In August of 2023, Daystar Peterson –more commonly known as Tory Lanez –a popular rapper and singer was sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting former friend and prominent female rapper Megan Thee Stallion in July of 2020[1]. The incident became a topic of public discourse as fans of the artists either celebrated, or were angered by the news. In particular, fans of Lanez, began victim-blaming as well as doubting Megan and her experience. The trial soon became a prime example of a much broader societal issue — the tendency to trivialize and overshadow the lived experiences of black women.
Black women have endured centuries of oppression ranging from slavery to modern-day systemic racism and misogyny. The intersection between their race and gender compounds their challenges, and they often have to go above and beyond to reach the success of their white counterparts, as well as their male ones. Because of this, society often perpetuates the harmful stereotype that the black woman is inadvertently strong and resilient also known as the “superwoman persona”.
Although this may not seem like an inherently negative stereotype, it often leads to the dismissal of the black woman’s vulnerability and a sense of obligation to suppress her feelings — both emotional and physical. This happens not only because black women have been pressured to uphold the narrative, but also out of fear of not being taken seriously for their pain[2].
Once the trial reached the internet, the victim-blaming instantly began. On Instagram Live, Megan explained how she, her friend, Lanez, and his bodyguard got into an argument the night of the shooting. Once things got heated she left the car, and moments later Lanez shot her foot through the window teasing her to “dance” as he did so[3].
Once Megan shared her story, fans of Lanez tried to find ways to justify what he did to protest the 10 year sentence. One common accusation was that Megan must have hit him first, making the shot simply self-defense tactic. They also justified it by saying that by shooting Megan in the foot rather than a vital organ, she had not been put in a significant amount of danger and that Lanez wanted nothing more than to scare Megan. This blatantly ignores the amount of trauma Megan went through, as well as his willingness to play with the lives of everyone in the vehicle at the time.
Megan admitted that when the cops were initially called to the scene, she was not honest about what had happened and instead told them she had stepped on glass. She stated, “All this s**t going on with the police … I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want the police to shoot me cause there’s a n**** with a gun in the car with me” [4].
Whilst dealing with the excruciating pain of having just been shot, she had to consider the reality that as a black woman dealing with the corrupted police system, the officers were not going to care for her or take her seriously the way they would if she looked different. Instead, she had to put her pain aside to protect herself, while also feeling an obligation to protect Lanez, who at the end of the day, was a drunk Black man with a weapon making him susceptible to police brutality. The constant portrayal of the strong black woman along with harmful stereotypes about black people being dangerous and their lives being worth less, have made it so that even those who are supposed to protect us, become selective in who they protect, and as a result the marginalized have become completely isolated in all of their pain.
Black women’s pain has been disregarded for centuries and the media continues to feed into this harmful narrative day by day. This is why it is imperative for the media — ranging from fans to industry professionals, — to challenge harmful narratives and stand in solidarity with Black women who courageously speak out.
[1] New York Times. “Here’s What to Know About Tory Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion”. Joe Coscarelli, Julia Jacobs. Aug 9, 2023.
[2] Vulture. “How the “Strong Black Woman” Identity Both Helps and Hurts”. Kara Manke. Dec 9, 2019
[3] New York Times. “Here’s What to Know About Tory Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion”. Joe Coscarelli, Julia Jacobs. Aug 9, 2023.
[4] Vulture. “Everything We Know About the Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez Shooting Trial”. Victoria Bekiempis, Zoe Haylock. Sept 14, 2023
