Loyalty & Wild Thoughts ft. Rhianna

I recently came across a couple different music videos that Rhianna has been featured in as a musical artist. Both of these music videos were made in 2017 and Rhianna seems to be okay that she is being treated as nothing more than a sex symbol.

In Loyalty, Rhianna is presented as an attractive womyn that spits her gum out at an opposing man. He then gets out of the car and Kendrick Lamar has to show off his masculinity by fighting him and then stealing his car and running off with Rhianna. In another scene Kendrick Lamar hangs Rhianna off a building, obviously showing his power over her. By the end of the music video, they are both sinking into the ground together looking like they are on the verge of a kiss but Rhianna turns away. Might I also point out that the beginning of the video starts with Kendrick Lamar surrounded by half-naked ladies booty dancing while he is blindfolded.

In Wild Thoughts, Rhianna is shown in various scenes definitely braless in a sheer dress/top that you can see her nipples through. She throws herself around a bedroom, stands in front of a fan, throws herself on the dresser and on the bed. Then the whole time Bryson Tiller is rapping about tearing pussy up and smacking bitches, Rhianna's just dancing around the room, totally cool with the lyrics that are being presented.

I watched these two videos in depth after our module that covered Racialized Masculinities and especially after I watched Beyond The Beats and Rhymes. It opened my eyes to the Hip Hop Culture and how it treats womyn. I was shocked that in 2017, Rhianna allows herself to be treated as nothing more than a sex symbol in these videos, especially when I thought that she was trying to empower all womyn when she recently released her own makeup line, Fenty Beauty. I just found it confusing.