A Study on Kanye West
Kanye West has been rapping his way into mainstream media since 2004. With his catchy beats and off kilter lyrics, many people have found themselves loving Yeezus. Even I have been guilty of listening to his song Monster on loop, if only to hear the Nicki Minaj verse. But as all artists and all people are, Kanye West is problematic. The way he treats women and black women in particular is a special kind of disgusting, and what West does is an example of the most common and unrecognized form of misogynoir.
We all know ‘Gold Digger’ it’s one of West’s most popular songs, but it’s also one of his worst content wise. (yeah, I know) The entire song alludes to a black woman who only dates rich men, so she can trap them and spend their money/child support, and the line “And when you get on he leave yo ass for a white girl.” only enforces that. The music video is just the visual personification, it features exclusively black women in lingerie, looking to capture rich men so they can live a lavish lifestyle.The song has just been used as reinforcement to brand black women as gold diggers, it also allows for white women to be seen as the prize after being damaged by a black woman.
Take his ex girlfriend Amber Rose for example, he takes every opportunity to bash her in the media, and when West is involved in a twitter battle or makes an appearance on a radio show, he always has something to say about Rose. A woman who, exhibits very similar to behavior to his beloved ‘wifey’ Kim Kardashian. They are both branded as sluts, and berated in the media for their sexual agency, and the way they handle themselves and their bodies. The only difference? Rose is a black woman, and I’d wager that West wouldn’t dare do the same thing to Kim if they ever split.
West’s brand of misogynoir is simple, be anti-black woman, while also coming across as pro-black. And he does it in such an alluring way, we see him as the epitome of modern wealth and along with that image comes a white woman with the body of a black woman. To society, he got the best deal, all the benefits of a black woman and all the benefits of a white woman, but to every little black girl out there, they are not getting the best deal, when the guy on the radio station is telling them that a white woman, will always be the better fit.
