Megan Thee Stallion, Misogynoir & The Masculinisation of Black Women

hot girl summer: “To be you, just having fun. Turning up, driving the boat and not giving a damn about what nobody’s saying.” – Megan Thee Stallion

Hot girl summer is in full swing. Coined by rapper Megan Thee Stallion in 2019, it’s rapidly reached mainstream media – and my TikTok ‘for you page’. And for good reason; hot girl summer embraces being unapologetic in every sense of the word. With her army of “hotties”, Megan Thee Stallion has built an empire.

But as with many black women in the media, alongside the praise and (3x-Grammy-award-winning) success, Megan has been subjected to a barrage of hate. In particular, something that stuck me was comments flooding her posts; mention after mention of her secret – she was a poser, a fake. Megan Thee Stallion, shock-horror, the man. An obvious untruth, but not uncommon to experiences of many black women – especially dark-skinned women – today.

The masculinisation of black women is nothing new. Take well-decorated tennis player Serena Williams. Accusations of her inherent ‘manliness’ have hounded her career, only fuelled by the angry black woman trope. Black woman are expected to be demure, obedient; they are put into a box and must accept it. When Megan accused Tory Lanez of shooting her, she was treated as not a victim, but a scapegoat. Called a deceiver, an aggressor. Inundated with discussions of her overly critical stance despite her suffering.

Colourism and the fetishisation of biracial identities interplay with this masculinisation; peers Zendaya and Taylor Swift, while of similar heights, have never been treated the same. Arguably, this is largely due to the impact of Eurocentric beauty ideals and favouritism of proximity to whiteness on dark-skinned women, who thus have their femininity questioned.

So hot girl summer may be in full swing – but no longer has it become a safe space for black women, but rather, one marred with misogynoir. Something appropriated by white men who try to define who ‘can’ and ‘can’t’ identify with the term. Truth being – it’s not their decision. Because black women’s femininity should never be up for debate.

For a deeper discussion on this topic and its history, I would highly recommend watching ‘Ada on Demand’s’ Youtube video which inspired me when writing this.