Watch Janelle Monae’s videos for the songs “Make Me Feel” and “Pynk,” as well as Nicki Minaj’s “Chun Li.” After you do that, please read the criticism on all of these videos. I am not going to direct you to any specifically, because I want to see what you find and what you end up choosing.
You will write an essay addressing the following and quoting from at least two of the sources you find:
What are these two particular videos doing for the hip hop movement, especially in light of the #metoo movement and Janelle Monae’s embracing of gender fluidity and sexual fluidity, as compared with the recent criticism regarding appropriation (if you don’t know what this means, please look it up – you may also find it useful to look up the recent backlash that a white teenage female received for posting photos of her and her friends on social media wearing a traditional Asian dress to her prom) of Nicki Minaj’s video for “Chun Li.” Hint: Janelle Monae and Nicki Minaj are not doing the same thing.
To speak to these questions, you may (and probably should) address the history of hypermasculinity within the beginnings of the hip hop movement, and how Monae and Minaj, although in different ways, approach being female within a largely male-dominated genre. But, make sure that you do not center this essay on the men you compare these females to, but use them to more clearly contextualize the moving images and musical choices of these two female artists. Therefore, this should be a cultural and gender/sexuality analysis of these videos centered around these questions.
MLA format, must use at least two sources – citations within text as well as including a Works Cited page.
Double spaced, 12-point-font
Minimum: 5 pages