Introduction
The debate on the black female body has been on for centuries. During the slave trade period, female slaves were described according to their body features, many portraits of the period show black women drawn with big posterior parts. The idea of a black female from the slavery period has been carried to the modern American society where the white majority in society still view the black female body parts to represent sex and are considered obscene by the society as opposed to the white female body representation (Melancon, 2015). Many black American women have been victims of societal criticisms as regards to the representation of their bodies as compared to the white female counterparts. For instance, Nicki Minaj, a popular black American hip-hop artist was a victim of media criticism due to her music video “anaconda”. Most of the criticisms towards Minaj's video is regarding her sexuality. The criticisms, however, describe the representation of black women in the social, and political circles in America. In this paper, I will argue that Nicki Minaj's video “anaconda” and the media criticisms on her represent the alternative representation black female bodies in the US. To demonstrate that, I will draw from the black feminist theory while contrasting the representations of white female artists’ bodies.