#and what does it create when men then choose to gloss over this & Emulate these so-called icons? hmm?

[housecatclawmarks]

It feels important to note that while there can be very healthy age gap relationships between adults and there are ppl in their 20s who seek out much older partners (which im not gonna tell them not to! they’re adults w a right to fuck & it’s none of my goddamn business), there is not a ‘positive tradition of gay age gap relationships’ and I think it’s good to asses that statement critically when someone says it to you.

The historic frequency of age gap relationships in Western gay culture specifically, especially Britain, does not come from roots that have anything intrinsically to do with homosexuality. What it comes from is specifically rich, mostly white queer men doing what many, many rich white men have done throughout history regardless of sexuality-using their racial & class power to have consensual or coercive sex with young working class people & people of color. The power imbalance between age&experience AND financial status was romanticized a Lot by these rich gay men in the late 19th and early 20th century (think about ppl like Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, E.M. Forster, Edward Carpenter, etc) and relationships with poor young men & sometimes teenaged boys were sought out enthusiastically under the guise of imitating ‘the Greek acceptance of homosexuality’-which makes sense when you consider where & how a lot of these men were educated.

The illegality of gayness & oppression of lgbt people definitely made it hard to find examples of same-gender attracted people in society, which helps contribute to the Greek imitation thing but also more importantly created situations where young lgbt people who were working class, who were immigrants, who weren’t white were facing the most severe consequences under the law for their sexuality & gender expression, were living the hardest lives, & were easier to exploit by rich and powerful men because of it. The ones doing the exploiting weren’t doing it because they were gay, the criminalization of homosexuality just made it easier for them to take advantage as they did the same thing their heterosexual peers did to young women & girls who were working class, immigrants, & women of color.

If anything the fact that conditions in the UK & US have improved so much legally and socially for cis gay people has made it much more achievable to have ethical, healthy age gap relationships between people who want them, even though these issues do still exist. Again, it definitely can and does happen, and adults have the right to date & fuck each other if they want to, but that type of relationship does not need to be culturally tied to something unhealthy, coercive, & produced by classism and racism.

It’s a subject I think a lot of western gay people & historians shy away from talking about and really seeing as what it was because we’re so often wrongly smeared as pedophiles & gay sexuality is accused of being predatory to children & teens as way to harm and criminalize gay people, and I understand the fear of playing into that, which is why it’s so important to me to emphasize again that this exploitation was a product of class and racial inequality and homo/transphobia, not an innate quality of gay or trans society. But we do need to talk about it! We need to address it! And (saying this As one) white gay men NEED to find queer history & role models who aren’t rich, imperialist pedophiles-there have been SO MANY OF US who aren’t that! the majority of queer people in history have not been that! We have a rich culture and history to draw from here without glorifying or toning down really gross, predatory behavior from a handful of wealthy men & the class that enabled them.

[epicforblackmadonnas-blog]

