Pretty Gang The Hyperfeminine Hip-Hop of Nicki Minaj

Kalin Dobbs 16 February 2015

BA (Hons) Criticism, Communication and Curation Central St. Martins College of Arts & Design

Table of Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 4 Chapter I. Postmodern Representation and Stereotype 7

I.I Gender Performativity 15 I.II The Gaze 18

Chapter II. Interrogating Second Wave Anti-Femininity 20

II.I “The Boys” 24 Chapter III. Black Feminism and Sexuality 32

III.I “Anaconda” 35 III.II Reclaiming Language 42

Conclusion 44 Bibliography 46 List of Figures 50 Appendice 51

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Abstract

This dissertation explores the methods in which gender performativity can interact with

and subvert the expectations of the hip-hop artist through an analysis of rapper Nicki Minaj. As

the most successful female rapper of her time, Minaj challenges the stereotype of male

domination in the hip-hop music industry. Reflecting on Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex,

the author challenges second wave feminism’s anti-feminine sentiment, suggesting instead that

in an age of postmodernity, the reductionist equation of femininity to passivity is no longer

sustainable. Instead, the author argues that Nicki Minaj successfully embodies empowerment

and femininity simultaneously. This dissertation provides semiotic analysis of two of Nicki

Minaj’s songs, “The Boys” (2012), and “Anaconda” (2014) to exemplify Minaj’s engagement with

feminist discourse from the second and third wave. Using queer theory, established Judith

Butler, the author argues that Minaj’s over-performance of exaggerated signifiers of femininity,

referred to as ‘hyperfemininity,’ brings awareness to the socially constructed nature of gender.

Nicki Minaj successfully unsettles the narrative of male control over women’s bodies in the hip-

hop music video, thus securing a space of empowerment for women within the hip-hop

community.

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Introduction

“Pink wig, thick ass, give ‘em whiplash I think big, get cash, make ‘em blink fast

Now look at what you just saw This is what you live for

I’m a motherfucking monster!”1

In 2010, Nicki Minaj wanted to become the first female rap mogul.2 The verse above,

from rapper Kanye West’s song “Monster,” introduced her to mainstream hip-hop. It

summarises, with great accuracy, Minaj’s place in hip-hop culture. No other female rapper has

yet to achieve her levels of success. In the years since, she has established what can only be

referred to as an empire; she is an all around skilled entertainer who also has a fashion line with

K-Mart, a fragrance, and her own brand of moscato. In 2013, she ranked fourth on Forbes’ “Hip

Hop Cash Kings” list, and at present remains the only woman to have made the list since its

inception in 2007.3

Minaj is a complicated, at times polarising, mediator of hip-hop culture and feminism.

Hip-hop lyrics and music videos have catered to the male gaze, with women being reduced to

sexualised objects for male pleasure. This dissertation will investigate Minaj’s gender

performance as a site of confrontation, raising the question: How does Minaj’s hyperfeminine

gender performance work to subvert the traditionally misogynist hip-hop industry and interact

with feminist discourse?

Nicki Minaj has attempted to disrupt the tradition of male domination in the hip-hop

industry and instead promote the empowerment of women. Is it possible to qualify Minaj as a

feminist, and if so, how? When analysing the extent to which Minaj is a feminist, it is important

to define the limitations of this term. For the purposes of this dissertation, I have chosen to focus

on mainstream second and third wave feminist texts, as well as periphery feminist theory written

by black women. The vastness of feminist theory renders it impossible to examine its entirety in

detail, so I have limited it to these three areas in an attempt to narrow the discussion. Through a

                                                                                                               1 West, Kanye, Shawn Carter, William Roberts, Onika Maraj, and Justin Vernon. Monster. Kanye West Feat. Jay-Z, 2 My Time Now. Directed by Michael J. Warren. Performed by Nicki Minaj. USA: MTV, 2010. 3 O'Malley Greenburg, Zack. "Cash Kings 2013: The World's 20 Highest Paid Hip-Hop Artists." Forbes. September 24, 2013. http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeel45efgik/4-nicki-minaj-29-million/.

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discourse analysis of theory from a range of feminist writers, I will explore Nicki Minaj’s

relationship with feminism from varying perspectives.

The first chapter provides an introduction to postmodern theory, as well as the concepts

of representation and stereotype. My research methods have been informed primarily by three

texts: Visual Methodologies,4 Semiotics: The Basics,5 and Practices of Looking.6 I have used

Sturken’s and Cartwright’s text to inform my understanding of postmodern representation and

the gaze in cinema. Gender Studies was instrumental in defining the concept of stereotype.7

The concept of the normative male gaze is discussed in depth in Laura Mulvey’s essay “Visual

Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.”8 My understanding of the potential to subvert this gaze in

postmodernity is rooted in queer theory as defined by Judith Butler. With these concepts and

definitions in mind, I will apply Butler’s concept of gender performativity to Minaj, and explore

how her performance interacts with postmodern ideas relating to the body.

In the second chapter, I will examine Minaj’s femininity through the lens of Simone de

Beauvoir’s The Second Sex,9 and discuss the conflicts between its anti-feminine sentiment and

Nicki Minaj’s use of fashion and glamour as a source of empowerment. The negotiation between

being feminine and being a feminist is central to an analysis of Minaj’s performance. I will

compare Beauvoir’s ideas on femininity with the work of other second wave feminists, primarily

Elizabeth Wilson and Llewyn Negrin. After presenting the literature, I will use semiotic

deconstruction of Minaj’s song “The Boys,” looking at both the lyrics and the music video to

illustrate the connections between Nicki Minaj and second wave feminist discourse.

Finally, I will address the development of feminist theory written by women of colour

through a discussion of the writings of bell hooks. This chapter will also include a textual and

visual analysis of the song “Anaconda,” to illustrate Minaj’s attempt to subvert the dominant

male gaze in hip-hop music videos. Through a discourse analysis of black feminist theory,

                                                                                                               4 Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Materials. London: Sage, 2001. 5 Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics: The Basics. London: Routledge, 2002. 6 Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. 7 Cranny-Francis, Anne, Wendy Warring, Pam Stavropoulos, and Joan Kirkby. Gender Studies: Terms and Debates. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. 8 Mulvey, L. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Screen 16, no. 3 (1975): 6-18. doi:10.1093/screen/16.3.6. 9 Beauvoir, Simone De. The Second Sex. New York: Knopf, 1953.

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Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, and contemporary primary sources written in response to

the “Anaconda” music video, I aim to successfully establish Minaj as a contemporary feminist

figure.

 

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I. Postmodern Representation and Stereotype

This chapter explains the principles of postmodernity and their relation to third wave

feminism. It is important to understand the concept of representation as defined in

postmodernity, as it informs the discussion of the relationship between Minaj and the viewer.

Minaj, as a performer, participates in hip-hop culture. Conversely, this dissertation will

investigate whether her performance can be considered a subversion of hip-hop stereotypes.

Through a discourse analysis of several texts on methodology, as well as Judith Butler’s Gender

Theory, a foundation will be established for a third wave contextual analysis of Minaj’s gender

performance.

Postmodern theory was developed in the latter half of the 20th century. It questions

modernity’s blind acceptance of grand narratives, like stereotype or heteronormativity, and

instead maintains the idea that “there is not one but many truths and [these] notions of truth are

culturally and historically relative constructions.”10 The postmodern identity is one constructed

through many images and texts, which can create a “hyperreal identity with no recourse back to

a real person.”11 This understanding of identity suggests that there is no ‘natural’ self; each

individual is a composite of his or her cultural surroundings. Minaj performs in a myriad of

personas and her visual appearance changes even more frequently. Each of these identities is

as authentic as the others. In postmodernity, one accepts that there is no ‘real’ Nicki Minaj

beneath the surface of her performance.

Postmodernism asserts that an individual’s internal and external identities do not need to

correlate in order to be read as ‘true.’ Further, postmodern theory works to dissolve the binary

between mind and body, arguing that because identity is formed as a response to cultural

influences rather than emanating from an internal source, there is no division. Through drag,

make-up or plastic surgery, an individual can change their appearance. This malleability

suggests that there is no core self to begin with, and thus no possibility of return to one’s original

or natural state—it does not exist. Minaj’s constant visual and textual identity shifting makes her

a prime example of the idea of the postmodern pop icon.

                                                                                                               10 Sturken, Practices of Looking, p. 313. 11 Ibid. p. 314.

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Postmodernity accepts and embraces popular culture. It acknowledges the influence of

“consumption, branding, images, media and the popular,” and interacts with them.12

Reappropriation, reflection, and ironic use of imagery became common in the postmodern era.

For the duration of her career, Minaj’s work has involved the appropriation of hip-hop traditions.

In cultural studies, the idea of cultural appropriation refers to the oppressive act of claiming

cultural traditions or artefacts belonging to a marginalised group by a dominant group.13

Reappropriation, then, is the act of reclaiming these cultural traditions by the group they

originated from. In postmodernism, appropriation is the act of taking a pre-existing image, text or

sound and using it in a new context.14 Both definitions of the term are relevant to Nicki Minaj’s

performance. This will be explored in more depth in the third chapter in the analysis of Minaj’s

song “Anaconda.”

The theory of representation suggests that all images are both constructed and are

representations of the material world. An individual’s interpretation and understanding of these

images is dependent on their own cultural context and the language of that culture. The idea of

representation requires an acceptance of the fact that each language is limited by its own rules

and conventions, which facilitates an individual’s understanding of the world.15 The idea applies

to spoken and written language, but also visual culture like television and digital media. Minaj’s

representation is a reflection of a Western cultural understanding of hip-hop music, popular

culture and black women’s identity. Representations are often confused with stereotypes, a sort

of grand narrative that mistakes a culturally ingrained idea for natural fact.16 Common images in

hip-hop have led to stereotypes about the culture surrounding the music and the community that

it has come from, black Americans.

In Gender Studies,17 stereotypes are explained as the process of grouping together

individuals based on visual identity markers accepted as ‘natural’ or fact, like race and gender,

and the subsequent drawing of conclusions about their character based on that appearance.18

                                                                                                               12 Sturken, Practices of Looking, p. 314. 13 Young, James O. Cultural Appropriation and the Arts. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2008. p. 63. 14 Atkins, Robert. "Appropriation." In Artspeak. New York: Abbeville Press, 1997. http://www.moca.org/pc/viewArtTerm.php?id=2. 15 Sturken, Practices of Looking, p. 12. 16 Ibid. p. 23. 17 Cranny-Francis, Gender Studies. 18 Cranny-Francis, Gender Studies, p. 140.

