LAST WEEK, ELLE shared an interview with rapper Nicki Minaj.
The 35-year-old rapper spoke about the fact that she has been in several long-term relationships since she was 15 years old, and she’s only now getting to understand the importance of being single.
Becoming single was one of the things that made me feel strong and powerful. The fact that I am a young woman who doesn’t need a man for money. I don’t need a man for a job. I’ve never had to f**k for beats. I’ve never had to f**k for a record deal. I don’t have those pressures. I get up when I want, shop when I want.
A song from her new album features the lyrics “Abstaining from sex had to zen my body. I ain’t giving, so don’t ask, I don’t lend my body.”
In her Elle interview, Minaj said “It’s okay to keep your legs closed. I don’t really know how to say that without being offensive.” She then expressed concern for women who sell sex, while reflecting on her own career.
I don’t know if I’m doing the same thing they’re doing, because I’m selling sex appeal. So I can’t look down on these girls. I may not be having sex with people, but I’m still selling sex appeal.
However, some Nicki’s comments could definitely be viewed as slut-shaming. At one stage in the interview, she said:
I’d rather you be called snobby, or a bitch or conceited – I’d rather you be called that than easy, and a ho, and a slut.
One Twitter user read the interview and was furious. He wrote:
Your lyrics are hypocritical. You went over to Elle Magazine to slut shame certain types of women, cause that wasn’t your route (allegedly). People need to STOP trying to dictate and police women and their bodies. If you can’t HELP, don’t HURT.
He shared screenshots from the interview, alongside lyrics of some of Nicki’s songs.
Then… Nicki responded.
She wrote:
Suck my d**k ASSHOLE. Had you read the article, I was critiquing MYSELF more than ANYTHING. What I SAID was: I HOPE my overt sexual LYRICS AND PHOTOS don’t make my fans THINK that I’m telling them to be promiscuous and to know their worth! Lyrics, photos and F**KING are all 3 different things.
In another tweet, she continued her point:
As this point, fans began to disagree. One fan wrote:
I love you so much, but you know better than that. We should be protecting women who choose to be sex workers. It’s a personal choice and you have no foot to stand on when judging them.
Some fans defended Nicki Minaj, saying that she was not shaming sex workers. Another fan explained:
She literally said “none of this equates to selling pussy” as if that’s the worst thing a woman could do. She IS in fact shaming them.
