I view my hair and clothes as functional art.
Erykah BaduRead
Society has a problem with female nudity when it is not . . . ”—Badu pauses to get her words together; she wants this point to be very clear—“. . . when it is not packaged for the consumption of male entertainment. Then it becomes confusing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote addresses societal attitudes toward female nudity and its commercialization for male pleasure.
Erykah Badu speaks to the paradox of female nudity in society, pointing out that while nudity is often scrutinized, it becomes accepted when it serves the interests of male entertainment. This comment reflects on the complexities of gender, objectification, and societal norms surrounding women's bodies, urging a reevaluation of how nudity is perceived and represented.
Themes
Female NuditySocietyObjectificationGender RolesMale Entertainment
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about feminism at a panel, this quote can illustrate the societal double standards regarding women's bodies.
More from Erykah Badu
All quotes →I'm free. I just do what I want, say what I want, say how I feel, and I don't try to hurt nobody. I just try to make sure that I don't compromise my art in any kind of way, and I think people respect that.
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Hip-hop was created out of necessity. We needed to create some digitized things to help us understand what we were feeling.
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Hopefully my music is medicine, some type of antidote for something or some kind of explanation or just to feel good.
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Hip-hop is not something we do, it's something we live. It's the way we dress, the way we talk... everybody bobbing to the same beat. It's a culture, and you have to find your own place in that culture. Top 10 or Top 40 can't dictate that. They can only dictate what's marketable.
Erykah BaduRead
We as Black people have to tell our own stories. We have to document our history. When we allow someone else to document our history the history becomes twisted and we get written out. We get our noses blown off.
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