The Politics of Assets

So a couple of things driving this post:

*I have been listening to Kendrick Lamar's album good kid maad city non-stop this past week and in it, he makes a lot of references to the female derriere. For this reason, I have been thinking non-stop about hip-hop's fascination with "the ass"; even "conscious" rappers can't excape this fate.

*I am also reading Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks and I have been thinking about how her work applies to some of the subjects/issues I think about. 

*Yesterday, I watched the episode of Behind the Music on Nelly in which he addresses the controversial card ass swipe in his Tip Drill video.

Personally, one male friend of mine insists on calling me Venus Hottentot as a compliment. Around the Bronx and generally in the city, I have been called Black Nikki, Serena Williams, among other things. So I have decided to use this post to kind of work through some of the ways I think about the physical "assets" I possess and how this situates me in my cultural context. More so than anything, this post will probably give you an idea of my thinking process: the personal is political, symphonic thinker, discussing "the ass" is interesting.  

To start, I know how I feel about being called Venus Hottentot intellectually. How I feel about the reference emotionally, however, is diametrically opposed to how I reason about it. Intellectually, I have resolved the fact that being called Venus Hottentot is not something to be ashamed off. I first learned about Saartjie Baartman in high school and her narrative has always strongly resonated with me. Saartjie's body, not the pronounced exaggerations we see in Western depictions, models an asthetic which has cultural meaning and truth for me. There is nothing wrong with Saartjie or her body but rather everything wrong with the people and system which put her on display and were complicit in her subjugation, oppression, and eventual death. Intellectually, I am proud of the woman and strength of Saartjie and what her story embodies. 

Emotionally, when any reference is made to my resemblence to Venus Hottentot, I am automatically offended. I should be angry about the way Saartjie was treated and not offended about being in her likeness, but I am. My emotional instinct supercedes my rationalization. 

The misogynistic, sexist, patriarchal cultural context and how this influences my emotional reaction is easy to understand: from tip drill to birthday song, it is obvious that whether consciously or not, men and women have created a culture where being a woman with an ass is synonymous with being a woman of less substance, intellect, grace, et cetera who is incessantly celebrated. In this sense, when I am called Venus Hottentot, Nikki, or Serena, especially by a man, my first instinct/ reaction is not one of being upset that the man makes reference to my body but rather that by this reference, I am made to have nothing but it. I think Saartjie, Nikki, and Serena are truly amazing women in their own right (although I do not like Nikki's music) but the comparison offends me because of its cultural and political connotation. To be honest, my friend who calls me Hottentot says he thinks highly of me but I am jaded about any such comparison. 

The other interesting influence which has similarly fueled my disinclination towards my ass is how contemporary feminists write about it. Peruse through any of the articles on misogyny and booty implants on the Black feminist magazine, Clutch, for instance. The articles seek to address the dangers of getting booty implants or how the absence of an asset should not make one feel insecure or less than in a culture which fetishes it. The tone of these articles, however, often seem to suggest that if you do have it, you should be ashamed of it because you somehow benefit from or are complicit in this age of Kim Kardashian. Except perhaps some people with a booty feel marginalized by the privilege they are supposed to have. 

The fact that the contemporary feminists readings I am acclimated with do not allow certain types of women, black women, to celebrate their bodies, sexuality, or sexual proclivities has made feminism somewhat disinteresting to me. Honestly, by the time I finish reading a lot of the feminist critiques of misogyny in rap, I feel equally sh*tted on by the feminist as I do by the rapper. 

I wish more of these feminists would write odes to women's assets - breasts, ass, lips, hips, etc - which is grounded in positive, culturally and historically true yet not fetish affirmation. Especially for the booty because the preoccupation has been so heavily focused on how other people, ie rappers, fetishly refer to it. They should write some more about men too (which they have on clutch). Male bodies are dope. Bodies in general should be celebrated more.

I think it will be interesting to see if and what bell hooks says anything about body image, self-love, relationships, and intimacy in the book. While I think reformist feminism, that is policy on equal pay, reproductive rights, etc, is very important, feminist dialogue on intimate men and women's personhoods is what I would find revolutionary. Women like Warsan Shire and Dream Hampton already do this. I am not interested in feminism that is only concerned about straight political or abstract ish.

If you know of any good feminist writers you think speak to what I am looking for ;) or that I should read in general, please let me know.  

I also listen to misogynistic music.