Cardi B has been making headlines for the wrong reasons recently. Old video footage of Cardi B recently resurfaced of her saying some things that… Well… Just take a look for yourself.
First let me just state that I grabbed this video from Youtube, and I don’t support the misleading text at the top of the video. Cardi B didn’t use “sex” to drug men and rob them… But anyway, If you didn’t catch it, Cardi B said, “I had to go strip, I had to go, ‘Oh yeah, you want to fuck me? Yeah yeah yeah, let’s go back to this hotel,’ and I drugged niggas up and I robbed them. That’s what I used to do…”
That quote has set the internet on fire. I mean, all I see on my Facebook feed is mfs talking about this issue, so I figured I’d add my two cents.
The question that has most of my FB friends going is, should we give Cardi B the same energy we gave Bill Cosby and R Kelly?
Long answer short, nah, not really…
Before my fellas go crazy, hear me out on this real swift.
First off, we as men need to check our mf privilege. Don’t come for Cardi B just because you “feel like” women came for R Kelly and Bill Cosby. Even though we strive to live in a society where everything is equal, we must realize we aren’t there yet. More importantly, we must realize that a large reason for us not living in said society is due to our conscious or subconscious support of the current power structure which is patriarchy.
Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property. Some patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male lineage.
If we shouldn’t give Cardi the same energy we gave Bill and Kellyz, what should we give her?
Let me first state that, what Cardi said, and allegedly did is fucked up. Like I don’t stand by any of those statements what so ever, and if people want to #MuteCardiB, silly as that shit sounds, they have every right to.
If you want to protest or have a serious discussion about double standards in America, I’m here for all of that. However, what I can’t stand for is this sense of false equivalency between Cardi B and a mf like Bill Cosby.
Pay attention fellas, cause this is why Cardi shouldn’t get the same energy we gave Bill and Kellys.
Like I said, what Cardi B said, and allegedly did in her past is fucked up but we need to look at these comments in full context. Yes, Cardi B drugged men so she could rob them. I’m not trying to downplay her actions or anything, I’m just simply saying there are levels to this shit.
Which leads me back to why I started this piece by saying as men we need to check our mf privilege. It’s one thing to be robbed of your property (chains/jewelry and shit) or personal resources (cash, etc.), but to compare petty theft to rape is ridiculous, and pretty much downright disgusting.
Personally speaking, in my 27 years of living, I’ve never been robbed or drugged against my will. I have had things stolen from me, and let me tell you, that shit sucks. But at the end of the day, those things were just materials that could be replaced. It reminds me of what my mom use to say, “you can always replace it with one that’s better.” Which is honestly the truth for us men (since I’m specifically talking to us men right now) who find ourselves in that unfortunate situation. I could, and did replace those things, and after a week or two, I got over it. But to have my personhood, my body, essentially my being, taken from me against my will is honestly indescribable to me…
Since I understand that I’ll probably never truly know what it’s like to be raped, or taken physically advantage of, I always stress the point of checking my privilege.
That’s also why I believe we men need to check ourselves when it comes to listening to survivors. Especially when they have the courage to stand up against social norms and tell their story. More importantly, we need to stop acting as if it’s “tic for tac,” when petty shit like this comes up. I mean, let’s just be for real bruh…
Cardi B allegedly drugged and robbed men. That’s fuck up, we all agree but did any of those men file a police report? Nope, at least not to my knowledge. Or were any of those men traumatized to the point to where they had to see a therapist or talk to any of their friends/family members? Nope, not that I’m aware of.
But on the flip side, when women bring serious rape or sexual harassment allegations forward, most of us are quick to demand all the above before you even take one word of their story seriously…
I mean, we wouldn’t even know about this shit had it not been for Cardi B doing what she does best, keep it 1000 with her audience. Which is honestly how she got her platform in the first place.
Moral to the story is, this ain’t that. Yes, Cardi B is bogus as hell for drugging men so she could rob them, but don’t you dare compare that shit to child molestation, and mass rape. It’s tone deaf, and honestly a piss poor excuse for an argument.
The Ghetto Activist 