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Stereotypes are a reductive way of describing a group of people. This process becomes even

more problematic in a postmodern context, where the concept of a group identity is no longer

plausible. Socially, dominant groups use stereotypes to maintain power over marginalised

‘others’ by “characterising inequalities as natural differences of ability or inclination.”19 Minaj is

marked by the stereotypes of multiple groups, both is a black woman and a rapper, making her

an ‘other’ in relation to the dominant white, middle-class patriarchy. Rather than attempting to

isolate herself from these groups, Minaj draws attention to the socially constructed nature of

stereotypes by performing them in an exaggerated way. Instead of trying to be ‘one of the boys,’

Minaj is hyperfeminine: she over-performs the stereotypical feminine obsession with fashion,

make-up, and narcissism. When addressing stereotypes in Gender Studies, the authors argue

that “individuals from the group who don’t fit [the] stereotype are said to be atypical,” rather than

revealing the falseness of the stereotype altogether. Because stereotypes are often regulated

and disseminated by those who are outside the group in question, it can be difficult to destroy a

stereotype simply by behaving in an opposite manner. This is because it will likely be read as

‘the exception that proves the rule,’ before the falsity of stereotypes is acknowledged.

The hip-hop community is often stereotyped as being tasteless in their overt

consumption of luxury goods. Instead of choosing to perform modestly as a means of disproving

the stereotype, Minaj embraces this consumption in her lyrics and music videos. Traditional

signifiers of wealth, like expensive cars and designer clothes, make frequent appearances in her

songs. “Bought me Alexander McQueen, he was keeping my stylish,” and “When we done, I

make him buy me Balmain,” are lines from her 2014 song “Anaconda.”20 In “The Boys,” Minaj

raps, “might pull up in a Porsche, no Boxster though.”21 Janice Miller, a fashion historian and

cultural studies professor, writes in Fashion and Music: “the way of dressing [in hip-hop] is a

method of both accessing and displaying a look synonymous with class cultures historically at

odds with black hip-hop style.”22 Socio-economic oppression is a long-standing reality of the

black community in the United States, and the conspicuous display of expensive goods in black

culture is a means of demonstrating access to a system that the community is often excluded

from.                                                                                                                19 Cranny-Francis, Gender Studies, p. 142. 20 Maraj, Onika. Anaconda. By Onika Maraj, Jamal Jones, Jonathan Solone-Myvett, Ernest Clark, Marcos Palacios, and Anthony Ray. Nicki Minaj. Polow Da Don, Da Internz, Anon., 2014, MP3. 21 Maraj, Onika, and Casandra Ventura. The Boys. By Jonas Jeberg, Jean Baptiste, Onika Maraj, Lillianna Saldaña, and Anjulie Persaud. Nicki Minaj and Cassie. Jonas Jeberg, Jean Baptiste, 2012, MP3. 22 Miller, Janice. Fashion and Music. Oxford: Berg, 2011. p. 121.

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 Fig. 1. Lily Allen, still from “Hard Out Here” (2013). Directed by Christopher Sweeney. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0CazRHB0so

Lily Allen and Lorde, both white pop stars, have dismissed the conspicuous consumption

that is often referenced in hip-hop culture. In her 2013 single “Hard Out Here” Allen sings: “I

won’t be bragging ‘bout my cars or talking ‘bout my chains.”23 In her song “Royals” Lorde sings:

“Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece … we don’t care, we aren’t caught up in your

love affair.”24 While the “money, cars, hoes” motif is tired, it is rooted in a desire to fight against

systemic oppression. Miller writes,

“The most important facet of hip-hop and rap is its emphasis on

‘conspicuous consumption’ … the ostentatious purchase of goods becomes a marker of status within a group.”25

Her explanation of its importance is precisely why Allen and Lorde’s dismissal of these

status markers is problematic. The presence of ‘bling’, or expensive cars and liquor, is a

“symbolic way of constructing an affluent identity for those not expected to enjoy such a                                                                                                                23 Allen, Lily, and Greg Kurstin, writers. Hard Out Here. Lily Allen. Greg Kurstin, 2013, MP3. 24 O'Connor, Ella Y., and Joel Little, writers. Royals. Lorde. Joel Little, 2013, MP3. 25 Miller, Fashion and Music, p. 117.

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position—historically at least.”26 By referencing “chains” (Allen) and “Cristal” (Lorde), these

artists are specifically targeting symbols of wealth and success in hip-hop culture and

dismissing them as meaningless. Both singers express the sentiment that they are ‘above’ such

displays of affluent consumption, but their ability to dismiss these cultural symbols is a reflection

of their privilege to do so. They have not had to prove that they can overcome a system that has

historically excluded them.

In “Hard Out Here”, Allen also sings about the difficulties faced by women in the

misogynist music business. In the first verse, though, she sings, “don’t need to shake my ass for

you ‘cause I’ve got a brain.” Her lyrics imply that a woman who twerks—like Minaj—is

unintelligent. Allen attempts to draw attention to inequality in the music industry, but she does it

at the expense of black women. In the music video, she dances, fully clothed, amongst six other

women in body suits, most of whom are women of colour (Fig. 2). The other women are skilled

dancers but Allen manages to turn them into a parody through her inability to twerk alongside

them. These women become props on which Allen is able to elevate herself; she is ‘better than’

twerking. “Hard Out Here” is a contemporary version of the same elitist sentiment that divided

feminists in the 1970s. She relies on stereotypes about black women to suggest that she is

superior.

Fig. 2. Lily Allen, still from “Hard Out Here” (2013). Directed by Christopher Sweeney. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0CazRHB0so.                                                                                                                26 Miller, Fashion and Music, p. 117.

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Fig. 3-4. Taylor Swift, still from “Shake It Off” (2014). Directed by Mark Romanek. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM.

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Taylor Swift’s 2014 music video for song “Shake It Off” also makes a spectacle of black

women. At one point, the viewer sees Taylor crawling between the legs of a group of women

twerking. The women dancing are completely and utterly objectified here: the viewer does not

see their faces, only their asses shaking. Swift remains the focal point, her face twisted into an

expression that can only be read as shock. The scene turns these women’s bodies into an

exotic ‘other’ for Swift to gawk at (Fig 3-4). In similarity to Allen’s video, Swift fakes an attempt to

twerk with her dancers, but when she fails, it reads as a mockery of their skill. In both music

videos, the backing dancers are props, or objects, whose presence only amplifies the singers’

sense of superiority for not ‘reducing themselves’ to dancing to succeed in the music business.

Lily Allen and Taylor Swift turn twerking into an exhibition, creating a distance between

themselves and the ‘exotic’ dancers. The commodification of black women’s bodies and

rejection of status markers by white artists is why Minaj’s “Anaconda” is so important for

feminism outside of the mainstream. Her dancers are not passive props to be exploited by either

Minaj or the male viewer; they are in control.

It is this same reductive process of essentialising or stereotyping women that divided

second wave feminists. Third wave feminist and philosopher Judith Butler suggests: “the

presumed universality and unity of the subject of feminism is effectively undermined by the

constraints of the representational discourse in which it functions.” Her most famous text,

Gender Trouble, was written in part as a response to the popular notions of feminist

essentialism seen in the second wave movement. She continues, “The fragmentation within

feminism and the paradoxical opposition to feminism from ‘women’ whom feminism claims to

represent suggest the necessary limits of identity politics.”27 Through this, Butler suggests that

the language and terminology used in second wave feminist discourse failed to accurately

represent the nuances of individual experience. This eventually led to the fragmentation of the

movement. Ironically, it was the desire for unity that caused the fracture.

An essay titled “What is Third Wave Feminism?” written by political history professor R.

Claire Snyder, was an attempt to explain the tactical changes and claims of the third wave

feminist movement.28 She first lists the three moves that were direct responses to problems

                                                                                                               27 Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. (New York: Routledge, 2006). p. 6. 28 Snyder, R. Claire. "What Is Third-Wave Feminism? A New Directions Essay." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 34, no. 1 (2008): 175-96. doi:10.1086/588436.

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within the second wave: the promotion of personal narratives, an emphasis on inclusivity and a

refusal to police the boundaries of identity.29 Following modernist thought, early second wave

feminists believed in the idea that all women share common experiences, and that it was these

shared experiences that would allow them to unite against their oppressors. In this sense, the

personal—of all women—was political. Third wave feminist thought adapted to the

foundationless world of postmodernity, believing that while women’s experiences were still

hugely important to the movement, feminists recognised that “there was no one way to be a

woman.”30 The personal is still political, but with an emphasis on the individual over the

universal.

Third wave feminism re-evaluates the idea of the self in a postmodern context. The third

wave allows for multiplicity, and it is this embrace of plurality that makes it so difficult to define. It

criticises the grand narrative of a true, singular femaleness or womanhood, and challenges

notions of categorical organisation and universality. It accepts, as a response to

postmodernism, the notion that the self is not static but ambiguous, created as a reflection of

cultural influences.31 As Steven Best and Douglas Kellner wrote in Postmodern Theory: Critical

Interrogations:

“the postmodern emphasis on plurality, difference and heterogeneity has had immense appeal to those who have found themselves marginalised and excluded from the voice of Reason, Truth and Objectivity.”32

The voice they are referring to is the voice of modernity and the Enlightenment, which promoted

universality and the humanist “man.” Postmodernism questioned this and claimed that the

individual cannot be represented by an all-encompassing idea of ‘man’ or ‘woman.’ Instead,

each individual is viewed as a surface that reflects the culture in which it is situated. There is no

‘true’ person underneath; everything a person is and does is a result of their surroundings. This

is important in the analysis of Minaj, because she is an individual that does not easily fit the

                                                                                                               29 Snyder, “What Is Third Wave?” p. 175. 30 Ibid. p. 185. 31 Kroløkke, Charlotte, and Ann Scott. Sørensen. Gender Communication Theories & Analyses: From Silence to Performance. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2006. p. 16. 32 Best, Steven, and Douglas Kellner. Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations. New York: Guilford Press, 1991. p. 207.

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essentialised, modernist definition of a woman. In postmodernity, her experiences as a black

woman and a rapper do not necessarily exclude her from feminist discourse.

I.I Gender Performativity

Gender is not a fact, but rather a social construction. This statement is the foundation of

contemporary gender theory, which was established by philosopher and theorist Judith Butler in

her book Gender Trouble.33 If gender is understood as a social construct rather than a biological

trait, it can then be accepted that gender can be internalised and expressed in different ways

among individuals depending on various cultural factors.

First, it is crucial to differentiate between sex and gender. Sex is commonly understood

as a biological trait, marked by male and female genitalia. While it is often considered to be a

natural trait of human life, its division into the male and female binary is a social construct; it is

simply a means of categorically organising humans through language. Butler challenges this,

and asks,

“What is sex anyway? Is it natural, anatomical, chromosomal, or

hormonal, and how is a feminist critic to assess the scientific discourses which purport to establish such ‘facts’ for us?”34

Society automatically divides humans into the two primary sexes, but this binary did not exist

before culture. It “acts as a naturalised foundation for the nature/culture distinction,”35 though

Butler argues it did not exist prior to culture or language. It is difficult to define sex, but it is

based on scientific institutions that normalise this categorisation. Butler, conversely, describes

gender as a series of repeated actions. She writes:

“gender is the repeated stylisation of the body, a set of repeated acts within a highly rigid regulatory frame that congeal over time to produce the appearance of substance, of a natural sort of being.”36

                                                                                                               33 Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990. 34 Ibid. p. 9. 35 Ibid. p. 50. 36 Ibid. p. 45.

