Madame Tussaud's recently unveiled their new wax figure of Nicki Minaj based on her record-breaking, "dick-negative" Anaconda" video -- and Azealia Banks took to Twitter to rightfully express her frustration.
Wow, they finally give nicki minaj a wax figure and it's a statue of her bent over on all fours...... White people yo....
-- AZEALIA BANKS (@AZEALIABANKS) August 12, 2015Calling it "underhanded shade," Banks has an incredibly legitimate point -- why is (arguably) the most powerful, influential woman in hip-hop portrayed in the most submissive, non-threatening position she can be in?ย
And while you may cry, "Stop nit-picking, it's just a wax figure," remember that this will be the permanent representation of one of the strongest black females in pop culture to millions of Tussaud tourists for, uh, forever. This was the pose they determined "represented her best" -- the one "iconic" moment they chose to highlight out of millions of others. Not her in any of the other scenes in the video, and not her standing up with a mic, spitting bars and killing it -- but her crawling on her hands and knees; the ultimate stance of deference.
As much as that woman has accomplished, they had to put her on all fours... Why not standing up with a mic in her hand ???
-- AZEALIA BANKS (@AZEALIABANKS) August 12, 2015Martha Stewart's most iconic moment was when she went to jail but they didn't put her wax figure in a jail uniform... Come on y'all...
-- AZEALIA BANKS (@AZEALIABANKS) August 12, 2015It's just ironic that her "Anaconda" video, as an incredible anthem to female sexuality, is being used in this way -- and will be, as Banks aptly notes, something people will just use to stick their crotch in for funny photos.
All ppl are gonna do is go up to that statue and take pictures shoving their crotch in her face and putting their crotch on her butt
-- AZEALIA BANKS (@AZEALIABANKS) August 12, 2015There's a long artistic history of utilizing the image of someone on all fours to depict submission and deference -- from medieval imagery's reliance on the all-fours "hybrid beast"ย to Keith Haring's Baby/Dog image. If you want to get into some deep art theory, our evolution to stand vertically is a visual representation of human superiority, and by taking away her verticality, you take away her power. You equate her to something way less than what she is. Wanna try this again, Madame Tussauds?
I would complain and ask for a do-over. That's such underhanded shade
-- AZEALIA BANKS (@AZEALIABANKS) August 12, 2015