“Bring a Bucket and a Mop” for the Tears of Offended White Male Conservatives

Abstract

Upon it’s release, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wet Ass Pussy” garnered unprecedented controversy for both its sexually explicit lyrics and accompanying music video. Originating primarily from right-leaning outlets, WAP’s adversaries chastised not only the song itself, but moreover, the artists for their supposed violation of American morals concerning gender and sexuality. However, gender and sexuality transgressions on their own incompletely encapsulate the overarching systemic oppressions affording WAP its disrepute. This essay examines the critical context underpinning the enormous controversy following WAP’s release, namely, the unique manifestation of misogynoir in the context of black women’s sexuality. Employing a literary analysis calling on historical and social perspectives, I examine the construction of the controversy surrounding Black women’s sexuality in a discursive context. The impacts of slavery and the hypersexualization of Black women ultimately constitute the bedrock of WAP’s dissension which inherently demonizes and fetishizes the sexuality of Black women. Although highly controversial for its sexually explicit content, this paper argues that rather than degrading the sexuality of Black women and violating social moral codes, WAP represents an important avenue of empowerment for Black women, featuring a critical reclaiming of sexual autonomy.