Cupcakes with a side of WAP-inspired porn
If there was any doubt about the mainstreaming of porn culture, Adelaide bakery The Cupcake Lady has released a range of porn-themed cupcakes for Christmas.
Borrowing phrases and imagery from Cardi B’s pornified chart-topper ‘Wet A** Pu**y’ (WAP), the cupcakes are a reminder that porn - and its harmful messages which disempower women - is everywhere.
The Cupcake Lady co-opted Cardi B’s women-as-whores tagline, one cupcake style featuring the text ‘There’s some Ho’s in this house’. Another style features the text ‘I got you a bucket and a mop’ - a WAP-inspired message about women's fetishised body parts and availability for men's sexual use.
The bakery used more of WAP's porn-inspired lyrics - 'Gobble me, swallow me' - in a Facebook post promoting the products.
Earlier this year we responded to claims that WAP was ‘empowering’ for women and highlighted links between objectification in popular culture, advertising, music and fashion and men’s violence against women:
WAP replicates common porn tropes - women as objects, reduced to a series of fetishised body parts, referred to as “whores” and portrayed as enjoying acts of degradation and sexualised violence from men.
Men’s violence against women exists on a continuum. In order to address this violence, we need to go to the roots and address the sexist attitudes and routine objectification of women- attitudes which are shaped in part by media and popular culture.
By co-opting WAP’s harmful messages about women for its cupcakes, The Cupcake Lady has trivialised the objectification of women and instead helped reinforce the idea that women are second class sex objects - ideas which help fuel violence against women.
Take action
- South Australian residents: Buying cupcakes? Give The Cupcake Lady a miss.
- All supporters: Leave a review or comment on The Cupcake Lady's Facebook page here. Tell them you don't support companies which trivialise the objectification of women.
See also
‘Empowering’, ‘feminist’, ‘breaking boundaries’: our response to WAP claims
WAP: High production porn with a hip hop beat
Backlash over Bakers Delight ad depicting tween girls bound and gagged to sell tarts
Submission to Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Inquiry
Caitlin Roper: (Video) Challenging everyday sexualised depictions of women in media, advertising and pop culture is critical to addressing male violence against women
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