Cardi B Responds To Queer-Baiting Criticism And Points Out Her Bisexuality Erasure
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Cardi B has never been shy about expressing her sexuality. From “WAP” to her cameo in “Hustlers” the Bronx-born rapper has embraced her sultriness throughout her career. But some critics are calling out Cardi for what they say is “queerbaiting”.
Recently, an article in “Rolling Stone” called out Cardi B for “queerbaiting” fans in her recent appearance in Normani’s “Wild Side” music video.
As visual artist and LGBTQ activist Leo Herrera explained to Rolling Stone, queerbaiting is when “a celebrity or a public figure capitalizes on the suspicion that they may be romantically involved with another same-sex person for the sake of publicity, promotion or a capitalistic gain.”
The “Rolling Stone” article is entitled “Why Queerbaiting Matters More Than Ever” and reads: “Most recently, Normani was criticized on Instagram by a user and accused of something similar, which was later shared across Twitter. In her recent video for her song ‘Wild Side,’ featuring Cardi B, the two are pictured naked and gyrating against one another.”
The viral post “Rolling Stone” was referring to was by an angry internet user who said the “Wild Side” video is “giving queerbaiting which is gross.” “What’s even worse,” she continued, “is that this kind of scene along with the title of said video further perpetuates the stereotype of women-loving-women being for the male gaze, in turn lacking authenticity by itself [if] outside of that scope.”
Cardi B, who has opened up before about her sexual experiences, took to Twitter to defend herself.
“Uuummmm @RollingStone queer baiting? You do know we was trying to hide a whole baby bump right ?” she wrote. “Also I’m married to a man but I have express soo much about my bisexuality and my experiences wit girls. All of a sudden ‘queer baiting’ is the new word & people use it to the ground !” Cardi tweeted.
She later expanded on her opinion on Twitter. “I don’t like this new ‘queer baiting’ word,” she wrote. “I feel like it pressure artist to talk about their sexuality or their experiences that they don’t feel comfortable speaking about. If a artist kiss a girl on a video does that means she gotta show videos & text wit wit other women?”
And it’s true that in the past, Cardi has been candid about her identity as a bisexual woman.
In 2020, Cardi wrote: I don’t support the LGBT community because I have ‘gay fans’ I support because of the confused feelings I had growing up on is it normal to like girls?” She as also previously described herself as a “whole bisexual.”
In 2018, when responding to criticism that a different song she was on (“Girls” by Rita Ora) was queerbaiting, Cardi B took to Twitter to both apologize and defend herself. “We never try to cause harm or had bad intentions with the song,” she wrote. “I personally myself had experiences with other woman, s— with a lot of woman ! I thought the song was a good song and i remember my experience.”
Cardi B’s clapback has sparked a larger discussion about sexuality, labels, and bi-erasure.
The fact is, we don’t know how some celebrities identify when it comes to sexuality. We don’t know anyone’s sexual past or history. Assuming, because someone is in a hetero relationship, that they’re 100% straight is just that…an assumption. We need to be more careful when it comes to discussions about queerbaiting and celebrities’ sexuality in general.
Even Leo Herrera later updated his opinion on his Instagram page. “Love to see @iamcardib enter the chat (!) and address her bisexual erasure.”
