Thoughts On: White Privilege, Women of Colour & The Music Industry

The first step of being a good feminist is recognising when your faves are being problematic.

So there's been a bit of a so-called feud floating around the Twitter-sphere post-VMA nominations announcement last week. Nicki Minaj called out on the fact she seemed to have received fewer nominations than other women on the bill..

"If I was a different "kind" of artist, Anaconda would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well....

When the "other" girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination...

If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year" 

- Nicki's Twitter

The comments were not in fact aimed specifically at Taylor Swift, and could easily be applicable to any music awards ceremony any other year too.

Instead of keeping schtum or simply retweeting Nicki's comments. Taylor took the tweets a little personally.

"I've done nothing but love & support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot..."

- Taylor's Twitter

I think anyone who knows me well is well versed in the fact that I am a huge Taylor Swift fan, but this is the bit that really made me wanna head desk. Blaming men will not help the cause nor with disregarding your white privilege. Because it's not just men putting women of colour in the corner and it's not just the VMAs to blame. There's a much bigger issue at hand here.

Nicki's original point is to do with society's perception of race, more specifically the fact that - unless you're Beyonce - if you're a woman of colour you have to fight your corner to be taken seriously in the music industry.

This goes back further than Taylor. This harks back to when Britney and Christina were hailed up as the princesses of pop (after - oh hey look Madonna! Another white woman), when women like countless R&B artists were pushed to the sidelines (only the likes of Destiny's Child and JLo really challenged that barrier and won). When you look at the top 10 lists of successful female artists, they're almost all exclusively white (with the exception of, again, Beyonce, Nicki, Rihanna etc.).

Women like Taylor don't really realise how much of an easy ride they've had into success. Sure there's an element of slog through building a fan base and inherent sexism in the industry in the first place to get seen. But it feels like nothing compared to the consistent backlash artists like Nicki get for their portrayal of themselves, their sexuality and culture on screen. It's not easy for them to move into other genres and they're rarely seen outside of R&B and Hip-Hop. They haven't been able to chop and change their style because their form of artistic expression is never taken as seriously in the first place.

In comparison Taylor has been hailed in the past year for her courage to stand up for herself and her haters; to take control of her sexuality and how she's seen in the media; to move away from what made her famous because she already conquered and made country music her bitch; to take charge of the relationship rumours and slut-shaming she's received over the years for her romantic life; and for her support of other women in the industry. And she's not alone, when you look at the likes of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Iggy Azalea - all women praised as independent pioneers.

But Beyonce, Michelle and Kelly were singing about Independent Women back in 2000, and Aretha asking for a little respect back in 1967.

I know Taylor had her best intentions at heart with her comments, but taking it down the personal route was not what Minaj intended either. Nicki wasn't calling out Taylor, she was calling us the consumers of music and the establishment out. We're the ones to blame here really. We're the ones who call Taylor an innovator and feminist, and Nicki 'ratchet' and too outspoken. White women seem to always be placed at the forefront of popular culture. And as a self-identifying feminist, Taylor needs to start thinking intersectionally.

The bad blood runs deeper than who wins a moon man trophy, and I applaud Nicki for again speaking up on this. Taylor? I love you but you may wanna back down for now.

MAJOR UPDATE: I wrote this before Taylor's apology on Twitter - which Minaj has gracefully accepted. Whilst I appreciate that she now understands her misgivings, it no matter diminishes the original issue in itself. If anything this debate has opened up a floodgate, which I hope women like Minaj keeps fighting to keep open.