Why am I bothered by Nicki Minaj Backside?

When I saw the picture of Nicki Minaj bearing her backside for her new album ‘Anaconda’, I initially tried to ignore it…

But the picture stayed in my mind. Why should I ‘bat an eyelid’ ? She isn’t the first female music artist to take her clothes off as part of her PR or launching new material. We live in a time when sexualised female images have become the norm. So what’s the big deal?

I still think about how a black woman’s beauty and sexuality is viewed in the western world and I think my feelings are linked to this. From the brutal rape and sexual abuse suffered by millions of black women during slavery to being ignored for decades by the beauty industry. Now we see more black faces on magazines and Lupito Nyong’o is being hailed by mainstream magazines as a new beauty standard. So things have moved on for us. Perhaps it’s the ‘twearking’ pose that gets me….

Yes all women’s bodies should be respected and every woman has the right to do whatever she pleases with hers. I still can’t help but feel that after the long journey black women are still on to take their place in this world, maybe our black beauty and sexuality should be handled differently? Nicki should not have to carry the weight of black women’s expectations but does this help to promote a positive image for us? Does it matter?

Have we been conditioned by the western world not to view sexualised images of black women in the same way we do white woman? Perhaps this is another milestone we need to reach. As you can tell, this topic has really got me thinking! So, tell me Afrowomen – are you bothered by Nicki’s behind or is it no big deal?