Booty Power Politics: The Social-mediated Consumption of Black Female Bodies in Popular Culture

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the concept of booty power, objectification and consumption of the female body in popular culture. Booty power is used here to refer to discourses around the Stocko Sama2K, initially a group of five women who were caught on camera dancing the “John Vul’ igate” song and dance challenge, and their sexualized dance routines. I draw on digital ethnography and interviews to argue that objectification presents us with complexities, and conclude that it is a multi-dimensional maze shaped by different socio-cultural agents. The article casts light on how women’s bodies are used as a source of conversations on decency, morality, power and culture. Objectification theory is used to demonstrate the power of objectification by others and also by the self. The research concludes that objectification and self-objectification worked in both directions, as disempowering and empowering, especially to women, given the conflicting socio-cultural elements at play.

ISIFINYEZO

Lolucwaningo luhlaziya umqondo/umbono omayelana namandla esinqe, phecelezi nokubuka umuntu ngeso elilangazelela ucansi nokusetshenziswa komzimba womuntu wesifazane kusikompilo elijwayelekile. Lombono omayelana namandla esinqe ubhekiswe kwizingxoxo ezizungeze iStoko Sama-2K, okuyitemu eliqalwe yiqembu lezintokazi ezinhlanu eziqoshwe kumfanekiso we-video asabalaleliswe ezinkundleni zokuxhumana lapho zidansela ingoma ethi “John Vul’igate”, kanye neminye imidanso yabo yezocansi. Ngisebenzisa izindlela zobuchwepheshe zokucwaninga kanye nezingxoxo kanye nezingxoxo ukuveza iphuzu lokubuka umuntu ngeso elilangazelela ucansi isinikeza umbono oyinkimbinkimbi, futhi ngiphetha ngokuthi kunezinhlangothi ezihlukene kulombono, ngoba zibunjwe ngamanxusa ezenhlalo namasiko ahlukene. Lolucwaningo lugqamisa indlela imizimba yabesifazane isetshenziswa ngakhona umakudingidwa izihloko ezithinta isizotha, isimilo, nokuziphatha kanye namasiko. Injulalwazi yokubuka umuntu ngeso elilangazelela ucansi ngiyisebenzise ukukhombisa amandla okubuka umuntu ngeso elilangazelela ucansi uma usentshenziswa ngabanye futhi nangokwethu. Isiphetho salolucwaningo lubika ukuthi ukubuka umuntu ngeso elilangazelela ucansi kusebenza kunhlangothi ezimbili lapho iphuca amandla futhi ibuye inike amandla, ikakhulukazi kubantu besifazane, kwazise kukhona ukushayisana kwezimo zenhlalo nezamasiko ababhekene nakho.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• objectification
• booty power
• stock/stoko
• popular culture

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the two reviewers for their invaluable comments on this article. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my research assistant Ms Semang Mathobela, to Dr Tawanda Nyawasha, Ms Simamkele Dlakavu and Ms Bomikazi Njoloza for being sounding boards for some of the ideas I was grappling with during this project, and to Sphelele Vilakazi for translating the abstract.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 For a fuller discussion of media trends in South Africa, see my earlier article, “Jesus Comes to South Africa: Black Twitter as Citizen Journalism in South African Politics” (2019).

1 The video can be viewed on the Instagram page of one of the women involved, @angel_shawty05, https://www.instagram.com/p/CGNndv2BVZw/, as well as on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

2 For a fuller discussion of this, see Mpofu (2019).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation, South Africa.