GettyR&B singer Erykah Badu has come under fire for supporting the New Zealand school that told teenage girls to lower skirts to knee level so as not to ‘distract’ male students.
The regulation was created in order to ‘keep girls safe, stop boys from getting ideas and create a good work environment for male staff’.
Wading head first into the row, Badu has found herself at the centre of bitter backlash for her Twitter rant on the subject, which spans 11 tweets.
There was an article ruling that high school girls lower their skirts so male teachers are not distracted. I agreed because…
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
…I am aware that we live in a sex l-driven society. It is everyone's, male and female's, responsibility to protect young ladies…
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
…one way to protect youth is to remind them we are all sexual in nature and as they grow and develop it is natural to attract men…
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
…it is not them who is doing anything wrong by being beautiful and attractive but with such imbalance in our society it is smart to be…
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
… aware and awake. Men and women both go thru cycles of arousal. Men automatically are attracted to women of child bearing age….
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
…I want my daughters to understand this. I want them to be themselves and wear what they like, yet be aware. Not ignore our differences…
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
Males should be taught to be responsible for their actions from childhood. It's not ok to "prey" on young women…
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
…But do I think it is unnatural for a heterosexual male 2b attracted to a young woman in a revealing skirt? No. I think it is his nature..
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
..Consequently, we must all be aware and responsible.
We must protect our young women. We must teach our young men…— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
…if I had a school I would make sure that the uniform skirt length was a nice knee length… It is fair to everyone…
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
…young women you are beautiful. Young men you are beautiful. Protect one another.
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 12, 2016
Unsurprisingly, the backlash over her controversial comments was pretty much immediate, almost more so than the initial reaction to the article she was tweeting about.
While few Twitter users agree with Badu, many have argued that the singer has defended men’s rights to be sexually attracted to young teenage girls, and others have accused her of defending rape culture and victim-blaming.
Erykah Badu just went on an entire rant about how men being attracted to young women is ok because "it is his nature," I'm so done.
— ebon (@tyriquex) April 12, 2016
I love erykah badu as much as the next person but what was said is definitely the type of mindset that perpetuates rape culture
— Jarred (@Jaysmitty7) April 12, 2016
Erykah Badu is literally entrenching heteronormativity, rape culture and ignorance right now, sobering reminder that we are all problematic.
— Decolonially Queer (@nigeltpatel) April 12, 2016
Good to see the rape culture and misogyny is alive and well in Erykah Badu's heart. Used to like you BYE https://t.co/Hzg3LB4pCf
— @canuckyoutoo (@canuckyoutoo) April 12, 2016
Did Erykah Badu just place the onus on female children, to prevent sexual misconduct in schools?
— Thugga Gooding, Jr. (@DearLeader10) April 11, 2016
Not much about celebrities surprises me anymore, but Erykah Badu subscribing to respectability politics hurts my soul.
— Victoria M. Walker (@VikkieNotVicky) April 12, 2016
@fatbellybella this is victim blaming. this is sexualizing young bodies. this is not allowing young girls to exist in their skin
— neutral evil (@alaynaself) April 12, 2016
Badu seems to not be phased by the backlash though, as she took to Twitter to hit back at some who accused her of advocating rape culture, and engaged with others who questioned and supported her opinions.
