How could you use the readings for this unit to support Cardi B’s claim that she’s “just trying to help the world” with “Cheap Ass Weave” and “Bongos”?

Answer all of the questions below. Please include at least 1 direct citation from a course reading and 1 direct citation from a song in each answer.

1. Discuss Nadia Brown and Lisa Young’s concept of ratchet politics.
a. How do Brown and Young define “ratchet politics”? Give at least 2 examples of ratchet politics in the news over the past 2 months.
b. How does Cardi B critique ratchet politics? Why, according to Raquel Moreira, is Cardi’s “hoodmade” critique important for feminists to take seriously?

2. “Some women don’t want to have sex during pregnancy, and that’s OK. Some women do want to have sex during pregnancy, and that’s OK, too. What needs to stop is society telling women what they can and cannot do with their bodies. Pregnant women are not faceless, identity-less vessels of reproduction.”

a. Comment on the above quote from Sofia Jawed-Wassel’s lecture. What are some societal judgments that are particular to Black pregnant women, according to Lisa Rosenthal and Marci Lobel? How does Cardi B’s performance of “Wild Side” in the music video on Instagram push against misogynoir perceptions of pregnant people?

3. “The overall importance of hair to general body-image was highlighted repeatedly in the focus groups as being of great importance to Black women. It emerged as the most frequent and important body image domain for women. One participant reported that her hair influenced her self-confidence as a whole: ‘when your hair is right, you just have better confidence in yourself and it’s just a big thing for the hair to be straight. And not like straight as in texture but just like right.’”
Germaine Awad’s article (quoted above) focuses on 3 elements that demonstrate the overall importance of hair to Black women: microaggressions, sacrifice, and pride related to hair.
a. Give examples of all 3 from Awad’s article. Taken together, what do these examples suggest the personal and political importance of Black women’s hair?
b. How do societal judgements about body hair also affect Black women’s body image?
c. Given the importance of hair to Black women, why do you think Cardi B chose to make a comic song about weaves and a video with comic depictions of body hair? How could you use the readings for this unit to support Cardi B’s claim that she’s “just trying to help the world” with “Cheap Ass Weave” and “Bongos”?

 

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