“WAP: Celebrating Black Women’s Sexuality, Agency, and Power” was hosted on November 19th via Zoom by the SUNY College at Old Westbury Women’s Center. Speakers Dr. Keisha Goode, Dr. Jasmine Mitchell, Dr. Rachel Kalish, and Dr. Sarah Smith talked about the historical and contemporary complexities of being a Black woman embracing her sexuality.
Dr. Jasmine Mitchell opened the lecture detailing how historically Black bodies have been controlled by mainly white men. They have been seen as either hypersexual or even masculine. This lead to Dr. Mitchell’s discussion about respectability politics, the practice of only being deserving of respect if an individual adheres to the cultural norms.
Respectability politics adds systems of oppression, oppression that female hip hop artists, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion received when they released their song together “WAP.” Dr. Mitchell continued after the 20 participants watched the “WAP” music video together that when black women express their sexuality on their own terms, they are often demonized and seen as “deviant.” Adding at the end, she “loves ratchet politics,” which is the experience of taking sexual control back instead of sex being something that happens to women.
Next, Dr. Keisha Goode spoke on the video and the failure of others who watched the video and did not understand that these women are full, competent human beings, not one dimensional. She said that Black women are “always radical when life is orchestrated on their own terms.”
“Sexual subjectivity, or knowing what you want out of sex, has historically been denied along with sexual agency,” said Dr. Rachel Kalish. She examined how feminism has helped and complicated the matter of women expressing sexuality. This discrepancy came during the second wave of feminism that was geared towards middle and lower class women wanting the same thing. It became more complicated during post feminism, or the thought modern women do not need anything anymore. Women are still fighting for sexual subjectivity, as seen in the negative reactions to the “WAP.” Dr. Kalish mused that “the idea of wanting good sex can lead to wanting everything, but is that a bad thing?”
Dr. Sarah Smith began by playing a YouTube video created by a certified OB, Dr. Every Woman called, “Cardi MD takes on WAP (Parody for Birth Control Awareness and Childhood Chores).” The parody video’s theme is avoiding shaming women taking control of their reproductive health. The real “WAP” video matters because it is helping doctors normalize discharge. Before the video, women would see their doctors over concerns about discharge but “WAP,” has helped show women it’s normal and nothing to be ashamed of.
