Chris Brown's Jab at Taylor Swift Hints at a Problem
By:
After Kim Kardashian shared footage of a call between Kanye West and Taylor Swift deliberating the lyrics to the song "Famous" — lyrics Swift had previously claimed she had never heard and did not co-sign — celebrities came out in droves to pledge their allegiance to the Swift and Kardashian camps.
On Monday morning, Chris Brown decided to weigh in on the feud in a controversial Instagram comment that was screen captured and widely circulated on Twitter.
"Oh NO... Someone said something I don't like,, OUCH, MY PUSSY HURT," Brown said. "Make music and shut the fuck up."
Whether you're celebrating the #KimExposedTaylorParty or feel more sympathetic towards Swift and squad, Brown's profane comment is inarguably sexist.
When used as insults, words like "pussy" and "cunt" equate female anatomy with weakness and equate masculinity with strength. As ATTN: has previously reported, this same line of thinking has shaped many homophobic slurs like like 'sissy,' 'nancy,' 'nelly,' and 'fairy' that have been historically used to insult gay men. These words, queer activist Simon Moritz wrote on Bust, "prize masculinity by demonizing femininity."
Earlier this year, Donald Trump was on the receiving end of a decent amount of online backlash after he used the same sexist slur — "pussy" — to refer to his Republican primary rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, repeating an insult launched by one of his supporters at a New Hampshire campaign event, Think Progress reported.
It also doesn't add up on a logical level.
Vaginal muscles are actually extremely strong — "between sex, periods, and childbirth, vaginas go through a lot," Bustle explains.
This isn't the first time Chris Brown has made recent headlines for his questionable use of language.
In April, he accused R & B singer Kehlani of using a suicide attempt to gain attention on social media and called singer-songwriter Tinashe, who defended Kehlani, a “16 year old hobbit face ass" in an Instagram comment, Refinery 29 reports.
It's perfectly fine for Brown to disagree with Swift, or anyone else.
There's nothing wrong with questioning the veracity of Swift's public image as a feminist superhero or criticizing the statement she shared on Instagram about the leaked video in response to the social media backlash, as many journalists and Twitter users have done over the last 24 hours. But these responses do not require or warrant bringing her vagina into the conversation.