Megan Thee Stallion views her own strength as a blessing and a curse. In a new Rolling Stone interview, the 27-year-old rapper shared that she views her strength as an asset, but that it makes people inconsiderate in how they treat her.
Megan Thee Stallion on the pressure to be strong
It’s no secret that Megan has been through some tough experiences. She lost her father at the age of 15, and her mother and grandmother passed away just two weeks apart in 2019. Then, in 2020, she was the victim of a shooting that left her with bullet fragments in her feet, reports Rolling Stone. She’s since been at the centre of a legal battle with the alleged shooter and has faced online ridicule about the incident.
“In some kind of way I became the villain,” said Megan of the shooting to Rolling Stone. “And I don’t know if people don’t take it seriously because I seem strong. I wonder if it’s because of the way I look. Is it because I’m not light enough? Is it that I’m not white enough? Am I not the shape? The height? Because I’m not petite? Do I not seem like I’m worth being treated like a woman?”
Megan brings up important points about the way society often treats Black women. Many are harmed by the “strong Black woman” stereotype, the belief that Black women are always resilient in the face of hardship, as Chrissy King previously reported for Shape. The stereotype has the ability to do more harm than good. In fact, a 2019 study found that women who internalise the “strong Black woman” schema are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and loneliness noted King. Researchers behind the study theorise this is because those who are impacted by this mindset are more likely to postpone caring for themselves, suppress their emotions, and prioritise taking care of others.
“I’m trying every day to get through it and be good,” Megan told Rolling Stone, referring to online hate. “But I don’t want them to see me cry. I don’t want them to know that I feel like this, because I don’t want them to feel like, ‘Oh, I got you. I’m breaking you.’”
This dichotomy between wanting to seem strong and having emotions is something Megan explores in her new music, specifically a track called “Gift and Curse,” according to Rolling Stone. “I can take care of myself,” she explained to the publication. “I’m so emotionally strong. I’m so independent, However, being strong is both a “gift” and a “curse,” she said. “It makes things get kind of lonely sometimes. Everybody’s kind of like, ‘Well, you good. You got it. I ain’t messing with you.’ So I feel like it makes people treat me not as delicate as I would like them to.”
Megan’s recent comments are an important reminder that, while strength is certainly an asset, everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and compassion — no matter what they look like.
This story first appeared on www.shape.com
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