The Break Down

I visited the birthplace of Hip Hop at 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx, on a Friday afternoon.The neighborhood that birthed the genre is quiet, the building is tall and unassuming and nestled off the side of the highway. Few people are out, even mid day. The character of the neighborhood and it’s history are only made clear to me by the graffiti that laces the side of apartment buildings, flags that hang from windows, and the occasional car cruising by with it’s windows rolled down and the driver playing music. In the tight knit, neighborly community, everyone communes at the bus stop to pick up their children as they arrive from school.   I can understand how only about 50 years ago a genre grew infectious among this small community at block parties and neighborhood gatherings and eventually spread to other parts of the borough, city and world. According to data and statistics from market.com Hip Hop and Rap is one of the most popular genres of music in the past 10 years only falling behind pop and classic rock. The genre is especially popular among millenials (16-24 year olds), data from statista.com illustrates that Hip Hop/Rap is the second most popular genre of music for that age demographic. Like with most media, music has both indirect and direct influence over it’s consumers. Hip Hop is no different. This essay will explore the ways in which Hip Hop and beauty standards overlap and the effect on it’s consumers, particularly black femmes.        Hip Hop began in the Bronx, in the late 1970s. The genre was one that initially only included male artists until MC Lyte’s debut album release of Lyte as a Rock in 1988. Lyte was a pioneer for women in the genre and culture and created space for other Black female MCs within the genre. Contrary to modern day Hip Hop and beauty ideals, MC Lyte was said to have purposely worked to separate her image from her sound or appeal to her music. She “underplayed her beauty, without hiding it, because she was so determined to be respected as an artist and a person.” (hiphoparchive) While Black women became more prevalent and visible in Hip Hop as both Muses (in music videos) and rappers, the sexualization of Black women within the Genre also became more present. In the late 90s early 2000s, sex became ingrained in Hip Hop culture, this of course had an effect on the community of Black women looking to infiltrate it. Rappers like Lil’ Kim embraced their sexuality and were embraced by the Hip Hop community (but ultimately were still met with unattainable standards of beauty). Black women looking to be embraced by the culture but didn’t fit the expectation beauty put forth, sought other means of fulfilling Black beauty standards, like cosmetic surgery. A study published by the US library of Medicine National Institutes of Health depicts and discusses the increase in cosmetic surgeries from the year of 2006 to 2007. The most popular procedure among the Black community in that year was a Rhinoplasty (nose job). In recent years liposuction, breast augmentations and buttock enhancements like augmentations or lifts have increased. In her article “Are Beauty Standards Pushing Black Women Into Dangerous Back-Alley Surgeries?” Health journalist Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez says that the increase in the procedures in the Black community come from “the extreme societal pressure put on Black women to have an hourglass figure.” what she regards as the “ideal Black body type.”    Body type aside the Hip Hop community has also put forth ideals about hair type and skin tone within the Black community. An article on BET.com features some of the most forward lyrics by Rappers that blatantly express their preference or profess their love for lighter skinned women. On Eric Benet’s song “Red Bone Girl” Lil Wayne raps “I like them light skin, lighter than a feather/ And if she red hot, I’m biting that pepper.” The article also features a Travis Scott Lyric “Nothin' like the light-skinned mamacitas in H-Town /They got them pornstar big booties” which both glorifies women with lighter skin and sexualizes women with “big booties”. In a controversial 1997 cover story by Black feminist theorist and cultural critic bell hooks for Paper Magazine Kim. One of hook’s most notable pieces is Gangsta rap and the piano where she compares white maleness of Steward a possessive and predatorial male love interest of a mute woman named Ava in the movie, his presence strips her of her artistic dedication to playing the piano, sex becomes what takes precedence over her music. Yet their love is seen as non threatening, “natural” as hooks puts it. Where Black men in Hip Hop are considered misogynist and murderers so as depicted by white critics of the culture for rapping about these same sexual desires and committing the same offenses as white men. Hooks also points out that when critiqued for the culture of violence portrayed in gangsta rap, white critics don’t consider Blackness within the context of white supremacy. Hooks speaks to this when she writes  “To see gangsta rap as a reflection of dominant values in our culture rather than as an aberrant "pathological" standpoint does not mean that a rigorous feminist critique of the sexism and misogyny expressed in this music is not needed. Without a doubt black males, young and old, must be held politically accountable for their sexism. Yet this critique must always be contextualized or we risk making it appear that the behaviors this thinking supports and condones,--rape, male violence against women, etc.