and lots of greenscreen usage the video feels somewhat like a childish fantasy, although what is going on in these lavish corridors is not at all for children. The bold colours and patterns, to me, show defiance and bravery – a disregard for fitting into any certain box, and rich textiles like the animal print walls or the golden sculptures tie in here to relate literal wealth and power back to a feminine power and a wealth of talents. 

Both of these ladies are renowned for being sexy and being in control, neither would shy away from a risqué outfit, or from a fight. They are extremely feminine in one sense – as they are highly sexual, curvy, made up and beautiful, however they are also both extremely masculine – not afraid to speak their minds, earn their money or tread on toes. I think one of the most powerful elements of this song is that they knew (they definitely knew) that it would spark controversy. Several of their previous songs have done the same, so teaming up for a song literally titled ‘Wet Ass Pussy’ was a bold move. This strength to break boundaries expecting push back is such a power move, and judging by the amount of views and listens the song had, a money move too.

Some of the lyrics explain the use of their erotic capital to gain financial capital, there are lots to choose from: 

“put this pussy right in your face, swipe your nose like a credit card” 

“ask for a car while you ride that dick” 

“pussy A1 just like his credit” 

“I don’t cook, I don’t clean, but let me tell you how I got this ring” 

I find it interesting that people are upset about women describing these aspects of sex, and saying that they can use them for financial gain. Do these same people express concern about the men (or other genders) who pay for women’s OnlyFans accounts or pay for strippers or sex workers? Do these people express concern about young male celebrities posing topless for their female fans? Do these people complain when Tyga says ‘I got a badass bitch just bouncing on my dick’? Rae Sremmurd can say ‘how you movin you deserve a couple racks’ or T Pain can literally have a song called F.B.G.M (fuck bitches get money) So why is it an insult when a woman is the one gaining something? 

For these women to so obviously flip the script and do all of these things for themselves, with a wink and a tongue in cheek, is incredibly powerful, and from the complaints it’s getting is obviously shaking the patriarchy to its foundations. 

All three of these videos do still flaunt wealth much like a typical RnB video would, however they represent a much broader and more valuable kind of wealth. We see these women in solid possession of their own lives, flaunting their physical strength and value, their cultural and erotic capital, the rewards of a woman’s working body and finally the literal economic profits that these other kinds of wealth can bring. 

CHAPTER 2: 

SEX: The sexualised body and gender 

From the sexualised, often ‘offensive’ lyrics to the videos full of gyrating and thrusting bodies, sex is one of the biggest topics in RnB music. However as we see women reclaiming their bodies in Milf$ and Pynk the meanings behind sex and sexuality are changing. As for WAP – Hip Hop could also be said to focus on sex a lot, as well as on wealth, lifestyle etc, and the women in the genre have often been just as explicit as the men – so why does it still cause shock waves? Because now women are being sexual for themselves – not for men, and that, apparently, is not okay. 

Janice Miller (2011) writes that ‘the control and censorship to which the female body is subject has focused largely on containing female sexuality and, in particular, managing at best ambivalent emotions felt in relation to the female role in reproduction. These are focused on concerns about the power this gives women’. (Preach!) If so much oppression of women is based upon a fear of women’s sexual and reproductive power, then these videos unapologetic displays of both female sexuality and the theme of reproduction (or, equally powerful, their desire to have sex without pregnancy or birth as the goal) are a definite attack on the systems that aim to censor them. 

An example of this rebellion and reclamation of the female body in Pynk would be the large ‘vagina trousers’ worn by Janelle and her dancers. This was relatively shocking to some viewers, in many music videos women can be almost entirely naked, but never would you see their actual reproductive organs. Here we see the female sexual organs as beautiful, soft and natural. The lyrics of Pynk are also very natural and follow a similar soft approach to the subject, instead of harsh, explicit words. 