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So, gender is not what one is, but what one does, though it appears to be the former because of

the repetition. It is performed constantly, both for oneself and for others. This concept is called

gender performativity. Gender distinctions – the idea that something is ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’

– are arbitrary, but their cultural inscription suggests that they are true and natural. It is for this

reason that when one sees an individual in drag, one may look at their apparent sex (not

gender) as their real, true gender, and the performed one as an illusion, or false.

Gender Trouble is a cornerstone of queer theory, which questions fixed models of

sexuality that centre on the idea of compulsive heterosexuality. This term refers to the

institutionalised system that “requires and produces … gendered terms … to form an

oppositional, binary gender system.”37 This system assumes heterosexuality, as well as a unity

between sex and gender, is the human norm.38 The sex binary, and the gender binary that

follows, is a form of oppression that upholds this system. Compulsive heterosexuality divides

people based on male and female genitalia, and assumes the masculine and feminine genders

follow that. This is normalised because it is the means of sexual reproduction, which results in

the continuation of the human species. Butler challenges this system, claiming, “The category of

sex and the naturalised institution of heterosexuality are constructs, socially instituted and

socially regulated fantasies or ‘fetishes,’ not natural categories, but political.”39

How then, does Minaj use this concept of gender as a social construct to challenge hip-

hop stereotypes? Gender signifiers are not attached to the body in any sort of ‘truthful’ way,

because, as postmodernists would argue, there is no ‘true’ identity that one must unearth or

follow. Many theorists, Butler included, look at drag as a means of representing the ease of

changing gender identity. Minaj has a history of using different gender markers in her lyrics and

visual imagery. She is known primarily for her hyperfemininity, embodied through colourful wigs,

eccentric fashion, and dramatic make-up. Her visual aesthetic is constantly changing, though,

and with her most recent album release, Minaj has toned down her over-the-top image in favour

of a more subdued look. Still, her visual image is by no means androgynous, and her femininity

is only exaggerated by her position within the proverbial “boys club” of hip-hop.40 Cultural

                                                                                                               37 Butler, Gender Trouble, p. 31. 38 Males assume the masculine gender and desire their opposites: females who assume the feminine gender. 39 Butler, Gender Trouble, p. 172. 40 McMillan, Uri. "Nicki-aesthetics: The Camp Performance of Nicki Minaj." Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory 24, no. 1 (May 2014): 79-87. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0740770X.2014.901600. p. 80.

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theorist Uri McMillan, in an essay titled “Nicki-aesthetics,” argues that Minaj uses her body as “a

vibrant form of black performance art.”41 Nicki Minaj is a skilled rapper, regardless of gender, but

her performance of hyperfemininity challenges the foundations of hip-hop: “masculinity,

realness, and normative blackness.”42 The radical nature of her femininity draws attention to it,

which in turn highlights its artificiality. Even though Minaj identifies as a woman, she is able to

push the boundaries of gender by turning femininity into a type of drag.

Nicki Minaj is well known for the varying personas that she uses in her performances.

The most famous is Roman Zolanski, an angry gay boy from England, who, in her own words,

“says the things that she doesn’t want to say.”43 Minaj often uses Roman Zolanski on her more

aggressive songs, like “Roman’s Revenge” from her 2012 album “Pink Friday: Roman

Reloaded.”44 Her ability to momentarily assume a masculine persona has two functions. First, it

brings attention to the artificiality of gender, much like her hyperfeminine visual appearance. It

also unsettles the stereotype of male domination in hip-hop. Through the lens of performativity,

Nicki becomes a man when she raps in her Roman persona. Her masculinity is as genuine as

that of her mentor Lil Wayne, or video co-star Drake. If we accept that gender is a series of

repeated acts that give it the appearance of substance, one can see the power in Minaj’s

performance of Roman.

“When the disorganisation and disaggregation of the field of bodies disrupt the regulatory fiction of heterosexual coherence, it seems that the expressive model loses its descriptive force.”45

When Minaj brings awareness to the falsity of gender through performing as a man, the

system of compulsive heterosexuality begins to fail. Its fictional quality becomes apparent. As

Butler argues: “acts, gestures, and desire produce the effect of an internal core or substance,

but produce this on the surface of the body.”46 Postmodern thought accepts that there is no core

identity, whatever is represented or reflected on the surface of the individual is the reality.

Performativity asserts that there is no truth to gender. By this logic, if Minaj performs as a man,                                                                                                                41 McMillan, “Nicki-aesthetics,” p. 80. 42 Ibid. p. 85. 43 My Time Now. Directed by Michael J. Warren. Performed by Nicki Minaj. USA: MTV, 2010. 44 Maraj, Onika, Kaseem Dean, Marshall Mathers, and T. Smith, writers. Roman's Revenge. Nicki Minaj and Eminem. Swizz Beatz, 2010, MP3. 45 Butler, Gender Trouble, p. 185. 46 Ibid. p. 185.

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she is a man, because it is all a performance. This challenges the tradition of normative

masculine dominance in hip-hop culture.

I.II The Gaze

An understanding to the idea of the male gaze is crucial to analysing Minaj, as her

performance often involves queering this gaze. The gaze is the process of looking at oneself

and one another, an active position often focused on a passive object.47 In Western culture, all

forms of art have been and continue to be formed primarily from the perspective of the male

gaze. As a result, women were posed “for the viewer’s easy appreciation,” as the objects of the

male gaze.48 For much of Western art history, these women were represented as passive, void

of agency and power, present simply for men to observe. Laura Mulvey defined this idea in

relation to Hollywood cinema in her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” published in

1975.49 In the essay, Mulvey asserts that the camera is “a tool of voyeurism and sadism,

disempowering those before its look.” 50 The camera is coded as “masculine technology,” and is

often considered “intrusive [and] penetrative in and of itself.”51 It becomes the phallus through

which the male gaze turns women into objects for their own pleasure. Mulvey’s essay was

fundamental to establishing the concept of the heterosexual male gaze as the normative gaze.

This has been challenged in the era of postmodernity by both theorists and creators, Nicki Minaj

included.

Heterosexual male desire continues to be the dominant discourse in hip-hop music,

within which “oppressive images of women are built into the very foundations of the pop

edifice.”52 Much of Minaj’s visual work is concerned with reappropriating the gaze, and taking

back control of her own representation. The concept was further developed in the 1980s and

1990s with a new focus on female and queer gazes. The gaze, through a postmodernist lens, is

something that can occur through a multitude of perspectives, and is not tied to an individual’s

biological sex or performed gender. By this logic, any individual can appropriate the male gaze,

                                                                                                               47 Miller, Fashion and Music, p. 104. 48 Sturken, Practices of Looking, p. 121. 49 Mulvey, L. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Screen 16, no. 3 (1975): 6-18. doi:10.1093/screen/16.3.6. 50 Sturken, Practices of Looking, p. 125. 51 Cranny-Francis, Gender Studies, p. 163. 52 Miller, Fashion and Music, p. 57.

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or someone who identifies as a man also has the potential to shift his gaze to that ‘of a

woman.’53

Mulvey argues that the difficulty in a woman appropriating the male gazes lies in the fact

that the pleasure in classic Hollywood cinema is distinctly male. Rather than fetishizing the

women as objects, a woman voyeuristically observing a woman on the screen lapses into

narcissism, which can “lead to loss of identity.”54 Mulvey suggests that destroying the male gaze

can only occur through “revolutionary feminist film-making,” where attention is drawn to the

technology behind filmmaking itself. By acknowledging the means through which the gaze is

constructed, its power is dissolved.55 This method, however, leads to a very particular style of

filmmaking, which can be limiting. Instead of following Mulvey’s prescriptive guide to filmmaking,

Minaj often queers the gaze in her work. She “unsettles the heteronormative gaze” by implying

non-heteronormative, or queer, desire.56 Any instance in which desire that does not follow

heterosexual tendencies is expressed is representative of the queer gaze. These acts

destabilise the gender binary that is set up to uphold compulsive heterosexuality, which in turn

reveals it as culturally constructed, rather than fact. One can see this in practice in the music

videos for “Anaconda” and “The Boys,” which will be discussed in the following chapters. As an

individual, Nicki Minaj exaggerates the stereotypes placed unfairly on her as a black woman and

a rapper. Through the lens of various forms of feminist discourses, the following chapters will

examine whether this action successfully challenges the idea of the stereotype in regards to the

hip-hop music video.

                                                                                                               53 Sturken, Practices of Looking, p. 132. 54 Cranny-Francis, Gender Studies, p. 164. 55 Ibid. p. 162. 56 Ibid. p. 174.

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II. Interrogating Second Wave Anti-Femininity

Fig. 5. Mark Stehle. “Nicki Minaj performs in Philadelphia.” 2014. DailyMail.co.uk,  

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2681152/Nicki-Minaj-busts-figure-hugging-velour-tracksuit-rehearses-Philly-4th-July-Jam.html (accessed 5 February 2015).

Since 2011, Minaj has used a pink microphone studded in light pink Swarovski crystals

in the majority of her performances (Fig. 5). Over the years since her first album’s release, her

look has gradually become less over-the-top, so the remaining presence of her personalised

microphone has become a key feature of her appearance on stage. 57 The microphone has

historically been a symbol of the phallus, with many musicians and performers using it as a

means of expressing their sexuality while performing. Minaj’s pink, crystal-studded microphone

can be seen as a dildo, a tool for pleasure.58 Because of Simone de Beauvoir’s extensive writing

on the subject of fashion and dress, and her role in igniting the second wave feminist

movement, I will use The Second Sex as a lens for a second wave analysis of Minaj’s

hyperfemininity. Beauvoir would suggest that the jewels and colour of the microphone are “not

to reveal her as an independent individual, but rather to offer her as prey to male desires.”59 She

writes of women making themselves into ‘flowers’ or ‘objects’ by engaging with fashion, but

Minaj’s ownership of the ornate microphone instead turns it into a symbol of “autonomy and self-

satisfaction.”60 The microphone may resemble the phallus, but the decoration makes it less

                                                                                                               57 Maraj, Onika. Pink Friday. Nicki Minaj. Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, Universal Motown, 2010, MP3. 58 Shepherd, Julianne E. "Nicki Minaj's The Pinkprint Is By, For, and About Boss-Ass Women." Jezebel. December 16, 2014. http://jezebel.com/nicki-minajs-the-pinkprint-is-by-for-and-about-boss-a-1671453605. 59 Beauvoir, The Second Sex, p. 543. 60 Shepherd, “Boss-Ass Women.”

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representative of male genitalia and more symbolic of a sex toy that she can use on her own;

she owns her sexuality by owning the microphone.

