OWENS: Cardi B Is A Symptom Of A Sickness In Our Society

Cardi B is presented by the media as a role model for women and young girls. We’re told she’s an icon of sexual liberation, the paragon of female “empowerment.” She’s portrayed as a fierce feminist and was even named “Billboard Woman of the Year” in 2020, with the outlet’s headline quoting Cardi B declaring — and this is a real quote — “I like justice. But I also like popping my p*ssy.” Most recently, her performance at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards garnered thunderous applause from our adoring mainstream media, with Variety Magazine cheering her “message of sexual empowerment” and CNN lauding her “sex-positive performance.”

But here’s the truth. Cardi B is a symptom of a pervasive sickness in our culture: a sickness promoted by the Left and presented under the guise of promoting and empowering women. In reality, however, it is a toxic ideology and the polar opposite of true feminism. 

Any woman who’s honest with herself feels it every day. We see it on social media, in our entertainment, and on the news. Our society has fallen deeply ill, and as anyone who has suffered a serious illness knows, you cannot heal until you first acknowledge that you’re sick. We must stop denying the truth and diagnose this disease, or it will only continue to spread. 

What Cardi B is selling is not self-empowerment. It’s self-debasement. What young girls across America learn from Cardi B is that they can earn attention and adoration by stripping in front of the world and simulating sex acts with other women. This, they’re told, will “empower” them. This, CNN says, is “positive” — “sex-positive,” whatever that means. But the reality is that what’s really being stripped away is their dignity. 

Disagree? Show me the father or mother or sister or brother who would be proud to watch their loved one acting like Cardi B or Megan Thee Stallion last Sunday.

Being a young woman in our society is already an almost impossible challenge, made even more difficult by social media metastasizing into a constant feature of their lives. Every day, every hour, every minute, they’re bombarded with messages and images telling them who and what they must be. The Cardi Bs of the world are setting the behavioral standard for the most vulnerable part of our population, and that standard is deeply harmful. 

What young girls need is support as they grow into dignified women, not a blinding encouragement to stand as blatant and shameless sexual objects for the explicit enjoyment of men.

I want to conclude by speaking directly to the target of this toxic culture, to the young girls and women who often reach out to me with questions about how to navigate today’s society. 

Ask yourself whether the attention you may get from imitating Cardi B or Megan Thee Stallion is worth your dignity and self-respect. Ask yourself whether Cardi B’s degenerate behavior is worth a small trophy made of worthless metal. Ask yourself whether women like Cardi B are truly happy. Are they happy with their relationships, or their lives? I think you’ll find a lot of these supposed role models — deep down — are miserable. 

Some will try and dilute this issue as another shallow political debate, but it’s crucial that we realize that Cardi B is indicative of a far deeper problem. This isn’t about right or left — it’s about right and wrong. The continued promotion of Cardi B’s toxic message, alongside her elevation as a cultural hero, is a symptom of a disease festering within our society. The disease of a lack of morality, of dignity, of respect for women. 

The longer we avoid this truth, the harder it will be to recover. Our young girls and women deserve far, far better.

Candace Owens is an American writer, producer, conservative commentator and the host of “Candace.”

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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