Meet the latest crusader in the war on pornography … outspoken traditionalist Cardi B?
The rapper, who is not afraid to flaunt her body on social media or twerk during concerts, seems like an unlikely champion for the cause. In fact, she has said she enjoys watching porn. But in a couple of tweets she posted over the weekend, Cardi B revealed one of the biggest problems with internet pornography, something that both those who support and those who oppose it should unite in condemning: exploitation of children.
Cardi B tweeted that she was scrolling through a pornographic site when she saw a clip of Elsa from the Disney movie Frozen. She wrote, with a few expletives thrown in, that it made her “cringe,” saying that kind of material “shouldn’t be allowed.”
I was scrolling down a porn site then I seen a snippet of Frozen (Elsa ).Why the fuck they put that ? Shit made me cringe .Turn me all they way Off now I’m here with you motherfuckers …Weirdo shit.Shit shouldn’t be allowed .
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) February 23, 2020
A few minutes later, she added, “And why do porn [titles] be so weird[?]” She criticized pornographic videos with titles idealizing incest and child abuse. She’s right: It is “nasty and weird.”
And why do porn tittles be so weird like “teen fuckin” step mom fuckin step kid “ LIKEEE WTFFF !!! That shit is fuckin nasty and weird.
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) February 23, 2020
Cardi B might not go so far as to criticize pornography for moral reasons, but she’s right about its pervasive normalization of different types of abuse. One popular site, Pornhub, is filled with horrific titles such as “Young Girl Tricked,” “Innocent Brace Faced Tiny Teen F—ed,” “Tiny Petite Thai Teen,” and “Teen Little Girl First Time,” as Laila Mickelwait wrote recently for the Washington Examiner.
Mickelwait, who is the director of abolition for Exodus Cry, also noted that Pornhub doesn’t verify the age of actors in films on the website, meaning that “at this very moment, there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of videos of underage sex trafficking victims on Pornhub.”
Whether you morally object to pornography, you must concede that it is not a victimless industry. It profits often from nonconsenting women, and much of its content endorses objectively reprehensible and illegal behavior.
Cardi B may not be rejecting all pornography, but she’s on the right track. Until more people are willing to talk about the most reprehensible problems within the industry, the pastime that no one wants to criticize will continue to claim more and more victims each year, many of them young and helpless.
