"And I drugged them and I robbed them."
This is a story that has been making its way to the surface of blog entertainment sites and news outlets worldwide. 26-year-old Cardi B is the source of extreme backlash after the resurfacing of a three-year-old Instagram live video. In the video rapper, Cardi B openly admits to both drugging and robbing men for what she perceived as them asking her for sexual favors. Now, this story wouldn't be anything of interest to me except for the way the media spins the story.
For the past few months between longtime actor Bill Cosby and R&B singer Robert Kelly, the #MeToo movement has made its way back into mainstream media. As more and more people come forward, the world starts to shed both positive and negative light on sexual assault, verbal and physical abuse, and harassment.
With a case like this, although Cardi openly admitted that she was wrong and that she is in no way proud of her actions, why is the assault of these men being dismissed? Is it because we are more prone to innately take the side of the woman given the #MeToo history or do we simply not acknowledge the idea that a man can truly be assaulted by a woman? I accredit this mainly to the idea that we have been taught that males have to prove themselves as Alpha. This too, is why a lot of men today who have been harassed are afraid to come forward. For lack of better words, they're afraid. Afraid of the world's judgment and downright ridicule.
In a statement released via Instagram, Cardi B said --
"I never glorified the things I brought up in that life and I never even put those things in my music because I am not proud of it and I feel a responsibility not to glorify it -- I made the choices that I did at the time because I had very limited options."
Here, she is sincerely apologetic for the way the media took her words but with circumstances presented she simply did what she felt needed to be done. But, does that make her actions right?