Former President Barack Obama, speaking at an event to honor the fifth anniversary of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, explained that men confident in themselves don’t need to flaunt money or women to prove it.
The panel, which included Obama and NBA star Stephen Curry, discussed a wide array of topics relevant to minority communities – from policing, to hip hop, to what it means to be a man.
“We live in a culture where our worth is measured by how much money we have and how famous we are,” he explained.
“If you are really confident about your financial situation, you’re probably not going to be wearing an 8-pound chain around your neck,” Obama added.
“If you’re very confident about your sexuality, you don’t have to have eight women around you twerking.”
Barack Obama: ‘If you’re confident about your sexuality, you don’t need eight women around your twerking https://t.co/ViK8wLGZOH pic.twitter.com/cRcERxZKTd
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 20, 2019
Obama Is … Right
While it would be easy to point out that Barack Obama’s comfort level with his own sexuality must be off the charts to have been pictured riding bikes and throwing baseball’s in the least manly of ways over the years, it’s worth noting that he’s right.
The hip-hop community has long glorified excesses in their music videos, whether it be money or women. They tend to place a high value on the former, while perpetually devaluing the latter.
There certainly are better role models out there than what you’re seeing in the hip-hop community.
Very proud of former President Obama for slamming the misogyny and toxic masculinity of hip-hop and rap music. https://t.co/aHz21qBElN
— Tara Greene (@6thsensemoment) February 21, 2019
“Let’s face it, a lot of hip-hop and rap music is built around me showing how I got more money than you, I can disrespect you and you can’t do nothing about it, I’m going to talk about you and punk you,” Obama added.
As for the women he said, “I’ve got one woman who I’m very happy with. And she’s a strong woman.”
Hypocrisy
Having given credit where it’s due, it also seems necessary to point out a bit of hypocrisy from the former president.
The official White House website in 2014 promoted the virtues of Obamacare with GIFs of a duck promoting free birth control and a girl attempting to twerk on a sink before getting hurt.
The twerking for Obamacare gif -> http://t.co/78YdEjj6oh
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) March 17, 2014
Sure, that was more light-hearted humor than misogynistic hip-hop video, but it was controversial at the time.
Obama has also palled around with hip-hop stars like Jay-Z and Beyonce, attending concerts and dancing to songs with such lyrics as: “I got that hot b**** in my home, You know how many hot b****es I own?”
If Obama were secure in his sexuality, wouldn’t he avoid artists like this?
