when in doubt, twerk it out.

http://youtu.be/t55x1q7E2mM 

while browsing Facebook I came across a "how real women twerk" video. being that I coach high school girls who are enamored w/the cultural of twerk, I decided to watch. 

the video was not what I anticipated. the slut shaming & cultural ignorance that paraded across my screen sickened me. I was tempted to write this woman to let her know that her condemnation of women who twerk & negating their intelligence won't make any man more likely to "put a ring on it," but I don't have the heart to make her feel worse about herself. her remarks are clearly rooted in jealousy & ignorance. real intelligence lies in the ability to empower yourself & those around you. while the aim of her little "public service announcement" is presented as empowerment, if that were her true aim she failed miserably. I am educated; in fact, I am very well educated & I twerk. If I want to pussy pop in a handstand, drop that thun thun thun, shake it like a red nose, wobble, wop or simply throw it back, that negates everything I've learned & experienced as a woman? I'm not a "real" woman now? this is how women are systemically oppressed. by defining "real" woman, she reduced ALL women to the decision on whether or not they want to twerk. the ignorant assertions made by this misguided woman were almost laughable. 

her slut shaming is way more misogynistic than twerking is. we shouldn't measure respect based on how a woman dances; respect should be standard regardless. when women make these videos & repost them & men watch them, they see that even women don't respect "those kinds" of women, so they don't have to either. this is more about her insecurities & need to put other women down in order to appeal to the monolithic "man." the whole "good girl" vs "slut" dichotomy is dehumanizing to ALL women - it's called the Madonna Whore complex. creating a category of women that aren't to be respected leads to rape culture. it is not their fault for dancing- dancing doesn't mean you have sex, dancing doesn't mean you are a whore, dancing doesn't mean you have an STD. this whole video is filled with fallacies that shame & degrade women.

*also, I feel I need to address the inherent racism in it because twerking is a part of black culture, so it is saying a lot about what kind of women are "trash," which makes me cringe.

I understand that the video is mocking people that think twerking is cute or whatever, but it uses a lot of sexism & fallacious arguments to back up what it is claiming & what it is saying is dangerous and hurtful to ALL women, if not personally, then in what it reflects & the values it tells society to hold. it infuriates me that all of this is done on the premise of education. she degraded women & hid behind privilege then had the audacity to pretend education (& not sexism, bigotry, misogyny & willful ignorance) is what perpetuated these thoughts. it kills me because all of these "self-righteous" people who are "above" twerking haven't a clue about it's origins or how to decipher social context. it makes me even more sad that it's mostly women in this twerk debate attacking other women for the approval of men who SHOULD respect them regardless of how they dance.

most importantly, if you're going to berate twerking, know what you're berating. twerking is a dance originated in Louisiana w/inspiration from African tribes & the movement of people in the Caribbean. once again, white America has dominated & demonized culture. Miley's cultural mainstreaming & taking ownership over (or rather appropriation of) "twerk" (a dance she can't even successfully perform, mind you) has enabled society to yet again marginalize women of color. (& any woman who partakes in twerking). so my advice to all the women out there in the club when a 2 chainz beat drops: when in doubt, twerk it out.