The #MeToo movement has been going strong in post-Weinstein Hollywood, shedding light on the scale of sexual harassment, misconduct and abuse women endure in their day to day lives, whether they work in showbiz or not. However, rap star Cardi B has called out the movement for neglecting women in hip-hop.
After sharing her own experience of sexual harassment in a recent interview with Cosmopolitan US, the 25-year-old hitmaker explained that there is a double standard within the #MeToo movement for women in the Hip Hop community – especially those with overtly sexual public images, as their claims of harassment are often overlooked.
“A lot of video vixens have spoken about this and nobody gives a f*ck,” Cardi said. “When I was trying to be a vixen, people were like, ‘You want to be on the cover of this magazine?’ Then they pull their d***s out,” she added. “I bet if one of these women stands up and talks about it, people are going to say, ‘So what? You’re a ho. It don’t matter.'”
This had to be one of my favorite looks EVER! @fashionnova
A post shared by Cardi B Official IG(@iamcardib) on Mar 17, 2018 at 7:53pm PDT
The rapper then questioned the motives behind some of the high-profile men who have come out in support of movements like #MeToo and Time’s Up, saying: “These producers and directors… they’re not woke, they’re scared.”
Cardi, who worked as a stripper before making it in music, also defended women whose sexuality is part of their careers as she feels they’re often not taken seriously, especially when vocalising their opinions on topics such a politics and feminism.
“Just because somebody was a stripper don’t mean they don’t have no brain,” she told the magazine. “People say, ‘Why do you always got to say that you used to be a stripper? We get it.’ Because y’all don’t respect me because of it, and y’all going to respect these strippers from now on.”
