Anaconda - Everyone Sit Down.

Fuck me, how is this a problem? I'm about to rant, sorry, this is just ridiculous.

Okay. A lot of people may know by now that Nicki Minaj recently released her video for Anaconda. The song itself has been getting a lot of mixed reviews because people are too fucking stupid to understand that she had to have permission from the original artist of Baby Got Back, and possibly collab with him, to use ANY part of that song. So, people are trying to sell her out for that. Again, she would have a law suit on her hands right now if the artist hadn't agreed to let her do this song.

Secondly, no one look at the youtube comments on that video. No one, please. It's so damaging not only to her, but to a variety of people. White people are commenting that she should be picking cotton, using racial slurs, and basically using her race against her and everyone else who tries to defend her. I'm not even going to delve into how wrong this is. There are more racist people on the planet than I'd have cared to know about, and I'm personally really fucking pissed off about white people in general. No one should have to put up with this kind of hate. Especially with all the shit going down in Ferguson right now, everyone should be trying to support other people. Nicki has been such a great advocate for black women in the media, and everyone seems to over look that. In fact, some people are claiming Iggy Azalea is better. Do you realize that Iggy doesn't even write her own verses? Nicki does. Nicki has true class. Iggy, however, has expressed homophobic AND racist tendencies. So, we have that to think about, among many other things.

And now, let's go into slut shaming culture, shall we? Let's see how we can continue to connect this hate to racism. Nicki Minaj is not the only artist to come out with such risky things. To be honest, it wasn't all that risky. The entire song was sexual, so who wouldn't think the video wouldn't follow suit? All she did was show dancers and herself in revealing clothing that DID NOT EXPOSE FULL FRONTAL. Meanwhile, Robin Thicke is still being praised for having half naked women dancing around in his music video in which the song lyrics implied rape and non-consent? Not to mention the fact that his video has been flagged several times, and hers remains clear for the general audience of youtube to view.
People are calling her a slut for such; she was giving her boyfriend Drake a lap dance. Okay, so who cares? It's a lap dance, and hardly one at that. It didn't show him making ANY inappropriate moves on her, and likewise for Nicki. She basically just did the same thing throughout the entire video.
Comments range from "This is so disgusting and sick." to reverting right back to racism claiming she's "A sex slave then and now." Again, I have no words. The woman is very clearly independent. She's no one's sex slave, she's not a slave at all. Isn't the point of this video to love your booty for what it's worth? That's a form of independence. But that isn't the concept of that comment, truly. That comment is resorting to a racist view that basically says "She's as worthless as a slave used for sex." I have no words to describe how fucking wrong that is.

Next up, the skinny bitches portion of the music. Lately, we've got a couple more songs coming out from popular artists about loving oneself and creating a body positive image for younger girls that aren't considered 'thin' or 'skinny'. Par example, Meghan Trainer's All About That Bass has made headlines because of discrimination against thin girls based on the questionable lyrics. (Edit: That's what people are claiming, and it's not true. Point of ensuing rant.) No. Stop. If anyone gets that mad over not having representation in a couple of songs, please, turn on the television, get on the internet, or go listen to your fucking music and tell me you can't find one example of the mindless admiration of skinny bodies in our media as a society. You can't and you won't, that I can promise you. As a thicker girl myself, I can say that learning to accept myself in a society that is constantly against you is hard enough.
Yes, I get that skinny girls get hate too. For what, being 'too skinny'. I've had a friend literally break down in my arms because she thought if she wore leggings, people would think she was a twig and anorexic when anyone can tell it was just her body type. And it pissed me off.
I don't think anyone who hasn't been there can relate at all. You have no idea what it's like to have to go to twelve different stores to try on twenty different sizes, and not be able to get what seems like an easy fit of jeans past your knees. You've never sat down in a dressing room and cried because the sizes seem to keep increasing. You have no clue what it's like to be hungry and not want to eat around large groups of people. You have absolutely no idea what it's like to see and hear comments, not including the internet, about a girl who is very clearly smaller than you being called fat for not having a flat stomach and having to know that the person you thought was your friend really sees you as a whale. We all fucking hate summer because none of us that have built up enough confidence yet can wear shorts without glancing around and getting anxious that everyone is looking at them.

And don't you dare tell me I shouldn't care what other people think. I'm a young girl, I have no idea how to love myself yet in a world that thinks I'm disgusting. I'm not saying skinny shaming isn't a thing, I'm just saying skinny shaming is not anywhere near the scale of fat shaming. I'd rather wear what I want from Forever 21 and be told I need a cheeseburger or something than telling me I need to go throw up what I just had for lunch or to enjoy being raped because it's the only attention I'll ever receive. (Yes, I've actually had that said to me before.)

Nicki is thick. She's a beautiful, curvy, thick girl who doesn't give a fuck about your beauty standards. If you're offended by her comment, re-evaluate yourself. Better yet, go shopping with a girl who looks like her. It's a daily struggle trying to find clothes that are fitting AND flattering.

Please talk to me when you're standing in the mirror, crying, hands scraping at the extra skin all over your body wishing you could just destroy yourself. When you can't take a picture with your friend because you know you're going to hate yourself in it. When you don't even want to meet your favorite musician or artist or whatever because you're terrified of what they'll think of you.

Okay, I'm sorry. This all frustrated me a lot. I'm not even a person who adores Nicki, I just listen to a couple of her popular songs. Those comments...they're so damaging. To anyone who sees those. I'm so sorry, on behalf of the people who actually care about others. Why we can't start accepting people for who they are, I don't know. All I know is that the people on that video, they have no idea.