Nicki Minaj presents herself as a woman simultaneously empowered and interested in

fashion, but it is unlikely that Simone de Beauvoir would agree. Despite Beauvoir’s assertion

that gender is not a biological trait but rather a result of cultural influences, she aligns femininity

with passiveness, and as she begins to discuss different areas of the mid-20th century woman’s

life, she does not attribute women with any agency. In the chapter Social Life, Beauvoir writes,

“woman … is required by society to make herself an erotic object,” and suggests that “when she

has once accepted her vocation as sexual object, she enjoys adorning herself.”61 Here,

Beauvoir strips women of any control over their body or their identity.

“One is not born, but rather, becomes a woman,” opens the second half of The Second

Sex, titled Woman’s Life Today. Beauvoir suggests here that being a woman is a social

construction. From the minute the female infant is born, her gender is determined by her sex.

This is not due to a biological trait, but a cultural influence that existed before she did.

“‘Mysterious instincts’ do not doom her to passivity, coquetry [and] maternity,”62 but it is instead

cultural influence that determines these traits as feminine. By stating that one becomes a

woman, Beauvoir asserts that there is nothing tying a female human to her gendered role other

than her cultural upbringing. This sentiment has become the basis for popular feminist theory,

and was a foundation of the second wave feminist movement that erupted shortly after the

publishing of The Second Sex.

Beauvoir spends the first half of The Second Sex working through myths from literature,

science, and psychoanalysis to prove there is no substance to the narrative that men and

women are naturally unequal. Yet when she begins to discuss women’s position in society,

Beauvoir makes no effort to speak of them as though they deserve any semblance of equality.

“Since woman is an object, it is quite understandable that her intrinsic value is affected by her style of dress and adornment.”63

                                                                                                               61 Beauvoir, The Second Sex, p. 543. 62 Ibid. p. 296. 63 Ibid. p. 548.

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Simone de Beauvoir also asserts that “there is nothing natural about the difference”

between men and women, yet she continues to refer to the latter as objects whose identities are

solely based on their appearance.64 She concedes that women’s narcissism and egotism is the

result of being essentially confined to the house, only out in the world when on display for men.

Like many other second wave feminists, Beauvoir dismisses women that are interested in

fashion and femininity as giving in to the objectification they face under the male gaze. As

Caroline Evans, a professor of fashion history and theory in the UK, suggests, Beauvoir’s

thoughts on fashion were very much in line with the general “feminist antipathy to fashion of [the

1970s].”65 Beauvoir is not representative of all second wave feminists, but The Second Sex was

an incredibly important text for the foundations of the second wave movement.

This struggle between femininity and feminism led to the inevitable emergence of a

schism in the mainstream feminist movement. On one side, there were feminists like Mary Daly,

who, following Beauvoir, criticised make-up, fashion, and “every aspect of culture that

reproduced sexist ideas and images of women and femininity,”66 claiming that women who

succumb to femininity are “painted birds,” and “living dead women.”67 Daly rejected femininity in

its entirety as a patriarchal construction, and believes that one cannot be feminine and a

feminist simultaneously. Daly and others argued for clothing that was purely functional. They

advocated for a return to the ‘natural’ body through abandonment of make-up and a preference

for a new ‘feminist uniform’ of dungarees and trainers or work boots. This ‘natural,’ utilitarian

look was considered superior to the artificiality of femininity. But in postmodernity, there is no

natural, and to qualify utilitarian clothing as natural is to ignore our culturally determined

understanding of what ‘functional’ is.

Elizabeth Wilson, a fashion theorist and feminist writing in the late 20th century,

discusses the dichotomy between mainstream feminism and femininity in her 1985 book

Adorned in Dreams. Wilson writes: “while feminists with one voice condemn the consumerist

poison of fashion, with another they praise the individualism made possible by dress,” adding

                                                                                                               64 Beauvoir, The Second Sex, p. 566. 65 Evans, Caroline. "On Rereading Simone De Beauvoir's The Second Sex After Thirty-Five Years." WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly 41, no. 1-2 (2013): 194-96. doi:10.1353/wsq.2013.0061. p. 195. 66 Wilson, Elizabeth. Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. p. 230. 67 Genz, Stéphanie, and Benjamin A. Brabon. Postfeminism: Cultural Texts and Theories. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. p. 23.

23

that, “free choice is really a myth, and is inconsistent with the belief … that human beings are

socially constructed.”68 Wilson’s arguments support Minaj’s choice of dress. The rejection of

femininity by some radical feminists was based on the grounds that this rejection is in line with a

newfound ‘free will’ outside of patriarchal beauty ideals. Through several examples, Wilson

establishes that by ‘being freed’ of patriarchal, consumerist fashion, feminists inevitably end up

conforming to a different set of unspoken rules. “To understand all uncomfortable dress a re

merely one aspect of the oppression of women is fatally to oversimplify.”69 She is referring to

clothing that is restrictive or limiting, like stilettos and make-up.

The contemporary second wave feminist Llewyn Negrin is critical of the mainstream

belief in the superiority of ‘functional’ clothing:

“Function itself is culturally defined and thus what is considered a basic need in one culture may not be so in another … while some cultures deem clothing to be an absolute necessity, other peoples living in the same climatic conditions have no need of clothes.”70

However, Negrin also suggests that the foundationless nature of gender signifiers in

postmodern fashion does not blur so much as redefine the gender binary. She writes: “the more

one seeks to blur gender boundaries, the more they keep reasserting themselves.”71 Though

she is writing in the 21st century (Appearance and Identity was published in 2008), Negrin’s

views on gender and identity align more closely with early second wave feminist discourse. She

asserts that gender cannot be considered entirely irrelevant because it does not translate to real

life. “It is all very well to behave, in the realm of the imagination, as if gender differences no

longer matter, it is another to overcome them in actual social life,” she writes. 72 This negotiation

between theory and practice is the site of a major discrepancy between second and third wave

feminism. Negrin acknowledges the theories of Butler, Wilson and others, but also believes that

they are not sustainable in practice.

                                                                                                               68 Wilson, Adorned in Dreams, p. 237. 69 Ibid. p. 244. 70 Negrin, Llewyn. "The Self as Image: A Critical Appraisal of Postmodern Theories of Fashion." In The Fashion History Reader: Global Perspectives, by Giorgio Riello and Peter McNeil, 505-20. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2010. p. 510. 71 Negrin, Llewellyn. "The Postmodern Gender Carnival." In Appearance and Identity: Fashioning the Body in Postmodernity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. p. 141. 72 Ibid. p. 151.

24

Negrin accepts Wilson’s idea that clothes are powerful symbols, but she argues, “it is not

sufficient to simply adopt a different appearance as a way of redefining oneself.”73 Her problem

is not with femininity, but with the postmodern concept of the self, “the reduction of self-identity

to the image one constructs through the clothes one wears.”74 She holds onto the modernist

notion that there is an internal ‘core.’ She fears that a postmodern reduction of the self to simply

‘appearance’ is damaging to women.75 This is reminiscent of Beauvoir’s assertion that “elegance

is bondange” and Daly’s statement that feminine women are “living dead.”76 While Beauvoir and

Negrin believe that ‘appearance as identity’ is a negative ideology, Wilson theorises there is

power in it.

II.I “The Boys”

To explain the negotiation between femininity and power in relation to Nicki Minaj, I will

examine the music video for her song, “The Boys,” released in 2012. The song was added to an

extended deluxe version of her second album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded The Re-Up.”77

“The Boys” is a collaborative song with R&B singer Cassie. All men in the video will referred to

as ‘boys,’ in reference to the title and lyrics of the song.

In Minaj’s music video world, everything has been fabricated out of surreal, bright hues.

The video opens with a woman holding a newspaper with the headline “Barber Shop Burns

Down After “Freak” Flame-Thrower Accident” (Fig. 6). The music video is shot primarily in two

locations: the first being a colourful small town where one can assume the barbershop and

beauty salon are located; the second an ambiguous space covered in pink polka-dots, in which

Minaj and Cassie perform to the viewer.

Throughout the music video, Minaj and Cassie both change into a range of outfits and

hairstyles. The narrative of the video is cut by scenes in the polka-dot room, where Cassie and

Minaj perform separately and together. In these scenes, Minaj wears a multi-coloured wig, pink                                                                                                                73 Negrin, “Self as Image,” p. 515-516. 74 Ibid. p. 516. 75 Ibid. p. 518. 76 Beauvoir, The Second Sex, p. 562. 77 Maraj, Onika. Pink Friday Roman Reloaded, the Re-up. Nicki Minaj. Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, Republic Records, 2012, MP3.

25

make-up, and a tight-fitting yellow two-piece. Cassie has long black hair, and a white bodysuit.

Both wear heels (Fig. 7). Beauvoir writes:

“The skirt is less convenient than trousers, high-heeled shoes impede walking; the least practical of gowns and dress shoes, the most fragile of hats and stockings, are most elegant; the costume may disguise the body, deform it, or follow its curves; in any case it puts it on display.”78

It may initially appear that Nicki Minaj and Cassie are on display for the boys that gawk

at them as they move through the town. However, they do they engage with them at any point.

The interaction is limited to a brief moment in which Minaj brushes one of the boys out of the

way as they follow her down the street. Beyond that, neither woman acknowledges their

presence, and there is no indication that Cassie or Minaj are expressing sexual desire for the

boys. They appear entirely in control in the scenes where the boys are present, despite their

“less convenient” clothing.

                                                                                                               78 Beauvoir, The Second Sex, p. 543.

26

Fig. 6-7. Nicki Minaj and Cassie, stills from “The Boys” (2012). Directed by Colin Tilley. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXFcr6oy5dk.

27

Fig. 8-9. Nicki Minaj and Cassie, stills from “The Boys” (2012). Directed by Colin Tilley. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXFcr6oy5dk.

The video engages with postmodern play with fashion signifiers. The boys, for example,

are dressed in pink suits as they follow Minaj down the street. The colour, of course, has

traditionally been a marker of femininity. From birth, infants are categorised as boys or girls,

then marked by blue or pink, respectively. By dressing them in pink, the boys read as feminine.

This postmodern play can also be observed in the menswear-inspired outfits worn by Cassie

and Minaj. In one scene, Minaj wears a bodysuit that looks like men’s braces and a blazer.

Later, Cassie wears a two-piece suit (Fig 8-9). In 2012, when the video was made, it would no

longer be considered revolutionary for women to be wearing menswear inspired garments. It is,

28

though, indicative of the possibilities of fashion in the postmodern era. If the viewer sees the

boys wearing pink as a play with gender signifiers, it can also be said that Minaj and Cassie

take on masculine qualities when they wear menswear-inspired outfits. This is particularly true

considering the narrative of the video. Minaj and Cassie never appear submissive to the boys.

