In 2020, Billboard named Cardi B “Woman of the Year” due to her sexually charged song, “WAP.” As if that was not bad enough, this year she and Megan Thee Stallion performed simulated lesbian sex on screen at the Grammy’s. And we’re kidding if we think the young kiddos of America did not watch it.

Isn’t it interesting? While Mr. Potato Head is dangerous for children, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are here to empower your daughters.

These ladies are sure to instruct young girls on many ideals, like how less is more. And by less, we mean less clothing — Less clothing and less dignity (a la pornographic lyrics and dance moves). “Put it all out there, and you can rule the world.”

Granted. Cardi B is not contributing anything new from her “sex-positive” pedestal in the entertainment world. Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, the Jenner girls, Tik Tok celebrities, and so on have all contributed to the “strip down and shake your booty to get praise” mentality. Nonetheless, Cardi’s performance at the Grammy’s augments the question, how much more will we tolerate?

When we permit this kind of entertainment, we encourage the enslavement of women. Young girls are being told that reading Shakespeare is misogynistic and hurtful, but the one way they can be heard and get attention is if they take off all their clothes.

It might be argued that, “Feminism fights against this.”

No, it doesn’t. If “WAP” is a socially acceptable song, we are kidding to ourselves when we say that feminism is against female objectification. To further this point, consider how many young girls fill up their social media with promiscuous images. These girls have been manipulated into believing that they will receive more attention and esteem if they can strip down. Because that’s confidence.

The dirty minded men that feminists claim to abhor are eating this up. You don’t have to seek out the filthy stuff anymore. Open up a sweet little social media app and you’re basically in a porn candy store.

Women are not being liberated; women are being exploited. The reason why feminists allow this is because women are exploiting themselves; they just call it empowerment. Quite frankly, that’s what makes it all the more heartbreaking.

We have traded in our class and, more importantly, our values for shackles. But when we sell our dignity, we lose our sense of self-worth. While we celebrate this faux empowerment, we fail to encounter love and instead, beg for approval. “Somebody, please recognize value in me.” #LMP (like my picture) is a real hashtag.

I remember one night, I was talking to a young woman who admitted to never having a relationship. In referring to boys, all she could say was, “I just **** them. I haven’t really ever dated. I only go on dating apps to find some validation.”

This is where our modern empowerment has led us.

An apt description can be found in the words of Alice von Hildebrand: “Women lose their self-dignity and their respect for others. We fool around and have ‘fun’ with another human being who, in the end, we often despise. So then we throw ourselves away to another someone. There is no giving – there is only taking and performing. And if we can’t perform satisfactorily, we get dumped for someone else.”

There is no giving. There is only taking. When we live like that we cater to whomever just to get approval. At the end of the day, Alice von Hildebrand is right, we throw ourselves away.

Enough is Enough

The most powerful woman in the world is not any of the women previously listed. The most powerful woman in the world, and even National Geographic acknowledges this, is Mary, who is both Virgin and Mother. Ironic, considering how the world entices us with the antithesis of purity in an attempt to convince us that virtue and motherhood are bland.

Yet, Mary is not bland. She is incredible. Through her, our Savior entered the world. She is the Queen of Heaven and earth.
And, she is so beautiful. Real Beauty is never boring; only sin is boring. It’s always the same. But beauty is limitless, rejuvenating, and always made new.
It is because of Mary that we have no reason for despair; she is the woman of every year. She is the ultimate woman.

Satan wants us to forget what it means to be a woman. He wants us to turn away from Mary. He wants to confuse and corrupt women because he knows his demise will come from a woman: Mary, who is spotless and gentle. She will crush Satan’s head. In turn, the devil has a special abhorrence for gentle, loving women. He knows he’s no match for them.

We must free ourselves from the debauched sense of womanhood that the world sells us, and turn to Mary. We must be rebels with causes, upholding beauty, dressing with dignity, seeking virtue, and giving love.

We weren’t made to be enslaved. We were made for love. Are you ready to break free?