For example we hear the line ‘pink like the inside of your, baby’, ‘pink behind all of the doors, crazy’, ‘pink like the lips around your... Pink like the skin that’s under…pink where it’s deepest inside’ and ‘pink like the tongue that goes round’. Each line does seem to reference a woman’s insides, or sexual contact, but never explicitly says it. Something that lots of modern RnB is less discrete about.We know that Janelle is not afraid of directly talking about the female body – she’s wearing part of it – so perhaps this gentle approach through the lyrics is to show that female bodies can be gently admired – not just harshly sexualised, but also works to demonstrate the way that the female body is discussed in public. E.g. someone talking about their period may say they’re ‘on’ but not ‘on my period’, or someone talking about a woman’s vagina may use a number of euphemisms instead of the real terminology.

Using CDA to further analyse the meanings of sexuality in these videos we can reveal more about how language is used to create specific meanings (Handers & Machin, 2013). For example analysing the choices of words reveals certain meanings that may otherwise have been hidden. Like both videos over-lexicalisation of their title words: Milk and Pink. The ‘M’ sounds in Fergie’s Milk, Milf and Motherfucker’s creates lots of maternal, motherly, soft M sounds, so that it almost sounds delicious. While the P’s in pink are cute little pops of energy. In WAP the sexual language is much more direct, as Megan and Cardi are literally talking about sex. They both rap quickly, really emphasising words with what could be anger or passion. Similarly to Pynk there are lots of euphamisms, but here with a sexier and more fun tone; 

“I want you to park that big Mack truck, Right in this little garage” 

“ Not a garden snake, I need a king cobra” 

These make sex seem something fun in it’s own right, not just something serious done to show love or for reproduction. These thinly veiled euphamisms are cut with extremely direct lines, said in confident first person as the women specifically tell listeners what it is that they want. To me this is a very welcome change, in many songs of similar topic I find that female artists say they do things for a man, or make him enjoy something, or that he wants them to do something, so they do. For these women to look deadpan down the camera and say things like 

 “I don't wanna spit, I wanna gulp
I wanna gag, I wanna choke” 

is so direct. Perhaps this sureness is what has made so many listeners uncomfortable, and made so many others so excited. 

Analysing the sounds of music itself is also exposing. Pynk is an upbeat, light-hearted song with a confident, comfortable beat. It is reminiscent of the pop music that young teens or young women may listen to. It’s easy to listen to and sets a happy mood with lots of repetition which adds to the feeling of familiarity and comfort, while also pushing the natural message forward as the song literally reproduces itself. As mentioned previously the vagueness of the lyrics in Pynk could be a hint at Janelle’s frustration at the censorship of the female body. Milf$ is different because it is much more of a typical RnB song, with a tempo that changes throughout, moving from fast to slow as if demonstrating how mothers can still be unpredictable and energetic. 

It is interesting to me to think about the snakes in the WAP video, they’re pretty obvious phallic symbols, but also something more. The women are laying down in sexy underwear, with snakes writhing over them, perhaps submitting to the male presence, or perhaps becoming snake charmers themselves.. There are actually so many connotations you could read into this scene, from their relationship with men to a sexual innuendo. The way the women kind of ignore the snakes as they slide on top of them (something that would make many people squeamish) shows how while they may desire sex, they don’t necessarily need a man. There are also natural elements to the animals and the sand, which as I have discussed previously depict the natural power of women. There are even some connotations back to the creation of man with Adam and Eve – a story which to my mind (although it may be controversial) has been somewhat twisted to place autonomous women in a bad light right from the beginning of time. Is a woman’s desire for knowledge (and independence) such a crime? But that’s a whole different discussion. 

In Pynk, we also see images of phallic symbols – but here they are being destroyed: a woman punching a long tall boxing post, a pink baseball bat swinging between a dancers legs and a melting popsicle. McRobbie (2009) talks about a ‘phallic girl’ who behaves like a man (casual sex, smoking, drinking, etc.) in order to be respected like a man, but this is quite a third wave approach. The performers in these songs adopt masculine character traits (confidence, strength, honesty, not afraid or shy) while maintaining their feminine ones. It’s important to not only note the masculine imagery presented in Pynk, but also the bi-sexual and lesbian imagery. We see a woman’s hands gripping silky pink sheets in pleasure even though there is no man around, we see a woman slide her finger into the doughnut hole, we see two womens tongues on each other and see women embracing. This is all kind of unusual imagery for an RnB music video, but is not unusual for Janelle’s videos (as Janelle herself is pansexual several of her videos veer away from presenting strictly heterosexual relationships). This makes her music very personal, because it is not generic RnB music about money and hetero-centered sex, it is about her own sexuality, including a cameo by her rumoured partner and sharing confidential lyrics like ‘pink is my favourite part’. 

Coming around to analyse representations of sexuality in Milf$ we see a song where even the title mentions fucking (although it’s been changed to mean ‘following’, possibly just to reach a wider, younger audience) and the video re-legitimises a mother with her own sexual desires and powers. We actually do see a few men in this video, but their roles in it are not the expected power roles we are used to, they are more typically feminine roles of service and submission. We see men massaging women while topless, serving them drinks or delivering shoes to them, a full reversal to the power dynamics in the western countries where these artists work. 

While discussing these issues of feminism it is important to look at the intersectional elements of these videos. While I cannot go into great detail on intersectional issues in this essay (there’s a lot to talk about), it is important to note that two of these artists are African-American, One is Dominican, and one is white. Therefor they will have almost certainly had totally different experiences growing up as women and faced many different feminist and racial struggles each. For example over how to wear their hair, what parts of their bodies were sexualised, what other intersections of oppression they faced, and how they were taught to feel about it. Nicola Rivers (2017) made an interesting point about the difference in concern shown to female artists who are white. She suggests that when a white female artist appears to be sexualised by her industry viewers are concerned, while black female artists (who have been exposed to a lot more sexualisation in the RnB industry) are treated with in difference when they appear to be exploited – or are even seen as being ‘to blame’. Rivers suggested that this is because western societies tend to see white bodies as ‘innocent and in danger of corruption’ while black bodies are ‘sexually licentious’ (pg. 35) For example artists like Nicki Minaj are demonised as ‘bad influences’ while white celebrities like Miley Cyrus evoke a parental like concern when they appear to be sexualised. These double standards may explain why the expression of sexuality in each video is so different. Perhaps Janelle is encouraging black women to embrace their beauty and love their bodies without falling into the trap of being looked down upon for being a sexually empowered black woman. Cardi and Meg take another powerful approach, sexualising themselves whilst very clearly stating this is what I want, not anyone else, I am in charge, and I am not dangerous because of it. Fergie then takes a different approach, sexualising herself to prove that white women are not ‘the victim’. There is so much more to unpack here -it’s a whole different essay, but any feminist discussion needs to consider the topics intersections. 

The colours, textures and styles of their clothing, the settings, the lighting and editing are important aspects here which control the ways the bodies are presented. It has all been carefully considered to give the videos a certain feel and make a certain impression. Starting with Pynk, which already has strong links to colour from its title and lyrics, we see the use of this colour throughout; a pink desert, flashes of pink, women in pink clothes and a pink car. This stamps femininity onto the video within the first few seconds (as the colour has been associated with girls in recent history) Pink has been assigned to women for a long time as the choice for baby girls, for representation of breast cancer, for dressing Barbie dolls, etc. But has also recently become trendy as ‘millennial pink’, so the focus on pink here could be about this historical link to the colour, and the new reclamation of the colour by feminists, but also because this is the colour of certain parts of the female body. Mulvey (2010) believes that the new overly-feminine approach to feminism by showing women to be in excess of all their expected stereotypes, actually destroys the structures that try to control them, as women find an ironic way to criticize the ways that have been oppressed in the past.  Almost as if they are sourly doing what they have been told, but doing it to such a extreme that they end up mocking the instruction. 

The colours in Milf$ are also carefully orchestrated. We see an opening scene in all pastels and overly feminine styling of the housewife characters. The housewives channel a 60s vibe, taking viewers back to a more sexist time, this is echoed in the setting of a retro diner where the women are working and dancing. Contrasting with the vintage styling and setting we see two pole dancers (a profession so often looked down upon which needs a great amount of skill, isn’t shameful in the slightest and makes a lot of money.) If there were men watching this display I could understand the argument that the dancers were being objectified, but as they perform amid an all-female group and don’t have anyone staring at them it seems that they are not there for the benefit of any men. Mulvey (1995) wrote that beautiful women present a threat to men and that is why they have so often been controlled; either through fetishizing them and reducing them to only sexual beings, or by forcing them into their ‘due place’ as a housewife. Fergie challenges this, showing herself as both. 

The main colour in Milf$ is an overwhelming amount of white. It is a colour with many associations; the young girl, the sacrificial virgin, the pure bride, etc. and its link to the mothers’ milk just adds power to its usage here. Milk is both a symbol of purity and a symbol of weakness; even as far back as the 1600s when Shakespeare wrote King Lear, a play laden with references to milk as symbolic of cowardice and a lack of ‘manliness’. In this video we see the symbol of wholesome motherhood pouring over the sexy bodies of famous mothers, the symbol is being challenged and it’s meaning - changed. It was one of the colours originally associated with feminism (along side gold and purple) by the suffragettes, so Fergie’s excessive use of the colour is a strong link to both the past and the present plights of women.  The stark white backgrounds make the dancers and Fergie demand all attention, this is also in part due to the bright and revealing lighting and the direct eye contact with the camera that hides nothing. The celebrities even all wear stereotypical Barbie-blonde wigs in a final statement against the single-purpose mould that women are forced into. 

Coming back to WAP and it’s styling, we see a lot of looks, the women wear co-ordinating outfits of various colours, bold yellow and pink, dark and dominating black leather, powerful animal prints and unusual contrasting  green and purple. All of these looks are revealing and flatter the womens physical physiques – which makes obvious sense in relation to the song. They also change to match the womens locations, demonstrating how perfectly they belong in this lavish mansion. 

For an unbiased analysis it is important to think about some of the other interpretations of the videos that viewers may have, and to consider the meanings through other perspectives – as every person who is a feminist or victim of sexism will have a unique view. The reason I decided to publish was because of the amount of controversy the WAP video created. 

The other two videos also got a lot of media coverage and were both seen as controversial, and important in conversations about feminism and sexism in the RnB industry. Pynk received a positive reception from lots of women’s publications, praising it as body positive, celebratory of women and the queer community. Despite being more stereotypical of RnB videos Milf$ was a lot more polarising. Some viewers saw it as straight up objectification, others take my opinion that it was a tongue in cheek criticism. While some just say that even the fact it is creating these conversations makes it a good thing. Some reviews even said that she was too old to be doing videos like this, which just acts to prove her point that older women and mothers are discriminated against based on age. 

We need to remember that it is almost impossible to show a real representation of all women in one video. Even images that included a variety of women would be manipulated by the lighting and camera angles, by the sound effects and editing. Representations in media are representations; they are not the original image. So criticisms of media images are of images, not of the real people. 

In looking at the reactions to these videos, it may be useful to also consider their desired outcomes. As after all they are a means of making money for the artist. Andi Zeisler (2018) wrote that ‘feminism has hit the big time’ (pg1) and I would have to agree. 

 ‘Once a dirty word brushed away with a grimace, “feminist” has been rebranded as a shiny label sported by movie and pop stars, fashion designers, and multi-hyphenate powerhouses like Beyoncé. It drives advertising and marketing campaigns for everything from wireless plans to underwear to perfume, presenting what’s long been a movement for social justice as just another consumer choice in a vast market.’

