Megan Thee Stallion Speaks Out For Black Women: 'We Deserve To Be Protected'

Despite a show-stopping year that saw her first pair of No. 1 singles as well as a culture-defining song (and video) that spawned a lucrative, amusing cycle of performative outrage from the usual talking heads, Megan Thee Stallion has endured her fair share of trauma in 2020. On Tuesday (October 13), she expounded on that trauma in a New York Times op-ed.


"I was recently the victim of an act of violence by a male. Immediately after a party, I was shot twice as I walked away from him," Meg wrote, referring to a July incident connected with her and rapper Tory Lanez. "We were not in a relationship. Truthfully, I was shocked that I ended up in that place." (Meg named Tory because the shooter a month immediately following the attack. He's since been charged with assault.)


"My beginning silence about what happened was out of fear for myself and my companions she continued. "Even as a victim, I have been met with skepticism and judgment. The way people have publicly questioned and debated whether I played a role in my own violent assault proves that my fears about discussing what happened were, unfortunately, warranted."


Meg ties in her own experience to both the expectations of Black females as voters across the nation — "Black females are still constantly disrespected and didn't think about in so several areas of life" — and the larger framework of objectification that plagues females and "happens because also several males treat all girls as objects, which accommodates them to justify inflicting abuse against us any time we pick to physical training our own free will."


Despite writing that "there’s not much room for enthusiastic advocacy in case you're a Black woman," Meg highlights her recent Saturday Night Live performance, where she used her platform to denounce Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron for his choice to not seek expenditures against three officers for their involvement in Breonna Taylor's shooting death. Meg knew this would invite criticism, and she mentioned she's not afraid of that.


"And it’s stupid that some people think the simple phrase 'Protect Black females is controversial. We deserve to be protected as humans. And we are entitled to our anger about a laundry list of mistreatment and neglect that we suffer."


Meg's piece also spans the topic of Black women's bodies and the gaze to which they're constantly subjected. She explains how her own wardrobe choices (or lack thereof) are not a choice to appeal to males, nevertheless a celebration of her own body. Nevertheless the remarks about how I pick to display myself have often been judgmental and cruel, with several assuming that I’m dressing and performing for the male gaze. Any time ladies pick to capitalize on our sexuality, to reclaim our own power, like I have, we are vilified and disrespected."


Meg's entire op-ed is worth reading, and also you could do so right here.