Cardi B loves women. She just does. She has a lot of female friends, she doesn’t see her female peers as threats, and she is open to collaborating with all of the women in pop, rap and R&B. Cardi and Megan Thee Stallion broke a lot of brains last year with “WAP,” and now Cardi has made a guest appearance on Normani’s “Wild Side.” Cardi drops in to rap, and in the NSFW music video, Cardi appears naked and cuddled up with Normani. It’s a sexy video! And now she’s being accused of “queerbaiting” fans because of it. Rolling Stone did a piece about how all of these artists, Cardi included, are queerbaiting these days. RS cited Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande, Madonna, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X as other examples.
The RS piece is, I think, meant as some kind of explainer for Boomers who don’t understand what queerbaiting really is. One of the first times I heard the term was, I think, in association with One Direction, and how certain guys (Liam, Harry) were doing certain gay-friendly things on purpose for profit, basically. I remember Taylor Swift being accused of queerbaiting too, especially around the release of “You Need To Calm Down”. Anyway, Cardi isn’t about that life and she tweeted out a statement:
Uuummmm @RollingStone queer baiting? You do know we was trying to hide a whole baby bump right ?Also I’m married to a man but I have express soo much about my bisexuality and my experiences wit girls .All of a sudden “queer baiting” is the new word & people use it to the ground ! https://t.co/M3kn4NyJBs
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) July 23, 2021
I don’t like this new “queer baiting” word.I feel like it pressure artist to talk about their sexuality or their experiences that they don’t feel comfortable speaking about.If a artist kiss a girl on a video does that means she gotta show videos & text wit wit other women?
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) July 23, 2021
Yes, I agree with this. I think concerns about queerbaiting are valid, and I appreciated the nuance of a lot of those conversations around Taylor Swift and “YNTCD” especially (since she did it during Pride too!!). But I think people shout “queerbaiting” whenever any artist is trying to show or represent their own bisexuality, queerness, or sexual fluidity. Sometimes it’s not about monetizing a vague sense of queerness, it’s about trying to represent your own authentic self or your own exploration of your sexuality. I don’t know.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Normani’s video.
I think if you’re going to include bisexual women in a queer baiting article a more interesting angle would be the different reactions to lesbianism depending if it is or isn’t attractive to straight men. There are real consequences in terms of personal safety and violence that we experience based on if we are perceived as being also sexually available to men, at least in my experience. (Although I’ve experienced sexualized harassment regardless of how feminine we present).
Some of us in the LGBTQA community are starting to call these ‘queerbaiting’ accusations (when directed at real people, not fictional characters) ‘gaytkeeping.’ It’s become another way to put a woke, faux-nuanced spin on slut-shaming bisexual women, erasure of sexually fluid people in general, and being uncomfortable with openly gay artists like Lil Nas X not being subtle in his art about who he is and what he has to overcome.
I need to read more about this but is Lil Nas X queer baiting by this definition if he has always been open about his sexuality? I don’t think being his authentic self automatically means he is trying to profit off of it? I’ll need to look into Rolling Stone.
As a queer woman who came of age in the 90s, I would get furious at women who would flirt and kiss each other only around men, while watching for men’s response. But I’ve come to realize that MAYBE I was being a bit judgemental and that was the only way those women felt comfortable exploring that side of their sexuality. I can choose whether or not to participate in that. I think same principle applies – if CardiB wants to writhe around naked with another woman because she likes it, or she thinks men will like it, or she thinks her queer fans will like it…who cares?! And if she is doing this to appeal to queer fans – isn’t it about time we got pop culture shaped to our preferences?! It’s our turn!!
Agreed. I think *sometimes* you can tell who’s doing it for show, i.e. at the behest and for the pleasure of men, but even then, who’s to say that experimenting in that way won’t lead them to a real discovery about themselves? Now I honestly just don’t care, lol. And if she is just baiting, well… like you said, I’ll take it!
+1. The only permission required for kissing someone of the same sex is permission from the other person being kissed. I think part of the problem is that on the left, people have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that people they don’t approve of (for reasons good and bad) come in all different sexual orientations. People need so badly to believe that there are entire ‘Born Woke/Born Deep/Born Graceful& classy’ marginalized groups of people on this planet. It’s different from the homophobia of conservatives and moderates, who see being flashy and defensive as just more proof that one’s sexuality is some kind of disorder. But it’s still a form of homophobia.
I’m also not a fan of the term or the ease with which people use it. I don’t think we should force anyone to explain or disclose their sexuality. We should also not assume that everyone is straight until proven otherwise. Part of why people still hesitate to come out is because the so-called community is now too focused on gatekeeping and making people prove their identities.
This just sounds biphobic to me. Cardi b is bisexual, so if she wants to be all up with a girl in a music video, she can! You can be with a man and still be sexually attracted to women. I’m bisexual, but married to a man. Doesn’t take away from the fact that I’m attracted to both men and women. When I see celebs talking about their bisexuality I love it! It makes me feel good because I can relate.
Lil Nas X is an openly queer artist singing about his lived experience so… I haven’t read the article but I don’t get how he is an example. Cardi B came out years ago so it’s just bierasure.
I do think certain companies and singers (ie Katy Perry with I Kissed A Girl) cynically monetise queerness for profit. But I don’t see why a writer would use actual queer artists as an example.
I also agree with Cardi about not pressuring people to discuss publicly discuss their sexuality. It’s why I don’t like speculations about men being secretly gay or women being paid beards.