Considering our generational desire to be ‘woke’, one needs to consider that some people may choose to like and associate themselves with these videos or artists purely because of the feminist statements they make. Knowing this the artists may have employed feminism in order to draw in an audience. Feminism is trendy again, so of course it is something that celebrities are going to promote. 

What sways me to believing these artists wanted to raise real issues not just cash in on a trend are the finer details of their songs & their backgrounds. 

They are all very famous and could make a lot of money without having to jump on bandwagons. Fergie herself is 45 years old and a mother, she has been in the industry for a long time, so the issues raised in MILF$ are ones personal to her. The same can go for Janelle Monae who is a pansexual artist and is pretty consistently prasied as an intersectional feminist, other songs on her album Dirty Computer center on queerness and reject white feminism so it seems something she really cares about. Even in side projects she always takes part in projects with meaning – like the films Moonlight or Hidden Figures. It would be hard to argue that a career long commitment to these issues was a fake one. As for Cardi and Megan, both have shot to fame relatively quickly and both seem to never be afraid to speak their minds. They happily discuss sex and desires in music and interviews, and stick up for what they believe in (or do what they want to do) with a strength of character that seems not to care what other people think. – See Cardi B publicly fighting with Nicki Minaj or speaking up about politics on her social media, and Megan thee Stallion speaking up about protecting black women and calling out Tory Lanez. Women going with the flow of trends just for their careers probably wouldn’t do such risky things, they would stick to ‘pretty’ versions of feminism. 

The concept of erotic capital was discussed in chapter one, in relation to the ‘wealth’ that women have due solely to their bodies. But moving away from economic values, it is important to also think about erotic capital as in way that possessing such a capital changes the way women view themselves. Catherine Hakam, the controversial pioneer in discussions of erotic capital, wrote that it is something becoming increasingly important as it affects marriage, social order, work, mating, the media, etc. She also states that there is a big difference between the erotic capital possessed by men, and that possessed by women. Women have historically worked harder on their eroticism, and therefor have much more of it to exploit.

If erotic capital is possessed mainly by women, perhaps that’s why it has not been considered in a lot of theory, and has often been dismissed as nonsense. Meaning the power of the female body and its sexuality hasn’t been explored in terms of its economic value, at least not further than the basic fact that sex sells. 

MILF$ utilises the sexuality of many famous women, and presents an image of a different sort of femininity, where women can buy ‘all these rocks…working all week’ and demand ‘where the hell is my drink’, but can simultaneously say that her ‘hair and nails is on fleek’ without loosing any credibility by talking about what are sometimes considered trivial, or unimportant ‘girly’ topics. Again, this is very fourth wave, compare it to Pink’s very third wave song ‘Stupid girls’ and you can see it is a much more inclusive approach. 

These songs are about self discovery. In Pynk we discover our own bodies and their reproductive power, in WAP we discover our own autonomy over our bodies and their erotic capital, while in Milf we discover our own sexual validity despite whatever box we are put into (e.g. mother or older). Perhaps some of the controversy around these videos comes from a feminine fear of discovering our own power and facing the paranoid backlash of a misogynistic fearful reaction (such as slut shaming, body shaming, age discrimination, the construction of taboos and the social awkwardness they create, etc.) Afterall if this natural, sexual power is the reason the woman is censored by man in the first place, well, who ever felt the need to control something that did not threaten them? 

