January 12, 2015 - Written by: Cas Sutherland

‘If You Got a Big Ol’ Butt? Shake It!’ – But You’ll Be Damned for Taking Charge of Your Body: Nicki Minaj’s Abortion

Nicki Minaj had a massive year in 2014. With everyone talking about her big ol’ butt (her words), which was in full view – literally – across the media, it was pretty hard to ignore her.

She’s been on my radar for several years now (that brilliant voice, those insane lyrics, y’know?), but until last year, I hadn’t given Minaj herself much thought – as a person, a woman, and an icon.

My younger brother (who admires Minaj but is too young to recognise the Sir Mix-a-lot sample she uses in ‘Anaconda’) watched our sister and I watch the ‘Anaconda’ video, insisting he wanted our opinions. I wasn’t sure how to react. Should I be shocked? Why shouldn’t she show off her mindbendingly awesome (mostly plastic) body?

Finally we agreed that she’s pretty awesome – to feel able to rap about her sexual relationships in a way society normally associates with male artists is pretty out-there.

Thus began my ever-growing admiration for Nicki Minaj. She is honest, hilarious and bloody-minded. Where other celebrities are defensive about their appearance (particularly when it comes to plastic surgery), she is relentlessly loud and proud. Her laughter is infectious. Her songs are bold, unique and articulate.

‘I stand for girls wanting to be sexy and dance, but also having a strong sense of themselves. If you got a big ol’ butt? Shake it! Who cares? That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be graduating from college’.

(Minaj, Rolling Stone interview).

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Her self-awareness and ownership of her mind and body makes her an inspirational role model for young women – she reassures us that we can be sexy and smart. She appears to have no guilt, no regrets, and no second thoughts.

That’s why I was shocked when the headlines reported Minaj was ‘haunted’ by a teenage abortion.

Whaaaat?!

Actually, reading the Rolling Stone article, I soon discovered that Minaj wasn’t ‘haunted’ by her abortion – she didn’t regret terminating the baby. She was 100% open about the difficulty of a teenage pregnancy for any young woman: ‘I thought I was going to die’, she stated. ‘I was a teenager. It was the hardest thing I’d ever gone through’.

But that doesn’t mean she’s torn up about the abortion – not by far. Knowing she ‘didn’t have anything to offer a child’, Minaj still fully supports the decision she made then, and is still pro-choice.

She was – as always – refreshingly honest about her abortion. Despite – or perhaps because of – her honesty (it’s not like anyone need go looking for revealing images of her), her private life has not come into the public sphere very much before – which is absolutely her prerogative. Now though, with the recent break-up of her long-term relationship, her private life is becoming more and more public.

On the album she built up to for the entirety of 2014, The Pinkprint, her personal life is taking the main stage: ‘One of my goals was to give people a glimpse into my personal life, because it’s something I’ve kept very private’, she told Rolling Stone.

In line with her usual bolshy personality, she is unashamedly upfront about it all: ‘I struggled with “Do I express these feelings?” And I decided there’s no reason for me to hide. I’m a vulnerable woman, and I’m proud of that’. Minaj is ever more the multi-faceted, open woman she has been to date.

Even more admirable? She’s aware of the role she plays as a female icon, knows her influence and isn’t afraid to use it for greater good. She knows how much her records will get played, she’s aware of every move, every word: ‘Millions of people are gonna hear it. And you gotta watch everything you say — people find an issue with every fucking thing’.

Which is why she should be applauded for speaking out about her abortion, both in interview and in a song on The Pinkprint:

‘It’d be contradictory if I said I wasn’t pro-choice. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t have anything to offer a child’.

But how did the media react to Minaj’s open, honest admittance of having an abortion (and knowing it was the right decision for her)?

‘Nope, we can’t cope with that. We’ll have to make out like she wishes she’d chosen the delights of teen motherhood over her insanely successful career as Hip-Hop’s Killer Diva’.

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Instead of Minaj’s statements being left alone to stand for themselves (as they should), the headlines took all the autonomy out of her statements and twisted her words into anti-choice propaganda. Now, why would they want to do that?

Because the anti-choice movement will use any means possible to prove abortion is bad for women.

Minaj’s case, like many others, has been taken up by the anti-choice movement – with the mainstream media along for the ride – to demonstrate that women will not only feel reticent about the circumstances of their unwanted or accidental pregnancy (eg. Minaj was a teenage girl with an older boyfriend), but that they will feel genuine regret about aborting the baby and wish they had kept it.

I can’t say it any better than Ms. writer Amanda Marcotte already has: