In the summer of 2020, during a pandemic and a heated social and political climate, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion released a banger that quickly became a cultural sensation. It was the banger we needed: a playful and humorous song about vaginal secretion. (I am two sentences in, and I think I've already made it unsexy. You can always count on an asexual to do that.) While it certainly has not become a favorite, I still appreciate WAP. I appreciate its chutzpah, and I appreciate that it openly discusses a basic, healthy function of the female assigned reproductive system.
Since the song's release, we have truly seen an infinite number of hot takes, and the one that has resonated with me most was an article in The New York Times called "The Glory (and the Taboo) of 'WAP'," written by gynecologist Jen Gunter. She explains that there is a lengthy history of misinformation that crosses cultures and religions, so she has had to inform many patients that vaginal lubrication is normal and healthy. WAP, this ubiquitous song about the glory of vaginal lubrication, will help correct our deeply rooted misunderstanding that a healthy vagina is a dry vagina. Gunter concludes: "I don’t think "WAP” is going to smash the patriarchy, replace sex education or end predatory feminine hygiene practices, but talking about it is an empowering next step." I agree, Jen Gunter! I enjoyed reading Gunter's measured and informative take, especially after seeing pithy one-liners on Twitter that either praised the song in an exaggerated way or used thinly veiled misogyny to criticize it.
Twitter is a nightmare for finding content from a month ago if you don't have the right keywords, so I literally cannot locate most of the tweets that I saw, but I remember there was one that said something to the effect of "I'm going to write in WAP for president." This is clearly meant to be humorous because a song cannot be president, but it is still an exaggerated claim about the song's power. On the flip side, I saw detractors like Ben Shapiro who called the song graphic and said that it is disempowering to women. These detractors are clearly afraid of female assigned anatomy as well as female sexuality, and I'm glad this song exists to freak them out. This is progress.
