“WAP” by Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion is the song of the summer. I know most of us are itching to get back to concerts and seeing our favorite artists live. I can’t wait to watch Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion sing this song live in the future! Can you imagine the backgrounds and the fierce outfits? The outfits are going to be sexy and bright colored. It’ll probably be something, we’re not expecting, because it is Cardi B. after all! I can imagine the background of the performance having fierce dancers in sexy outfits and bright fun graphics!
Have you seen the music video, which has over 200 million times or seen the dance of it on your TikTok? This song is everywhere! The dance has high kicks, booty pops, splits and twerking. The song is making history on the United States Billboard Charts and around the world! Billboard states: “Cardi B’s WAP featuring Megan The Stallion, spends a fourth week at No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs Chart” (Trust, 2020).
It is also making history around the world and on the Australian Billboard Music Charts! Brandle states “Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” grabs a piece of chart history as it snags a fifth week at No 1. In Australia. The controversial “WAP” is just the third female-led hip-hop song to rule Australian’s single chart. And with its streak now extending past a month, it stands tall as the longest-running leader in that category, eclipsing Salt-N-Pepa’s “Let’s Talk About Sex” (Brandle, 2020).
The Controversy of The WAP Music Video.
While WAP is making airwaves, not everyone thrilled that it is #1 everywhere. The song and the music video is causing controversy for the message of sex positivity and the graphic lyrics.

In the opening of the music video, you see two naked women fountains spinning with water spraying out from the nipples of their breasts. When I saw this opening to the music video for the first time, I knew it was going to be super sexual. The sexual innuendos are everywhere throughout the music video .There are butt and breast doorknobs everywhere. Animals like snakes, tigers and cheetahs are in the music video as well. This is obviously referring to being wild in the bedroom and having sex like animals.
When the music video opens to Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion, they are wearing bright pink and yellow bodysuits with cleavage. Throughout the music video, they change outfits multiple times including more bodysuits and some black latex outfits with fishnets. Kendall Jenner appears in the music video.
Later in the music video, there is a scene where Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion are wearing black latex outfits dancing in a pool, gyrating with dancers behind them. The water in the pool is symbolizing the wetness coming out of their vaginas. The lyrics in this song are obviously sexual, but watching this music video is watching the sexual lyrics come to life from the women’s point of view only.
This Song Is A Double Standard.
So much of the time, a woman’s sexuality feels like it is not ours. Men are always free to talk about sex as much as they would like, but as soon as a woman talks about sex, it becomes a double standard. Women, no matter if they want to be or not are always in the male gaze.
If a man is currently sleeping with a lot of women, he is seen as a hero or “doing what guys do.” But if a woman is currently sleeping around with a lot of men, she is a slut or a whore. Men make comments about women’s bodies all the time, no matter how old or young you are.
Women almost never taught about sex from a women’s point of view. Girls know that boys want sex and will do almost anything to get it. One of the only things girls learn about their vagina when they are going through puberty is about their period and that they may grow pubic hair.
Throughout the song, Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion describe their sexual desires and kinks. Throughout the song, the lyrics are referring to BDSM. One of the lyrics is: “Tie me up, like I’m surprised. Let’s roleplay, I’ll wear a disguise. I want you to park that Big Mack truck right in this little garage. Make it cream, make me scream”. In the chorus of the song, the lyrics are describing what Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion want a man to do for them to pleasure them.

Here’s What White Christian Men Think About WAP.
An article by the Christian Post written by two Christian men, John Stonestreet and David Carlson state:
“Then, last week, after three-plus years of the #MeToo movement protesting the organization and abuse of women, the most objectifying song in history, one that reduces women to nothing more than their private parts hit #1 on the charts. I couldn’t possibly share the lyrics of this song..any of them. Please do not look them up. The two women rappers who perform this song repeatedly call themselves prostitutes, although not using that word and beg men to treat them as such. By any definition, legal or otherwise, America’s most popular song and its accompanying music video are best called pornography, and it is available everywhere to anyone of age” (Stonestreet & Carlson, 2020).
Here’s What A Fellow Women of Color Thinks About WAP!
A woman’s sexuality is not pornographic. The comedian, Dulcé Sloan, was interviewed on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah where she states:
“The point is male musicians talk about sex all the time. Talking about their hard dicks and skeetin’ everywhere. But when women do it, people are like, This is vulgar. Inappropriate. What about the children that look up to them? Who cares about them damn children? Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are not your nannies. I know it’s confusing. You see two women of color in a really nice house, and you assume Aiden and Mackenzie are just off-screen with their Mandarin tutor. But it’s a huge double standard, Trevor”.
Being Curious About Your Body Is Welcomed and Should Not Be Shamed.
Women deserve to talk freely about their sexuality without the same double standard.
On the other side of the coin, parents and caretakers everywhere are concerned about this song affecting their young girls’s sexuality. Will watching this music video make them more promiscuous than before? It might make the young girl’s more curious about their own bodies and the power it has. Our society never calls a woman’s private parts by their actual names, but people have no problem saying penis. I don’t think one song can completely change someone’s outlook on sexuality and make them more promiscuous.
Children and teenagers often listen to the latest hits on the radio and streaming. While some parents are more open-minded than others, some parents are more conservative, especially about sexuality. The media and pop culture does affect how we view ourselves and others. Not everyone is happy about this song going viral, especially parents of young girls. On YouTube, there are so many videos about parents reacting to the song and the music video. Throughout the series of the videos, most caretakers are shocked with the sexual nature of the song and ask the young girl who is playing the song to turn it off. While most millennials and Gen-Z aren’t shocked about the nature of this song, most boomers are.
In our society, young girls are sexualized from a young age. It is important for young girls to learn about their bodies from women themselves. “WAP” wasn’t written with children and teens in mind. It is a woman’s choice that she should be able to be as sexual or not sexual as she wants to be. No one should have to make you do anything that you are uncomfortable with, but a woman deserves to explore her sexuality without the double standard. Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion are paving the way for more female rappers to break stereotypes and put an end to double standards.
WAP is a reminder to women of the power that they have.