-- is a black male thing. And this is what is happening. Young black males are forced to take the "heat" for encouraging, via their music, the hatred of and violence against women that is a central core of patriarchy.”     In Paper Magazine Lil’ Kim speaks on her sexual image and music from an empowerment perspective. When hooks asks about her right to be a sexual being, with sexual desire, Kim’s response is about letting go of shame and taking ownership, when she says "We havin' sex. Tell whoever — make sure you tell 'em how good I did it!" Kim says she represents both, the liberated woman and the sexy girl of men’s dreams when asked. In many ways she was right her image became the quintessential image for Black femmes both in and outside of the Genre. Petite, yet curvy, skin that was a palatable brown tone and long straight dark hair. With this, even she had insecurities projected on her by men and the genre, she says in the interview she is still rebuilding her self esteem. Fast forward to modern day hip hop, between MC Lyte and Cardi B. Hip Hop is more forward than ever about who and what is beautiful, sexy, attractive, desirable. Especially in the age of social media. Data from smartinsights.com shows the growth of visual based social media platforms like instagram and snapchat among the millennial demographic. According to the data half of instagram’s users use the app daily and according to mediakix.com 50 million followers are maintained by the top 10 beauty instagram influencers,  meaning that, on the platform millions of people see their posts informing beauty standards daily. Black beauty standards are also informed by Hip Hop when taste makers of the culture   choose spouses who they go public with. Rapper, Kanye West for instance who is one of the most talked about artists in the genre right now, has used his brand to leverage his socialite wife Kim Kardashian. Kim Kardashian is a white woman who has often come under fire for appropriating Black culture, emulating Black features and profiting from it. While Black women who boast these same features naturally, are ostracized and even systematically discriminated against for these same things. Kardashian posed for the winter 2014 issue of Paper Magazine and the picture on the cover of the issue bore a striking resemblance to photos taken of a former slave and south african woman named Saartjie Baartman who was recruited and exploited by a white German man to be a spectacle for masses throughout Europe showing her nude body, special attention was brought to her large buttocks. In the picture Kim Kardashian mimics this by poking her own surgically enlarged butt out. Baartman’s naked body was a source of curiosity for Europeans, sometimes she was asked to perform native dances or play instruments while nude for audiences according to TIME. Kendall Jenner sister of Kim Kardashian has also been scrutinized for appropriating and benefitting from Black culture and emulating Black beauty standards. Jenner much like her elder sister, dates another Black rapper, Travis Scott, according to statista.com she follows close behind her older sister Kim, with the 7th most instagram followers in the world. She is known for her beauty brand Kylie Cosmetics that is most notable for its lip kits, that include a variety of lip glosses, sticks and liners. However, her marquee feature, her lips are cosmetically enhanced to emulate the features of Black women. While Black women have been ostracized for having large lips, the personality’s lips and lip kits have launched her to the top of the Forbes celebrity 100 after just three years of business according to the site, Jenner grossed almost a billion dollars. Many rappers and other taste makers in the culture (i.e. DJs, Hosts, Record executives, producers etc.) date women who fit into the ideal mold of Black beauty standards which according to Hip Hop Historian and Podcaster Byron Morgan includes being shaped similarly to a barbie doll in stature, with large breast, a large butt but a contrasting small waist. Rapper Merci D of rap trio Blemme says these same standards of beauty include Fair skin and eurocentric facial features like a narrow nose, smaller eyes and full but not oversized lips. The image of the most beautiful woman to hip hop is a woman who is not “too imposing” the rapper said in our interview. In 2016 Hip Hop producer Swizz Beatz posted a post VMA photo of he and other Hip Hop moguls Jay Z, Steve Stoute, Kanye West and Diddy with their wives/partners after the Video Music Awards. This photo perfectly illustrates that the features both Morgan and D refer in our interviews are necessary to be considered beautiful by the culture. When the photo first surfaced some took to the comments to point out the stark difference between the skin tones of these men and their wives. One comment read “Beautiful pic. Interesting that it’s mostly dark-skinned black guys with light-skinned women. We’ve come so far in the black community.” and ended with a thinking emoji. The women in the photo from Alicia Keys all the way down to Cassie fit into the aforementioned ideal beauty standard. Comments like the one under that photo that Swizz Beatz posted are much like comments other rappers and Hip Hop influencers have received when expressing a dislike or distaste for women who are conversely dark-skinned, with coarser textured hair, are fat or not coke bottle shaped, with wide noses and thick lips, women who are undeniably black and are not ambiguous as rapper Merci D put it. This younger generation of rappers has been unapologetic about their dislike for Black women, especially darker-skinned Black women. Rappers like Kodak Black and ASAP Rocky have made comments in recent years about dark-skinned Black women that fueled anger among many. In an interview with The Coveteur in 2013 rapper ASAP Rocky said that women had to be “fair skinned” to “get away with” wearing red lipstick. Rocky’s interview has since been removed from the site, however, his original remark can be found here. That comment from the interview with the site spurred many hateful memes about the subject matter. One meme portrays Black women as the character Mr.Popo from Dragon Ball Z a character that is literally the color black with bright red lips, who don’s a turban and gold hoop earrings. The meme reads “when darkskin girls put on red lipstick.”  