Azra Tabassum's Blog, page 226
September 9, 2014
Work Song by Hozier sounds like he wrote it about you.
How dare you compliment me in this fashion, I’ll never stop crying now. I wish.
It's a feminist song because it's about women being in control of and openly expressing their sexuality in a way that's not about the male gaze.
I’m going to explain why I don’t think Anaconda is a feminist song (although I do want to say that I fully respect Nicki as a feminist. Just not the song) :
She plays exactly into the male gaze. Everything in that video was made to sell sex. Her body, the bodies of the dancers around her, the way they’ve moving. Nicki may have directed the movement, she may have had complete autonomy over her body and the entire video, but as a businesswoman, she knows what she’s doing and what she’s doing is selling herself. And she is commodifying sex. This isn’t my saying that she can’t do or dress however the hell she wants, but she’s also dressed how men want to see her.
Secondly, the line “fuck those skinny bitches” assumes that Nicki is making space for women of all sizes. She’s not doing that, not at all. I didn’t see the issue with this until I was talking to one of my closest friends who is Somalian and was saying that black women who are thin and who don’t meet that cultures ideal of beauty (big ass, big breasts, small waist) aren’t looked on kindly. Nicki isn’t talking about fat women when she says fuck those skinny bitches. She’s talking about women who look exactly like her and the dancers around her. She’s talking about an unattainable beauty.
Someone said that the video plays into the gaze of the queer woman, and this may be true but honestly, it is pretty much universally acknowledged that every man’s fantasy is watching two women get it on. That’s what’s happening in the video. She’s doing what men want to see. Again.
I do agree that there are moments when she subverts this. Things like chopping up and throwing away phallic shaped objects but I sort of think that the rest of the video completely undermines this. She’s fucking wearing a maid’s costume for god’s sake. She’s squirting cream all over herself. It’s not a feminist statement in my opinion, not in any sense of the word.
and that’s my pinch of salt on Anaconda.
SOMEBODY EXPLAIN TO ME HOW ANACONDA IS A FEMINIST SONG? NICKI AS A FEMINIST, I GET, YES. THE SONG...
SOMEBODY EXPLAIN TO ME HOW ANACONDA IS A FEMINIST SONG? NICKI AS A FEMINIST, I GET, YES. THE SONG ITSELF? NOT SO MUCH?
This is a very gentle reminder that I am only a 20 year old girl who is trying to figure stuff out...
This is a very gentle reminder that I am only a 20 year old girl who is trying to figure stuff out and to please remember that before you send me messages begging me for help or saying that you don’t want to live anymore. I’m not a counsellor and I’m not a psychologist and I don’t know you personally enough to be able to provide you with answers or anything more than impersonal love. (Although there are plenty of sites and hotlines which can.) When I wake up to 20 messages asking for advice, it honestly stresses me out and upsets me and makes me not want to speak to anyone. Thank you x
"I am the sea and nobody owns me."
- Pippi Longstocking (1997)
majiinboo:
Do not forget Michael Brown
Do not forget how the media dehumanized him and tried to...
Do not forget Michael Brown
Do not forget how the media dehumanized him and tried to justify his murder
Do not forget how peaceful protests were painted as savage riots
Do not forget police armed with military grade weapons terrorized and arrested black civilians
Do not forget Darren Wilson being awarded over $400,000 in fundraiser donations for murdering an unarmed black child
Do not forget that this system was not built to defend us, but to control us
Do not forget Ferguson
September 8, 2014
Hello. I've been feeling really dejected and unproductive lately with exams coming up, and I just wanted to say that your response to one of your anons – something along the lines of, "You are human because you are human. Anything else you add to it is you
Yo, I just want to say that this message was amazing to read. I don’t know why. Maybe because I didn’t think there was anything important in those words so it’s really cool they helped you. Good luck on your exams! Kill it!!! You’ll do wonderfully xx
"It’s just that I coulda swore
you had sung me a love song back there
and that you meant it
but I..."
you had sung me a love song back there
and that you meant it
but I guess sometimes people just chew with their mouth open
so I ate ear plugs alive with my throat
hoping they’d get lodged deep enough inside the empty spots
that I wouldn’t have to hear you leaving.”
- Buddy Wakefield (via nevervulgar)
You have really empowered me to walk away from toxic situations however do you have any prose for when you should go back to them? Bc there are some situuations when you know you shouldn't walk away- even after all this time.
This is a good idea. I feel this. I’m gonna write something about this when I’m not completely exhausted
Azra Tabassum's Blog
- Azra Tabassum's profile
- 83 followers