Instead, they hold power over them. The narrative reverses the tradition of hip-hop videos,

where men frequently objectify women:

“The boys always spending all their money on love They wanna touch it, taste it, see it, feel it, bone it, own it

Dollar, dollar, paper chase it get that money

You get high and fuck a bunch of girls And then cry on top of the world

I hope you have the time of your life I hope I don’t lose it tonight”79

This sentiment is also mirrored in the lyrics of the song. It is a stark contrast to the

sentiments of Simone de Beauvoir. Minaj raps about her sexuality, but says, “man I’m stingy

with my kitty cat,” meaning that she is in control, not the boys. Later in the music video, the

viewer observes Minaj use a flamethrower to burn down the barbershop, killing those inside.

This destruction of the boys’ space is the ultimate expression of power; she has taken their lives

away. She then performs in the barbershop among the flames and bodies, which suggests a

commandeering of the boys’ power by a woman. She walks around them, observing and

touching them, asserting her power by the simple act of still being alive (Fig. 10-14).

                                                                                                               79 Maraj, Onika, and Casandra Ventura. The Boys. By Jonas Jeberg, Jean Baptiste, Onika Maraj, Lillianna Saldaña, and Anjulie Persaud. Nicki Minaj and Cassie. Jonas Jeberg, Jean Baptiste, 2012, MP3.

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Fig. 10-14. Nicki Minaj and Cassie, stills from “The Boys” (2012). Directed by Colin Tilley. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXFcr6oy5dk.

30

Aside from the use of feminine themes throughout, “The Boys” also challenges the

traditional structure of the hip-hop music video by queering the gaze. In the scenes where Minaj

and Cassie are both performing in the polka-dot room, the two women touch in ways that

suggests sexual desire (Fig. 15-16). This relates back to Mulvey’s notion of the male gaze,

discussed in the first chapter. As Cranny-Francis et al write in Gender Studies:

“Queering the gaze is a play with the normative practice of the gaze, as defined by Mulvey. It does not focus on how the gendered and sexed images in a text construct the narrative or argument in terms that assume heterosexual desire, although it acknowledges that will most often be the case. The queer gaze identifies moments in the text that unsettle that regime.”80

Unlike traditional narrative cinema, music videos often engage or acknowledge the

audience, which in and of itself challenges the normative gaze as established by Mulvey. By

acknowledging the viewer through performing to the camera, the performer(s) establish a form

of agency. Because it is, in part, the voyeuristic quality of film that creates the power of the

gaze, this power is weakened when the subjects are aware that it is occurring.

The lyrical content of the song suggests heterosexual desire, but this is not necessarily

reflected in the women’s performance in the music video. The male gaze is already unsettled by

the power relations between the women performers and the boys, but it is further disturbed by

the sexual desire expressed between Minaj and Cassie. Following Cranny-Francis et al.’s

explanation of queering the gaze, this action destabilises the assumption of the performers’

heteronormative desire, which draws attention to the performative quality of gender and

sexuality. Though Minaj and Cassie both appear feminine, their physical contact suggests that

femininity is not inherently related to heterosexual desire. It is a final expression of their power:

Minaj and Cassie appeal to male desire, but do not seek it. These acts subvert the expectations

of the hip-hop music video.

                                                                                                               80 Cranny-Francis, Gender Studies, p. 174.

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Fig. 15-16. Nicki Minaj and Cassie, stills from “The Boys” (2012). Directed by Colin Tilley. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXFcr6oy5dk.

32

III. Black Feminism and Sexuality

No woman’s identity is solely based on her gender. The method of integration and

inclusion by eliminating other identity markers was recognised as an inadequate means of

strengthening feminism by women from marginalised groups at the height of the second wave.

The phrase ‘the personal is political’ was meant to represent the idea that all aspects of

women’s lives are part of larger political, institutionalised structures. The phrase has also been

used in identity politics that developed alongside, or perhaps as a reaction to, mainstream

feminism. The idea that ‘sisterhood is powerful’ was promoted amongst early radical second

wave feminists. While mainstream feminism often tried to unite all women to strengthen the

movement, it became clear that the interests of women could not be consolidated into one

conception of the essential woman.

Bell hooks, a black feminist and cultural theorist, wrote about the lack of inclusion of

black women in mainstream feminism in her book Ain’t I a Woman, which was published in

1981.81 This text was critical of the agenda of the mainstream feminist movement. This title of

her book references Sojourner Truth’s speech of the same name, and hooks’ use of the phrase

was intended to “critique the exclusion of black women’s experiences from the revision of history

undertaken by the new generation of white women scholars.”82 Hooks and other women

dismissed the essentialist tendencies of the mainstream feminist movement that reduced their

identities to their gender alone. Not only did it fail to accurately represent the variation in needs

and desires of women from marginalised or minority groups, but, they argued, being a woman is

not a universal concept in itself. In Yearning, published in 1991, hooks elaborates this argument:

“I recognise how disempowering it is for people from underprivileged

backgrounds to consciously censor our speech so as to “fit better” in settings where we are perceived as not belonging.”83

Hooks speaks from the position of someone who has been excluded, whose views do not

always align with the dominant voices. She critiques the mainstream movement’s ability to

                                                                                                               81 Hooks, Bell. Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1981. 82 Mandziuk, Roseann M., and Suzanne Pullon Fitch. "The Rhetorical Construction of Sojourner Truth." Southern Communication Journal 66, no. 2 (2001): 120-38. doi:10.1080/10417940109373192. p. 15. 83 Hooks, Bell. Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1990. p. 90.

33

“graciously overlook abusive and dominating behaviour by famous ‘feminist’ thinkers, even if

[their] work is based on a critique of domination.”84

Fig. 17. Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda,” 2014. Digital image. Source: Hip Hop DX, 18 August 2014, accessed 5 February 2015, http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.29925/title.nicki-minaj-anaconda-unaltered-cover-art-memes-music-

video-preview

Prior to the release of her song “Anaconda” in the summer of 2014, Nicki Minaj released

the art for the single (Fig. 17). Following the release of the image, numerous commentators

began to discuss whether or not it represented empowerment. This is an issue of respectability

politics, a system of beliefs intended to qualify who is ‘respectable,’ which usually then

determines whether or not they are treated as human beings. Much of respectability politics,

especially when concerning black women, centres on sexuality.

Black women’s bodies have a history of being sexualised without consent within the

western world, often resulting in them being treated as spectacles.85 In an essay discussing

sexual agency on feminist website Jezebel, contributor Cate Young writes: “to be sexualised is                                                                                                                84 Hooks, Yearning, p. 99. 85 Cultural Criticism and Transformation. Directed by Sut Jhally. Performed by Bell Hooks. Cultural Criticism and Transformation. December 10, 2006. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLMVqnyTo_0.

34

to be objectified against our will. To be sexual is to become an active player in our own sexual

journey.”86 She critiques contemporary feminists who refuse to accept that Minaj is an advocate

of feminism, even though Minaj has discussed her desire to empower other women since the

beginning of her career.

Politics of respectability are the reason why Nicki Minaj is required time and time again

to prove her dedication to feminism. Advocates of respectability politics argue that if a black

woman embodies the traits from the culture of domesticity (namely: piety, purity, domesticity,

and submissiveness), she will be respected. This logic only perpetuates sexist and racist

behaviour, as it suggests that not all individuals are worthy of being treated as human beings.

In the past, hooks has argued in favour of respectability politics as a way of improving

the treatment of black women. In a panel discussion held at the New School in May 2014, she

was asked how black women were to create “liberatory sexual images that honour our agency.”

Hooks posed that perhaps celibacy was the answer. “I would rather not be sexual, than to be

sexual in any context where I am being mistreated, where I have doubt,” she said.87 The author

also suggested that celibacy can be used as political tool to counteract hypersexualised images

of black women in the media. The three other black women on the panel strongly disagreed.

Though I have used hooks as an example to represent the growth of feminist

movements outside the white, heterosexual mainstream, hooks does not represent black

feminism in its entirety. This concept is important in understanding the development of periphery

feminist movements in the latter half of the second wave and into the third wave. Bell hooks

criticises the mainstream feminist movement, but she also understands that her ideology is not

representative of all black feminists. Janet Mock, a contemporary intersectional feminist who

                                                                                                               86 Young, Cate. "On Bell Hooks, Sexual Agency And Combating Sexual Stereotypes Of Black Women." Powder Room - Jezebel. May 8, 2014. Accessed January 2015. http://powderroom.jezebel.com/on-bell-hooks-sexual-agency-and-combating-sexual-stere-1573349900. Jezebel is an online blog aimed at women's interests. It is owned by Gawker Media. Powder Room, where this article was posted, is a subdivision of Jezebel in which frequent commenters can publish writing. 87 Are You Still a Slave? Performed by Bell Hooks, Marci Blackman, Janet Mock, Shola Lynch. Are You Still a Slave? - New School. May 6, 2014. http://new.livestream.com/TheNewSchool/Slave?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=thenewschool&utm_campaign=AreYou.

35

also participated in the panel, believes in the idea of black women owning their sexuality, and

maintains that embracing one’s sexuality is not mutually exclusive from a belief in feminism.88

Minaj is a sexual person; it is evident in the “Anaconda” single art, in her lyrics, and in

her music videos. She is the product of a culture in which women’s bodies, especially black

women’s have repeatedly been objectified. Despite this, it is important to consider the possibility

that when Minaj is barely dressed in a photo shoot, or twerks in a music video, that she is doing

that from a place of power. “Whenever black women own their sense of sexuality and appears

to not be controlled by the hetero-male gaze, the whole world gets into a tizzy,” wrote

Feministing (another contemporary feminist website) contributor Mychal Smith in regards to the

media’s critical response to the “Anaconda” cover art.89 It is possible that Minaj is in control of

her sexuality, that she is not a passive object to satisfy male desire. She may appeal to the male

gaze, but she does not necessarily present herself this way to please it.

III.I “Anaconda”

In addition to the controversial single art, the music video for “Anaconda” challenges the

normative power dynamics between ‘objectified’ women in a music video and the male gaze.

The music video is overtly sexual. It opens with Minaj and four dancers standing on a bridge in a

“surreal, bubble-gum Amazon world” (Fig. 18).90 There are no men in this environment, an

aesthetic that is common in Minaj’s videography (“The Boys,” discussed previously, being a

similar example).91 The women are dressed in black strapless bras and underwear, while Nicki

Minaj wears an ornate, gold bra embellished with chains. In the “Amazon” scenes, the viewer

sees Minaj and the women dance together in a very sensual manner. The music video is cut

with scenes of the women performing a choreographed dance in front of a white studio

backdrop, with only chairs to create a sense of space in an otherwise ambiguous setting. Here,

                                                                                                               88 "Janet Mock on Beyonce's Feminism." YouTube. June 26, 2014. Accessed January 2015.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Jr9P01ESs. 89 Smith, Mychal D. "Feministing." Feministing. July 29, 2014. http://feministing.com/2014/07/29/nicki-minajs-butt-and-the-politics-of-black-womens-sexuality/. Feministing is an online community run by and for young feminists. 90 Zoladz, Lindsay. "Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda' Video Is Not Pandering to the Male Gaze." Vulture. August 20, 2014. http://www.vulture.com/2014/08/zoladz-on-nicki-minajs-anaconda-video.html. Vulture is an entertainment-based subdivision of the team behind New York magazine. 91 While there are men in “The Boys” music video, they play a small role. The majority of the music video appears to be a surreal ‘women-only’ world.

36

Minaj and the dancers are performing directly to the camera; any sense of a narrative has been

replaced by a direct engagement with the audience. Nicki Minaj and the other women dance

while locking eyes with the viewer, meeting the male gaze and challenging it (Fig. 19).

Fig. 18-19. Nicki Minaj. Stills from “Anaconda” (2014). Directed by Colin Tilley. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs

37

The different settings in the ‘Amazon world’ (the bridge, the gym, and the kitchen) mostly

exist as stages on which the women can perform. In these scenes, the women twerk or grind

with each other, with expressions of immense pleasure. Again, these actions exemplify a

queering of the gaze. The desire evident on the women’s faces implies that when they dance

together, it is not out of a yearning to appeal to the male gaze, but out of desire for one another.

At two points in the music video, the viewer sees one woman slap another’s ass. In a second

wave framework, this sexual act could be read as an objectification of the woman’s body, but

analysed through the postmodern notion of the queer gaze, it is understood as a challenge to

the heteronormative standard of hip-hop music videos and disrupts the expected relationship

between the male gaze and the female subject. The action destroys the idea that the women

are passive objects for the male viewer to fetishize (Fig. 20-27).

38

Fig. 20-27. Nicki Minaj. Stills from “Anaconda” (2014). Directed by Colin Tilley. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs

39

This idea is epitomised by the scene in the music video that shows Minaj in a kitchen

wearing a ‘French maid’ costume. In the traditional master/servant binary, this outfit suggests

her submission to the viewer. She covers herself in whipped cream, an act that represents male

ejaculation from the phallic whipped cream canister. The viewer also sees her mimic fellatio with

a banana, but at the last second she stops, cuts it into small pieces and throws it away. This

interruption of the viewer’s expectations plays with and upsets the gaze. The mocking look on

Minaj’s face as she throws the banana signifies her complete awareness of the expectations of

the viewer and a fervent desire to challenge their stereotype-informed assumptions of who she

is (Fig. 28-31).

The only man in the video is the rapper Drake. In one of the last scenes, the viewer sees

Nicki Minaj give Drake a lap dance, then slap his hand and walk away when he tries to grab at

her. Journalist Sophie Kleeman, in an article for Mic, writes that the video is disappointing in its

reliance on “the tired trope of hypersexualising women’s bodies.”92 She asserts that the video

does nothing to challenge stereotypes of women in the hip-hop industry. To Kleeman, Minaj’s

lap dance is a form of objectifying herself. Carmen Rios, a writer for Autostraddle, views it

differently, claiming: “throughout that lap dance, Minaj is the one in control … acting on her own

sexual desires.”93 Kleeman suggests that Nicki Minaj has let down the feminist movement by

reducing herself to an object for Drake to gaze at while dancing for him. To her, Minaj has no

interest in fighting against the oppression and objectification of women. In Kleeman’s analysis,

she makes the assumption that Minaj is powerless at the hands of men wanting to sexualise

her, rather than accepting these facets of her performance as a choice.

The key factor here is agency. The moment that Minaj slaps Drake’s hand, and then

leaves him, reads as a moment of control. The difference between Minaj’s assumed desire for

Drake and the assumption of her desire to please Drake is made clear in this action. In an

interview with GQ magazine, she describes the scene in the kitchen.

                                                                                                               92 Kleeman, Sophie. "Nicki Minaj's New 'Anaconda' Video Is Here - And It's a Huge Letdown." Mic. August 20, 2014. http://mic.com/articles/96698/nicki-minaj-s-new-anaconda-video-is-here-and-it-s-a-huge-letdown. Mic is a website geared towards offering quality news tailored to young people. 93 Rios, Carmen. "Nicki Minaj's Feminism Isn't About Your Comfort Zone: On "Anaconda" and Respectability Politics." Autostraddle. August 25, 2014. http://www.autostraddle.com/nicki-minajs-feminism-isnt-about-your-comfort-zone-on-anaconda-and-respectability-politics-251866. Autostraddle is a "progressive feminist online community for a new generation of kickass lesbian, bisexual & otherwise inclined ladies."

40

“It's always about the female taking back the power, and if you want to be flirty and funny that's fine, but always keeping the power and the control in everything."94

The same is true of her lap dance with Drake. At the moment that he attempts to take control of

the situation, signified by him grabbing her ass, she leaves, maintaining the power (Fig. 32-35).

                                                                                                               94 Brodesser-Akner, Taffy. "Nicki Minaj: Cheeky Genius." GQ. November 2014. http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201411/nicki-minaj.

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Fig. 28-35. Nicki Minaj. Stills from “Anaconda” (2014). Directed by Colin Tilley. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs.

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III.II Reclaiming Language

The song’s title is a reference to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s 1992 song “Baby Got Back,” which is

sampled in “Anaconda”. In “Baby Got Back,” Sir Mix-a-Lot says, “My anaconda don’t want none

unless you got buns, hon.”95 The term ‘anaconda’ here is a reference to his penis, a signifier for

his heterosexual desire. He makes it clear that he is not interested in a woman, the object,

unless she has a big, desirable ass. Minaj shortens the line to “My anaconda don’t—” and its

repetition through out the song is an attempt to destroy the male gaze and objectification of her

body. She, quite literally, stops Sir Mix-a-Lot mid-sentence, and does not allow him to turn her

body, ass in particular, into something for his consumption.

Fig. 36-37. Sir Mix-A-Lot. Stills from “Baby Got Back” (1992). Directed by Adam Bernstein. YouTube.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlItMpGYQTo.

There is a similar moment when Minaj sings, “oh my god, look at her butt,” another

sample taken from “Baby Got Back.”96 In “Baby Got Back,” the line is spoken by a white woman

as an expression of awe and disgust.

“Oh my god, Becky, look at her butt … they only talk to her because she looks like a total prostitute … I mean, her butt, is just so big … She’s just so black!”97

In the music video, the woman speaks while the viewer watches a black woman dancing from

behind. The face of the dancer is never shown; she is an object available for the consumption of

the white woman, Sir Mix-A-Lot and the viewer. The black woman is assumed to be a sex

worker because of her appearance, namely, the size of her ass and her ‘blackness.’ Minaj

                                                                                                               95 Ray, Anthony, writer. Baby Got Back. Sir Mix-a-Lot. Sir Mix-a-Lot, 1992, MP3. 96 Ibid. 97 Ibid.

43

samples the line “Oh my god, look at her butt,” as a tool to regain agency over the

representation of her own body. It is an example of queering language; Minaj reclaims the

power of the critique by singing the line herself. By taking ownership of a line that is meant to

insult, she weakens its impact.

Minaj has been criticised in the past for simultaneously claiming to want to empower

women while also using derogatory terms like ‘bitch’ and ‘hoe’ in her lyrics. In an article written

for culture news website Salon, Julianne Shepherd writes: “with Minaj’s lead, it would be kinda

[sic] nice if, just once, all these awesome women would get together and do a ‘Ladies First

2012’. Because we have a much bigger, much more deadly adversary to combat: patriarchy.”98

This second wave sentiment is unworkable in postmodernity. Policing some women’s behaviour

(in this case, Minaj’s language) for being ‘less’ feminist than others is a tool of domination, not

dissimilar to the domination that feminists critique when enacted by men.

Furthermore, it can be argued that Minaj’s repeated use of derogatory language in effect

normalises it, thus diminishing its power. Judith Butler discusses the power of language as

means of regulating our reality. She focuses on the theory of French feminist theorist Monique

Wittig, writing: “language … is a set of acts, repeated over time, that produce reality-effects that

are eventually misperceived as facts. Naming … is an act of domination and compulsion, an

institutionalised performative that both creates and legislates social reality by requiring the

discursive / perceptual construction of bodies…”99 Just as it is possible to queer the gaze in film,

it is also possible to queer language. The terms ‘bitch’ and ‘hoe’ are divested of their power

when repeatedly used by Minaj. She has expressed a desire to challenge the language of power

since the start of her career. “When I’m assertive, I’m a bitch. When a man is, he’s a boss. He’s

bossed up,” she said in My Time Now.100 Her repetition of the term is part of her performance; it

is reclamation of the words’ power.

                                                                                                               98 Shepherd, Julianne E. "Nicki Minaj’s Retroactive Feminism." Salon. July 31, 2012. http://www.salon.com/2012/07/31/nicki_minajs_retroactive_feminism_salpart/. 99 Butler, Gender Trouble, p. 157. 100 My Time Now. Directed by Michael J. Warren. Performed by Nicki Minaj. USA: MTV, 2010.

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Conclusion

The question of whether or not Minaj’s performance can be qualified as feminist is

dependent on which type of feminism is used as a framework for analysis. While it is important

to have an understanding of the history of feminist theory in order to comprehend the

development of periphery and third wave feminism, it is perhaps irresponsible to qualify a

contemporary figure according to texts that were written in the mid-20th century. Mainstream

second wave feminist discourse asserts that one cannot be feminine and a feminist

simultaneously, but these essentialised notions about what a feminist looks like are untenable in

an age of postmodernity. The same applies to the behaviour policing and condemnation of

Minaj’s behaviour as exploitative and oversexualised by contemporary second wave feminists.

“When feminists honour Minaj’s feminist lyrics, as they did with “Anaconda,” and then admonish her for expressing herself with sexually charged images and videos, they are playing into the same dominant narratives about women’s sexualities that perpetuate victim-blaming, slut-shaming, and the subordination of women.”101

We should not question Nicki Minaj’s alignment with the feminist movement

simply because she does not fit the reductionist, second wave definition of who a

feminist is. In postmodernity the individual is understood as a malleable reflection of

cultural institutions. She cannot be understood merely as a woman, a black person and a

rapper.

We mediate Minaj’s image through a lens that is informed by normalised cultural

institutions and stereotypes, but we must be careful to not confuse representation with

stereotypes surrounding gender and race. With an awareness of this, we can recognise

the power in her subversive performance. There is power in Minaj appropriating the male

gaze by performing as a man or expressing queer desire. Through the lens of Butler’s

theory of performativity, it is possible to understand Minaj’s play with stereotypes as a

means of revealing their constructed nature. Minaj’s hyperfemininity does not make her

look weak, but gives her agency and ownership of her own body and sexuality. The hip-

                                                                                                               101 Rios, "Comfort Zone.”

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hop music video often reduces women to sexualised objects for male pleasure, but it is

crucial to recognise the potential for this tradition to be unsettled by a woman who

retains agency over her own body.

