A [fictional] Interview with Nicki Minaj

*Note*

This is a fictional interview between an interviewer and Nicki Minaj. This is a task for an English assignment and should no way be taken as an insult to Nicki Minaj. She is one of the most prominent female rapper and vocal about feminist issues, and I respect her a lot.

In a recent interview with vocal 33 yr old feminist and leading female rap artist, Nicki Minaj, she addresses intra-community problems faced by her and other women. “The media’s always pitting [women] up against each other.” She states after the controversy regarding her and pop-artist Taylor Swift. “This-- What they’re doing just causes more problems within the community.”

“It sets up this arena, as if we are here to fight for entertainment and you’re picking sides.” Minaj went on to explain that this harmful action is even more harmful for women. “There’s already so many problems with internalized misogyny, body-shaming and racism. Why try to make it look like we’re fighting?”

She makes a point in going into detail how this behavior becomes harmful for the feminist movement and creates a social stigma. “When you’re pitting two women against each other like a catfight, you’re promoting negativity within our community. ” She firmly states. “It makes us ashamed to be associated with the word feminism, it creates more problems.”  

"When people complain about feminism, this is what they're talking about. They think it's childish because they see us arguing, but that's the only way we're ever portrayed. Are we gonna get far with people thinking that? No." The problems Nicki Minaj is vocal about very much has to do with ‘fake feminism’, racism and body-shaming. She said, when people sided with Swift, that people had felt to use this situation as an excuse to start shaming the rap artist for her ‘lack of intelligence’, which was associated with language use in music and in turn, her background. Her usage of AAVE in music quickly became a problem with white feminists taking Taylor Swift’s side, making them critical of Nicki Minaj when she was simply informing the pop-star of the negativity she’d reinforced with a controversial comment. "We need to show solidarity for all our sisters, this means you can't pull your racism whenever a [woman of color] speaks up about issues in her community."

"First, whenever any black person speaks, we're ripped for improper language even if they're not using AAVE. Second, when a black woman becomes a bit more vocal about issues, she's ripped by white feminists saying that she's only complaining." She continues talking about how women of color, typically women with darker skin, get the worst treatment from fellow feminists. "You hear the same thing non-feminists say when they're talking about issues [women] face. Yes, we're complaining because the treatment we're getting just happens to be bad for us! We're trying to change that, so instead of telling us to sit down, stand up with us and show some respect and solidarity to your sisters!"

In the end, the rap artist makes it clear that she wants to see more women lifting each other up rather than bringing each other down; Nicki Minaj wants to see a change where feminists can stand proudly together in solidarity and the word 'feminism' isn't used negatively. She says that she will continue to write and vocalize about gender equality, which we are all looking forward to. You go, Nicki!