In a culture where a great number of women strive to attain the same respect afforded to men, it is unfortunate that some of those same women fail to recognize that their interactions with other women often fall short of the respect they are seeking. We, as women, cannot expect to receive the respect that we believe we deserve if we are unwilling to model the same values that we think others should uphold. Rather than laugh at the mocking comments that women make to one another, we, as a society, must evaluate the severe impact that hurtful language can have on not only one person, but on the pursuit for gender equality.

The 2015 Video Music Awards, held on Aug. 30, is the most recent public example of women showing little respect for other women. At the VMAs, Nicki Minaj called out Miley Cyrus at the end of her [Minaj’s] acceptance speech for Best Hip-Hop Video, creating an Internet and media frenzy.

Minaj’s closing words, “And now… back to this bitch who had a lot to say about me the other day in the press. Miley, what’s good?” was in response to an interview that Cyrus had with The New York Times earlier that week regarding Minaj’s recent Twitter argument with Taylor Swift. Cyrus stated, “If you do things with an open heart and you come at things with love, you would be heard and I would respect your statement.” She went on to say, “What I read sounded very Nicki Minaj, which, if you know Nicki Minaj is not too kind. It’s not very polite.” While Cyrus may have arguably taken her comments a bit too far, referring to Minaj as unkind and impolite, I consider Minaj’s response to be entirely unjustified.

At the heart of the matter was Minaj’s earlier Twitter rant in which she tweeted, “If I was a different ‘kind’ of artist, ‘Anaconda’ would be nominated for Best Choreo and Vid of the Year as well.” She then went on to say, “If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for Vid of the Year.” Many, including Swift herself, felt that Minaj was disgruntled that Swift was nominated for an award that she felt she deserved and went about expressing her disappointment poorly, in the way that people of our generation have the propensity of doing – by indirectly blasting Swift on social media. If Minaj felt so strongly about the matter, she should have addressed her feelings with Swift privately. Swift’s response, “I’ve done nothing but love & support you. It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot,” prompted Minaj to reply, “Huh? U must not be reading my tweets. Didn’t say a word about u. I love u just as much. But u should speak on this.” The entire exchange could have been handled much better if addressed in a friendlier, more appropriate manner. Social media is never the place to solve conflicts and Swift’s upset by Minaj’s tweets is justifiable.

More so, I was disturbed by Minaj’s entitlement. Her claim that her tweet had nothing to do with Swift is suspect, given that the only other woman nominated for that particular award was Beyoncé. However, I was most appalled by the amused reactions that people were expressing both in the audience and over the Internet. Rather than use Minaj’s words, “What’s good Miley?” as a punch line, we should be addressing the larger issues: Why, after all this time, do people find it so humorous when women fight? That question also leads to why, as a whole, do we dismiss the greater impact that our words have on the pursuit for gender equality?

Although Minaj tried to deny that the dig was directed at Swift, the move seemed calculated and I am not surprised that Swift felt upset by the tweets and reacted as she did, especially considering the hard work that she put into her music video, “Bad Blood.”

I am in full agreement with Swift’s initial response. Rather than create a further divide between women, especially those in such a malicious industry where divides are perpetuated by the media, women should be encouraging each other’s achievements. There have been times when I have felt like I should receive an accolade for something that I worked hard for, but someone else received it. Undoubtedly, all of us have felt that way at one point or another. However, the reality is that placing blame on one person who likely worked just as hard is a discredit to their hard work and our own characters.

There must be a line drawn between outright disrespect toward other women and the act of defending oneself. In my Anthropology of Gender class with Professor Wessler here at Fairfield, we discuss the fact that society naturally pits women against one another for the sake of entertainment. We discussed the idea with the knowledge that “woman vs. woman” is not a new or groundbreaking phenomenon. Women have an extensive history that involves competition and the need to be better, stemming from men classifying some women as better, or more “desirable” than others. Meanwhile, women have been so ingrained by that mindset that many will stop at nothing to prove themselves more worthy.

What I find troubling, however, is that I am not entirely certain that Minaj wanted to be better than Swift, as much as she made the hateful comments purely for the sake of publicity. I have no doubt that Minaj confronted Cyrus with the knowledge that her words would provoke the exact response they did. Should Cyrus have referred to Minaj as “unkind and impolite?” Honestly, Cyrus’ disapproval would have been made without those words. However, Cyrus’ initial criticism was valid.

Tina Fey has a line in the film “Mean Girls” where she states to the high school girls that calling each other derogatory names only makes it acceptable for men to do the same. Minaj’s reference to “other girls” when lamenting her exclusion from the Video of the Year nomination list serves to perpetuate gender inequality, and undermines the efforts of all of those, men and women alike, who continue to strive to achieve gender equality.

I am not sure why the public is so amused by conflict between women, especially women in the entertainment industry. However, I do think that a lot of the issue boils down to the fact that many people consider women’s issues to be a joke. Therefore, seeing them fight with each other in an overly sensationalized manner is just confirmation that their issues are not validated. I hope that eventually the VMAs, and other similar award shows, will focus on the talent that the artists exude rather than the drama that they create for attention.

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-- Online Editor-in-Chief Emeritus-- Digital Journalism

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