She challenges the notion of the male gaze in hip-hop by subverting the expectations of

women in music videos. She plays with heteronormativity by suggesting queer desire in both

“The Boys” and “Anaconda,” and destabilises the narrative of patriarchal control over women’s

bodies. She is explicit in her desire to empower women who have been marginalised throughout

history, and her work continually confronts assumptions about feminism and hip-hop culture.

Through her hyperfeminine performance, Nicki Minaj manages to excel in the mainstream hip-

hop industry while consistently challenging the tradition of male domination, thus embodying

third wave feminism in practice.  

  46

Bibliography Books Beauvoir, Simone De. The Second Sex. New York: Knopf, 1953. Best, Steven, and Douglas Kellner. Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations. New York: Guilford Press, 1991. Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 2006. Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics: The Basics. London: Routledge, 2002. Cranny-Francis, Anne, Wendy Warring, Pam Stavropoulos, and Joan Kirkby. Gender Studies: Terms and Debates. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Genz, Stéphanie, and Benjamin A. Brabon. Postfeminism: Cultural Texts and Theories. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. Hooks, Bell. Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1981. Hooks, Bell. Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1990. Kroløkke, Charlotte, and Ann Scott. Sørensen. Gender Communication Theories & Analyses: From Silence to Performance. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2006. Miller, Janice. Fashion and Music. Oxford: Berg, 2011. Negrin, Llewellyn. "The Postmodern Gender Carnival." In Appearance and Identity: Fashioning the Body in Postmodernity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Negrin, Llewyn. "The Self as Image: A Critical Appraisal of Postmodern Theories of Fashion." In The Fashion History Reader: Global Perspectives, by Giorgio Riello and Peter McNeil, 505-20. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2010. Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Materials. London: Sage, 2001. Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Wilson, Elizabeth. Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. Young, James O. Cultural Appropriation and the Arts. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2008.

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Journals Evans, Caroline. "On Rereading Simone De Beauvoir's The Second Sex After Thirty-Five Years." WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly 41, no. 1-2 (2013): 194-96. doi:10.1353/wsq.2013.0061. McMillan, Uri. "Nicki-aesthetics: The Camp Performance of Nicki Minaj." Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory 24, no. 1 (May 2014): 79-87. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0740770X.2014.901600. Mulvey, L. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Screen 16, no. 3 (1975): 6-18. doi:10.1093/screen/16.3.6. Snyder, R. Claire. "What Is Third‐Wave Feminism? A New Directions Essay." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 34, no. 1 (2008): 175-96. doi:10.1086/588436. Film/Video Anaconda. Directed by Colin Tilley. Performed by Nicki Minaj. YouTube.com. August 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs. "Janet Mock on Beyonce's Feminism." YouTube. June 26, 2014. Accessed January 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Jr9P01ESs. Baby Got Back. Directed by Adam Bernstein. Performed by Sir Mix-A-Lot. YouTube.com. 1992. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlItMpGYQTo. The Boys. Directed by Colin Tilley. Performed by Nicki Minaj, Cassie. YouTube.com. October 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXFcr6oy5dk. Hard Out Here. Directed by Christopher Sweeney. Performed by Lily Allen. YouTube.com. November 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0CazRHB0so. Shake It Off. Directed by Mark Romanoff. Performed by Taylor Swift. YouTube.com. August 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM. My Time Again. Directed by Michael J. Warren. Performed by Nicki Minaj. USA: MTV, 2015. My Time Now. Directed by Michael J. Warren. Performed by Nicki Minaj. USA: MTV, 2010. Online Lectures Are You Still a Slave? Performed by Bell Hooks, Marci Blackman, Janet Mock, Shola Lynch. Are You Still a Slave? - New School. May 6, 2014. http://new.livestream.com/TheNewSchool/Slave?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=thenewschool&utm_campaign=AreYou.

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Cultural Criticism and Transformation. Directed by Sut Jhally. Performed by Bell Hooks. Cultural Criticism and Transformation. December 10, 2006. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLMVqnyTo_0. Music/Audio Allen, Lily, and Greg Kurstin, writers. Hard Out Here. Lily Allen. Greg Kurstin, 2013, MP3. Maraj, Onika. Anaconda. By Onika Maraj, Jamal Jones, Jonathan Solone-Myvett, Ernest Clark, Marcos Palacios, and Anthony Ray. Nicki Minaj. Polow Da Don, Da Internz, Anon., 2014, MP3. Maraj, Onika, and Casandra Ventura. The Boys. By Jonas Jeberg, Jean Baptiste, Onika Maraj, Lillianna Saldaña, and Anjulie Persaud. Nicki Minaj and Cassie. Jonas Jeberg, Jean Baptiste, 2012, MP3. Maraj, Onika, Kaseem Dean, Marshall Mathers, and T. Smith, writers. Roman's Revenge. Nicki Minaj and Eminem. Swizz Beatz, 2010, MP3. Maraj, Onika. Pink Friday. Nicki Minaj. Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, Universal Motown, 2010, MP3. Maraj, Onika. Pink Friday Roman Reloaded. Nicki Minaj. Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, Republic Records, 2012, MP3. O'Connor, Ella Y., and Joel Little, writers. Royals. Lorde. Joel Little, 2013, MP3. Ray, Anthony, writer. Baby Got Back. Sir Mix-a-Lot. Sir Mix-a-Lot, 1992, MP3. West, Kanye, Shawn Carter, William Roberts, Onika Maraj, and Justin Vernon. Monster. Kanye West Feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Justin Vernon. Kanye West, Mike Dean, Plain Pat, 2010, MP3. Webpages Atkins, Robert. "Appropriation." In Artspeak. New York: Abbeville Press, 1997. http://www.moca.org/pc/viewArtTerm.php?id=2. Brodesser-Akner, Taffy. "Nicki Minaj: Cheeky Genius." GQ. November 2014. http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201411/nicki-minaj. Kleeman, Sophie. "Nicki Minaj's New 'Anaconda' Video Is Here - And It's a Huge Letdown." Mic. August 20, 2014. http://mic.com/articles/96698/nicki-minaj-s-new-anaconda-video-is-here-and-it-s-a-huge-letdown.

Mic is a website geared towards offering quality news tailored to young people. Description taken from ‘About’ webpage.

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O'Malley Greenburg, Zack. "Cash Kings 2013: The World's 20 Highest Paid Hip-Hop Artists." Forbes. September 24, 2013. http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeel45efgik/4-nicki-minaj-29-million/. Rios, Carmen. "Nicki Minaj's Feminism Isn't About Your Comfort Zone: On "Anaconda" and Respectability Politics." Autostraddle. August 25, 2014. http://www.autostraddle.com/nicki-minajs-feminism-isnt-about-your-comfort-zone-on-anaconda-and-respectability-politics-251866.

Autostraddle is a "progressive feminist online community for a new generation of kickass lesbian, bisexual & otherwise inclined ladies." They have been nominated as an Outstanding Blog in the 24th and 25th Annual GLAAD Awards. Description taken from ‘About’ webpage.

Shepherd, Julianne E. "Nicki Minaj’s Retroactive Feminism." Salon. Accessed July 31, 2012. http://www.salon.com/2012/07/31/nicki_minajs_retroactive_feminism_salpart/.

"Salon.com covers breaking news, politics, culture, technology and entertainment through investigative reporting, fearless commentary and criticism, and provocative personal essays." Description taken from ‘About’ webpage.

Shepherd, Julianne E. "Nicki Minaj's The Pinkprint Is By, For, and About Boss-Ass Women." Jezebel. December 16, 2014. http://jezebel.com/nicki-minajs-the-pinkprint-is-by-for-and-about-boss-a-1671453605.

Smith, Mychal D. "Feministing." Feministing. July 29, 2014. http://feministing.com/2014/07/29/nicki-minajs-butt-and-the-politics-of-black-womens-sexuality/.

Feministing is an online community run by and for young feminists. Their diverse collective of writers cover a broad range of intersectional feminist issues. They elevate the work of emerging feminist thinkers by providing an open-platform 'Community.' Description taken from ‘About’ webpage.

Young, Cate. "On Bell Hooks, Sexual Agency And Combating Sexual Stereotypes Of Black Women." Powder Room - Jezebel. May 8, 2014. http://powderroom.jezebel.com/on-bell-hooks-sexual-agency-and-combating-sexual-stere-1573349900.

Jezebel is an online blog aimed at women's interests. It is owned by Gawker Media. Powder Room, where this article was posted, is a subdivision of Jezebel in which frequent commenters can publish writing. Description summarised from ‘About’ webpage.

Zoladz, Lindsay. "Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda' Video Is Not Pandering to the Male Gaze." Vulture. August 20, 2014. http://www.vulture.com/2014/08/zoladz-on-nicki-minajs-anaconda-video.html.

Vulture is an entertainment-based subdivision of the team behind New York magazine. They focus on film, television, and pop culture. Description summarised from ‘About’ webpage.

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List of Figures Fig. 1-2: Lily Allen, still from “Hard Out Here” (2013). Directed by Christopher Sweeney. YouTube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0CazRHB0so.

Fig. 3-4: Taylor Swift, still from “Shake It Off” (2014). Directed by Mark Romanek. YouTube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM. Fig. 5: Mark Stehle. “Nicki Minaj performs in Philadelphia.” 2014. DailyMail.co.uk, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2681152/Nicki-Minaj-busts-figure-hugging-velour-tracksuit-rehearses- Philly-4th-July-Jam.html (accessed 5 February 2015).

Fig. 6-16: Nicki Minaj and Cassie, stills from “The Boys” (2012). Directed by Colin Tilley. YouTube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXFcr6oy5dk.

Fig. 17: Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda,” 2014. Digital image. Source: Hip Hop DX, 18 August 2014, accessed 5 February 2015, http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.29925/title.nicki-minaj-anaconda-unaltered-cover-art-memes-music- video-preview.

Fig. 18-35: Nicki Minaj. Stills from “Anaconda” (2014). Directed by Colin Tilley. YouTube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs.

Fig. 36-37: Sir Mix-A-Lot. Stills from “Baby Got Back” (1992). Directed by Adam Bernstein. YouTube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlItMpGYQTo.