A quick twitter search of “darkskin girls red lipstick” yields some pretty disturbing search results one tweet remarked “Dark skin girls with red lipstick give me nightmares.” Similarly Kodak Black took to an instagram live stream in 2017 where he remarked I dont really like Black girls like that sorta kinda after the backlash he received for his initial comments on the subject matter he responded by saying he only likes “red bones, he doesn’t like Black b------, like this” the rapper says as he gestures at his own skin, he only likes “yellow h---.” (6/26/17). Many took to the internet to say that the Rapper’s dating preferences were a reflection of self hate. What I would like to consider is how instances like the ones above and others, pressure Black women to conform to the standards of beauty that were previously outlined. In my interview with Merci D she states explicitly that getting a Brazilian Butt Lift and a breast augmentation are at the top of her list in terms of physical desires when she strikes big with music or writing, she also remarks that this desire could be rooted in the fact that she’s seeing women with these enhancements frequently in mainstream media and in the culture. The rapper also details the ways she feels pushed outside of the mold of ideal Black beauty standards due to her size. She says that at her first Kiki ball she didn’t feel completely comfortable because of the fact that she was fat and because she felt as if her expression of femininity wasn’t fully appreciated. Singer\songwriter K Michelle and even rappers like the esteemed Lil’ Kim are great Black women celebrity examples of how the negative effects of the pressures to be a “Beautiful” Black woman can be unsafe and detrimental to not only their self esteem but physical health. K. Michelle went on the talk show the real to talk about the state of her health following her enhancements to her buttocks. The songstress said “I’m having trouble with men right now, I thought maybe if I had a big ol’ a huge butt I’d get even bigger love.” She says she also got work done on her teeth and hips. The pain from complications of her buttocks surgeries even caused her to get checked for lupus. In the interview Michelle sympathizes with women who have gotten the same enhancement and are similarly having complications due to them but may not have the money to seek removal or help as she did. Rapper Lil’ Kim has been forthcoming about her love for plastic surgery and over the years she has grown to look much different from when debuted in the 90s. In 2016 when the rapper made an appearance on the reality show Love and Hip Hop fans and spectators made comments about the stark difference in skin color and facial features, comments accused the rapper of bleaching her skin. Although the rapper denied these allegations, the incident caused comments made by the rapper in the 2000 in Newsweek to resurface in the Newsweek article she  remarked “Guys always cheated on me with women who were European-looking. You know, the long-haired type. Really beautiful women [who] left me thinking, ‘How I can I compete with that?’ Being a regular black girl wasn’t good enough.” Through my interviews with Black Hair Specialist/Scholar Kameesha Tate, Rapper/Storyteller Merci D, Musician/Multi-instrumentalist Tyrone Wilkins Jr., and Hip Hop Historian/Podcaster Byron Morgan and  I also heard about the ways that these harmful standards of beauty birthed movements of resistance and self-love. The natural hair and body positivity movements were heavily referenced in my interviews with those listed above. As Tate stated in her interview the natural hair movement was born of the Black is Beautiful and Black power movements of the 60s. In the PBS documentary Black is Beautiful historian Tricia Rose says the the “Black is Beautiful Movement was an effort to sort of throw off the shackles of the way White supremacy constructed Black bodies they’re not as intelligent, they’re not human, they’re not as beautiful, they’re not valuable she also said that in order “to undo that one has to directly attack that ideology.” Which Tate elaborated more on in  my interview where she details her big chop and embracing of her natural hair despite negative comments from people some of whom were even her family, she says that the natural hair movement is about black women embracing their natural hair which is inherently political, because it can often be a matter of of contention in places of employment and schools. Merci D referenced Fatima Jamal, fatfemme on instagram as a source of inspiration and for being encouraged to accept her own body through being encourage to wear what she wants by the model. She says she’s witnessed Jamal embrace her body by wearing “dainty” and “feminine” clothes that hug curves that aren’t celebrated like her stomach. According to ThePerspective.com, the body positivity movement was founded in 1996 and encouraged self love and self acceptance as opposed to shame about one’s body and getting rid self imposed food restrictions.