After VMA nominations were announced yesterday, Nicki Minaj took to twitter to wonder aloud at why neither her video for “Anaconda,” which according to Mic, was “the most hotly debated video of 2014 and it broke Miley Cyrus’ Vevo record for most views in 24 hours,” nor her video for “Feeling Myself,” which she recorded in collaboration with Beyonce, were nominated for the video of the year award.
Though she was nominated in several other categories, Minaj felt that her videos were excluded from the top honor due to the way the media and the music industry portray black and/or curvaceous women in comparison to the thin white “ideal.”
Read some of her tweets below:
https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/623571674076614656
When the "other" girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
I'm not always confident. Just tired. Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it. https://t.co/2xOvJzBXJX
— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Taylor Swift, whose video for “Bad Blood” was nominated for video of the year and features white models who could be considered part of that thin white “ideal” of beauty, appeared to think that these tweets were directed at her and got involved:
https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/623616796277506048
As the New York Times reported, “The exchange was quickly seen by the media as a feud, and fans of Ms. Minaj got involved to comment on the broader issue of race in music and to critique Ms. Swift’s response as being indicative of a brand of feminism dominated by white women.”
And though Swift later offered to share the stage should she win the award, it has not stopped fans from taking one side or the other in this apparent “twitter feud.” Though it may seem silly, perhaps these posts can help further the conversation of feminism in the music industry (and beyond!)