CONCLUSION: 

To reach any kind of conclusion about these specific videos and their utilisation of sex and money to create feminist conversation, we need to really consider how much power the videos hold. Not the power of the women themselves which I have discussed as something growing stronger through these new representations.  In considering the value of these music videos I see two opposing points. One, defined by Railton (2011) is that music videos do not accurately reflect reality, but they are part of the media field which produces our reality. So for artists who try to invoke real changes to our reality this seems a valid way of doing so. In western culture everyone looks up to celebrities, so seeing these positive displays in music videos could really influence women to reclaim their sexuality, and cash in on the work they have done – and men to alter their perspectives. However I considered another view while reading the work of Brian Longhurst (2007) who wrote said ‘on the one hand, individuals in a social context are affected by the media …on the other hand .. Individuals are seen to use the media to satisfy certain wants and needs’. What he is saying here is that actually the audience define what the media presents, because the media is always trying to cater to their desires and, in the case of music videos, are trying to make a desirable image to promote and sell music. If one were to follow this perspective it would mean that these videos may be creating feminist representations, but they are not necassarily feminist statements by the artists themselves, they are just commercial decisions.  Videos made to be feminist because that is what viewers are interested in right now. 

From a personal perspective, as I explained in the last chapter, I believe that these videos do represent things that the artists themselves believe in, looking at their other work and interviews, etc. it does seem that they genuinely care. However there was also a definite consideration of what an audience would want to see, as they would not have made these videos if no one would watch them. Either way the fact that these videos are being made, and that they are being accepted is a good thing. These are not alternative or underground artists, they are all very popular mainstream musicians, so bringing such controversy, questions and ideas into the broader concioisness of consumers can only be a good thing, right? These videos all feature women grouped together with other women, and seeing big groups of extremely influential women sending out these messages together, with not a man in sight gives me a lot of hope, and enjoyment. There are so many other artists in Rnb and Hip Hop (and other genres) who are creating music and videos like this now that it does seem the tides are turning, and reveals a change in our attitude towards acceptance of the female body, it’s sexuality, it’s ability and it’s power.  

TBH even if these women are totally cashing in on a trend and sexualising themselves for money (which I don’t believe they are) – GOOD ON THEM! Men have been using them long enough why shouldn’t they benefit from their own bodies too?!

IMAGE SOURCES: 

Fig. 1  - Pynk by Janelle Monae, posted to YouTube July 2016, at 0:44 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYvlVR_BEc

Fig. 2 – MILF$ by Fergie, posted to YoutTube April 2018, at 0:47 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsUWK-fixiA

Fig. 3  -  WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion posted to youtube August 2020, at 0:27 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsm4poTWjMs

Fig. 4 - WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion posted to youtube August 2020, at 2:06-2:24 sec,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsm4poTWjMs

Fig. 5 - MILF$ by Fergie, posted to YoutTube April 2018, at 1:20 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsUWK-fixiA

Fig. 6 - MILF$ by Fergie, posted to YoutTube April 2018, at 0:28 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsUWK-fixiA

Fig. 7 - MILF$ by Fergie, posted to YoutTube April 2018, at 2:04 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsUWK-fixiA

Fig. 8 - MILF$ by Fergie, posted to YoutTube April 2018, at 2:23 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsUWK-fixiA

Fig. 9 - Pynk by Janelle Monae, posted to YouTube July 2016, at 2:06 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYvlVR_BEc

Fig. 10 - WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion posted to youtube August 2020, at 0:07 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsm4poTWjMs

Fig. 11 - WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion posted to youtube August 2020, at 0:47 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsm4poTWjMs

Fig. 12 - Pynk by Janelle Monae, posted to YouTube July 2016, at 1:03 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYvlVR_BEc

Fig. 13 - WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion posted to youtube August 2020, at 0:46 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsm4poTWjMs

Fig. 14 - Pynk by Janelle Monae, posted to YouTube July 2016, at 0:28 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYvlVR_BEc

Fig. 15 - MILF$ by Fergie, posted to YoutTube April 2018, at 2:34 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsUWK-fixiA

Fig. 16 - MILF$ by Fergie, posted to YoutTube April 2018, at 2:21 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsUWK-fixiA

Fig. 17 - Fig. 11 - WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion posted to youtube August 2020, at 1:37 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsm4poTWjMs

Fig. 18 - Fig. 11 - WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion posted to youtube August 2020, at 2:16 sec, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsm4poTWjMs

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