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Appendices (Lyrics) Lyrics annotated with help from Genius.com

Hard Out Here Performed by Lily Allen

Verse 1: I suppose I should tell you What this bitch is thinking You'll find me in the studio And not in the kitchen I won't be bragging 'bout my cars Or talking 'bout my chains Don't need to shake my ass for you 'Cause I've got a brain

If I told you 'bout my sex life, you'd call me a slut When boys be talking about their bitches no one's making a fuss There's a glass ceiling to break, uh-huh There's money to make And now it's time to speed it up ‘Cause I can't move at this pace Hook: Sometimes it's hard to find the words to say I'll go ahead and say them anyway Forget your balls and grow a pair of tits It's hard, it's hard, it's hard out here for a bitch It's hard for a bitch (for a bitch) for a bitch, It's hard It's hard out here for a bitch It's hard for a bitch (for a bitch) for a bitch, It's hard It's hard out here

Verse 2: If you're not a size six Then you're not good looking Well, you better be rich Or be real good at cooking You should probably lose some weight 'Cause we can't see your bones You should probably fix your face Or you'll end up on your own Don't you want to have somebody who objectifies you? Have you thought about your butt? Who's gonna tear it in two? We've never had it so good, uh-huh We're out of the woods And if you can't detect the sarcasm

You've misunderstood

(Hook)

A bitch, a bitch, a bitch, bitch, bitch x 4

Inequality promises That it's here to stay Always trust the injustice ‘Cause it's not going away Inequality promises That it's here to stay Always trust the injustice ‘Cause it's not going away

(Hook)

Bitch

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Royals Performed by Lorde

Verse 1: I've never seen a diamond in the flesh I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies And I'm not proud of my address In a torn-up town, no postcode envy Pre-Chorus: But every song's like gold teeth, grey goose, trippin' in the bathroom Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece. Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash. We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair Chorus: And we'll never be royals (royals) It don't run in our blood That kind of luxe just ain't for us We crave a different kind of buzz. Let me be your ruler (ruler) You can call me queen Bee And baby I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule Let me live that fantasy Verse 2: My friends and I—we've cracked the code We count our dollars on the train to the party And everyone who knows us knows that we're fine with this We didn't come from money (Pre-Chorus & Chorus) Bridge: Ooh ooh oh We're bigger than we ever dreamed And I'm in love with being queen Ooh ooh oh Life is great without a care We aren't caught up in your love affair (Chorus)

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The Boys Performed by Nicki Minaj and Cassie

Verse 1 (Nicki Minaj): Punch line queen, no boxer though Might pull up in a Porsche, no Boxster though Tell a hater, “Yo, don’t you got cocks to blow?” Tell them Kangaroo Nick, I’ll box a ho They said I got five and a possible Don’t get against Nicki, impossible I done came through with my wrist on popsicle Man these hoes couldn’t ball with a testicle, nigga Verse 2 (Cassie): Your lipstick stain Smells like a cheap hotel Diamond watches and a gold chain Can’t make my frown turn around Hook (Nicki Minaj and Cassie): The boys always spending all their money on love The boys always spending all their money on love They wanna touch it, taste it, see it, feel it, bone it, own it Dollar, dollar, paper chase it get that money Bridge (Cassie): You get high and fuck a bunch of girls And then cry on top of the world I hope you have the time of your life I hope I don’t lose it tonight Verse 3 (Nicki Minaj): Bald head pussy got lots of juice Lop-sided on the curb so I block the coupes Watch the deuce Man I’m stingy with my kitty cat daddy “Did you ever really love me Steebie?” Rrrrrrr, pull up in the rrrrr Wrist on burrrrr, pussy on purrrr-purrrr I don’t even break when I’m back up I’ll swerve on a nigga if he acting up I done push more sixes than a play date Get money by the millions, fuck a day rate nigga Verse 4 (Cassie): Your bossed up swag Got them drooling like a new born babe The dollars in they eyes Got them blinded by a masquerade

(Hook & Bridge) Verse 5 (Nicki Minaj): I put all you bitches on to them good lace fronts Girls is my sons, carried them for eight months And yes you’re premature, Young Money to the Core I might give you a ticket so you can come see the tour Oh that’s your new girl, that’s that mid-grade Buck fifty on your face with the switchblade Or the razor, yeah the razor She my son yeah, but I ain’t raise her Goose me, hater! I get that loose leaf paper Them v-necks be studded out, T-Rex be gutted out Told ‘em Nicki be chilling, I’mma keep hurting they feelings Because you’ll never be Jordan, you couldn’t even be Pippen You couldn’t even be tripping, you can’t afford a vacation I’m out in Haiti with Haitians, I go to Asia with Asians You mad dusty, you a lil dusty possum I just come through with the six like my name was Blossom (Bridge: Cassie) x 2 Outro (Nicki Minaj and Cassie): The boys always spending on their money on love x 4 Pretty Gang Young Money Cassie

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Anaconda Performed by Nicki Minaj

Intro: My Anaconda don't... My Anaconda don't... My Anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun Verse 1: Boy toy named Troy used to live in Detroit Big dope dealer money, he was getting some coins Was in shootouts with the law, but he live in a palace Bought me Alexander McQueen, he was keeping me stylish Now that's real, real, real, Gun in my purse, bitch I came dressed to kill Who wanna go first? I had them pushing daffodils I'm high as hell, I only took a half of pill I'm on some dumb shit By the way, what he say? He can tell I ain't missing no meals Come through and fuck 'em in my automobile Let him eat it with his grills, He keep telling me to chill He keep telling me it's real, that he love my sex appeal Because he don't like 'em boney, he want something he can grab So I pulled up in the Jag, and I hit 'em with the jab like... Dun-d-d-dun-dun-d-d-dun-dun Bridge 1: My Anaconda don't... My Anaconda don't... My Anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun Hook: Oh my gosh, look at her butt x 3 Look at her butt (look at her butt) Verse 2: This dude named Michael used to ride motorcycles Dick bigger than a tower, I ain't talking about Eiffel's Real country ass nigga, let me play with his rifle

Pussy put his ass to sleep, now he calling me NyQuil Now that bang bang bang, I let him hit it 'cause he slang cocaine He toss my salad like his name romaine And when we done, I make him buy me Balmain I'm on some dumb shit By the way, what he say? He can tell I ain't missing no meals Come through and fuck 'em in my automobile Let him eat it with his grills, He keep telling me to chill He keep telling me it's real, that he love my sex appeal Because he don't like 'em boney, he want something he can grab So I pulled up in the Jag, Mayweather with the jab like... Dun-d-d-dun-dun-d-d-dun-dun (Bridge 1 & Hook) Little in the middle but she got much back x 3 Oh my God, look at her butt (Bridge 1) x 2 (Hook) Yeah, he love this fat ass Yeah! This one is for my bitches with a fat ass in the fucking club I said, "Where my fat ass big bitches in the club?" Fuck those skinny bitches, Fuck those skinny bitches in the club I wanna see all the big fat ass bitches in the motherfucking club, fuck you if you skinny bitches. What? Yeah! Yeah. I got a big fat ass. Come on!

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Baby Got Back Performed by Sir Mix-A-Lot

Intro: Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt It is so big She looks like One of those rap guys' girlfriends. But, you know, who understands those rap guys? They only talk to her, because She looks like a total prostitute, 'kay? I mean, her butt, is just so big I can't believe it's just so round, it's like Out there, I mean— gross. Look! She's just so... black! Verse 1: I like big butts and I cannot lie You other brothers can't deny That when a girl walks in with an itty-bitty waist And a round thing in your face You get sprung, wanna pull up tough 'Cause you notice that butt was stuffed Deep in the jeans she's wearing I'm hooked and I can't stop staring Oh baby, I wanna get with you And take your picture My homeboys tried to warn me But that butt you got makes me so horny Ooh, Rump-o'-smooth-skin You say you wanna get in my Benz? Well, use me, use me 'Cause you ain't that average groupie I've seen them dancing ' To hell with romancing ' She's sweat, wet, Got it goin' like a turbo 'Vette I'm tired of magazines Sayin' flat butts are the thing Take the average black man and ask him that She gotta pack much back So, fellas! (Yeah!) Fellas! (Yeah!) Has your girlfriend got the butt? (Hell yeah!) Tell 'em to shake it! (Shake it!) Shake it! (Shake it!) Shake that healthy butt! Hook: Baby got back! (LA face with Oakland booty) Baby got back!

Verse 2: I like 'em round, and big And when I'm throwin' a gig I just can't help myself, I'm actin' like an animal Now here's my scandal I wanna get you home And ugh, double-up, ugh, ugh I ain't talkin' bout Playboy 'Cause silicone parts are made for toys I want 'em real thick and juicy So find that juicy double Mix-a-Lot's in trouble Beggin' for a piece of that bubble So I'm lookin' at rock videos Watching these bimbos walkin' like hoes You can have them bimbos I'll keep my women like Flo Jo A word to the thick soul sisters, I wanna get with ya I won't cuss or hit ya But I gotta be straight when I say I wanna fuck Till the break of dawn Baby got it goin' on A lot of simps won't like this song 'Cause them punks like to hit it and quit it And I'd rather stay and play 'Cause I'm long, and I'm strong And I'm down to get the friction on So, ladies! (Yeah!) Ladies! (Yeah) If you wanna roll in my Mercedes (Yeah!) Then turn around! Stick it out! Even white boys got to shout Baby got back! (Hook) Yeah, baby... when it comes to females, Cosmo ain't got nothin' to do with my selection 36-24-36? Ha ha, only if she's 5'3" Verse 3: So your girlfriend rolls a Honda, Playin' workout tapes by Fonda But Fonda ain't got a motor in the back of her Honda My anaconda don't want none Unless you've got buns, hun You can do side bends or sit-ups, But please don't lose that butt Some brothers wanna play that "hard" role

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And tell you that the butt ain't gold So they toss it and leave it And I pull up quick to retrieve it So Cosmo says you're fat Well I ain't down with that! 'Cause your waist is small and your curves are kickin' And I'm thinkin' bout stickin' To the beanpole dames in the magazines: You ain't it, Miss Thing! Give me a sister, I can't resist her Red beans and rice didn't miss her Some knucklehead tried to diss 'Cause his girls are on my list He had game but he chose to hit 'em And I pull up quick to get wit 'em So ladies, if the butt is round, And you want a triple X throw down, Dial 1-900-MIXALOT And kick them nasty thoughts Baby got back! (Little in the middle but she got much back) x 4

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Monster (Nicki Minaj’s Verse) Performed by Nicki Minaj

Pull up on the monster automobile, gangsta With a bad bitch that came from Sri Lanka Yeah I’m in that Tonka colour of Willy Wonka You could be king but watch the queen conquer Ok, first things first I’ll eat your brains Then I’ma start rocking gold teeth and fangs Cause that’s what a motherfucking monster do Hair dresser from Milan that’s the monster do Monster Giuseppe heel, that’s the monster shoe And I’m all up, all up, all up in the bank with the funny face And if I’m fake, I ain’t notice cause my money ain’t So let me get this straight, wait, I’m the rookie? But my features and my shows ten times your pay? 50K for a verse, no album out Yeah, my money’s so tall that my Barbiez got to climb it Hotter than a Middle Eastern climate, violent Tony Matterhorn, dutty wine it, wylin’ Nicki on them titties when I sign it That’s how these niggas so one-track-minded But really really I don’t give a F-U-C-K Forget Barbie, fuck Nicki cause she’s fake She’s on a diet but her pockets eating cheesecake And I’ll say bride of Chucky is child’s play Just killed another career, it’s a mild day Besides ‘Ye, they can’t stand besides me I think me, you, and Am should ménage Friday Pink wig, thick ass, give ‘em whiplash I think big, get cash, make them blink fast Now look at what you just saw This is what you live for I’m a motherfucking monster