#016: Therapists React To W.A.P. By Cardi B (SHOCKING!)

(Note from the future: thanks to helpfully critical feedback we received for this episode, we recorded a follow up one with sex worker Gemma Paradise and feminist studies scholar Dr. Heather Berg, who helped us better understand the world of sex work and the various societal nuances within that world. Go here to listen to that follow up episode:

https://anchor.fm/itsnotjustinyourhead/episodes/018-Interviewing-Sex-Worker-Gemma-Paradise-and-Feminist-Studies-Scholar-Dr--Heather-Berg-ekid33)

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Harriet points out that despite pop feminism's celebration of W.A.P. being some kind of symbol of peak female empowerment, that it signals the now widely accepted pornification of sex as something that has to do with body parts and humilitation fetishes minus relational context. The 3rd wave liberal feminist embrace of hypersexualization in popular media came along with it minimal to no effort to push for improved sex education in US public schools, with focus not just on anatomy but the social and emotional skills and complexities leading to mutual sexual consent. Lack of comprehensive sex education in the US has meant that Cardi B and similar entertainers have become the sex educators for the next generation. Since 1 in 4 children in the US are being raised by single mothers with multiple jobs thanks to neoliberalism, youth turn to their incessant relationships to the internet to learn social norms related to sex, sexuality, and relationships. Consumers of videos like W.A.P. may get the impression that sex work is glamorous, and sex workers become so rich that they own mansions. But most sex workers in the US are lower class, working multiple low wage jobs, lack healthcare, are in serious debt, and find that sex work is just another way to barely make ends meet.

Harriet and Max share different views on whether the video celebrates sexist and racist stereotypes, or if certain stereotypes are being reclaimed similarly to how the LGBT community reclaimed the term "queer." Max focuses on Cardi B's videos and lyrics as a result of the shock driven attention economy which transforms every minute of our time online into profits of whoever owns the websites. Cardi B, Ben Shapiro, feminist bloggers, and even the two of us, are actively generating billions of dollars for internet mass media companies by reacting and counter-reacting to W.A.P., everyone participating in the attention economy thinks they're making conscious choices related to what they consume. How much of this is human nature, and how much is Late Stage Capitalism and the dying breaths of an economic system that eats up and spits out the very people it requires to keep the system intact?

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Check out Harriet's program Capitalism Hits Home at https://www.democracyatwork.info/chh_episode_list_s2, or at harrietfraad.com. Also be sure to get to know Democracy At Work better at their website democracyatwork.info.

ATTENTION! This is a Boring Dystopia/Obligatory 'don't sue us' message: This podcast provides numerous different perspectives and criticisms of the mental health space, however, it should not be considered medical advice. Please consult your medical professional with regards to any health decisions or management.