Ratchet feminism emerged in the United States from

hip hop culture Hip hop or hip-hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans, Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans in the Bronx, New York City. Hip hop culture is characterized by four key elements: rapping, DJing and turntablis ...

in the early 2000s, largely as a critique of, and a response to, respectability politics. It is distinct from

black feminism Black feminism is a philosophy that centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently valuable, that lack women'sliberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy." Race, gen ...

womanism Womanism is a social theory based on the history and everyday experiences of Black women. It seeks, according to womanist scholar Layli Maparyan (Phillips), to "restore the balance between people and the environment/nature and reconcil human l ...

, and hip hop feminism. Ratchet feminism coopts the derogatory term ( ratchet). Other terms used to describe this concept include ratchet womanism as used by Georgia Tech professor Joycelyn Wilson or ratchet radicalism used by Rutgers professor Brittney Cooper. Ratchet is an identity embraced by many millennials and

Gen Z Generation Z (or more commonly Gen Z for short), colloquially known as zoomers, is the Western demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birt ...

black women and girls. The idea of ratchetness as empowering, or of ratchet feminism, has been articulated by artists and celebrities like

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

, City Girls,

Amber Rose Amber Rose Levonchuck (born October 21, 1983) is an American model and television personality. She first gained attention after she appeared in the music video for Young Jeezy and Kanye West's single " Put On". In 2008, Rose began a high-profil ...

, and

Junglepussy Shayna McHayle (born October 31, 1991), known professionally by her stage name Junglepussy, is an American rapper and actress from New York City. Her first mixtape ''Satisfaction Guaranteed'' was released in 2014. She has received recognition fro ...

, scholars like Brittney Cooper and Mikki Kendall, and through events like Amber Rose's SlutWalk.

History

Ratchet definition

The slang term ratchet first emerged in the hip hop community in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1999 with the release of the song " Do the Ratchet" by Anthony Mandigo. This was also published as The term made its way into the mainstream through popular 2000s hip hop songs such as

Lil Boosie Torence Ivy Hatch (born November 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Boosie BadAzz or simply Boosie (formerly Lil Boosie), is an American rapper. Hatch began rapping in the 1990s as a member of the hip hop collective Concentration Camp, ev ...

's 2004 remix of " Do tha Ratchet." The term was often used to describe the lifestyles of black, inner city youth. The term ratchet became a popular term for women who were deemed hood, ghetto, or loud. In 2017, University of Georgia professor Bettina L. Love wrote that the word was "messy, meaning it has no straightforward definition; it is contradictory, fluid, precarious, agentive, and oftentimes intentionally inappropriate."

Ratchet feminism

Ratchet feminism, ratchet womanism, ratchet radicalism, and even hood feminism began to appear in the scholarship of hip hop feminist scholars in the early 2000s. Ratchet feminism comes out of the black feminist/womanist tradition and is closely related to hip hop feminism and hood feminism. Rutgers professor Brittney Cooper describes it as "a refusal of female vulnerability." In 2020, the '' Journal of Hip Hop Studies'' published a special issue titled Twenty-First Century B.I.T.C.H. Frameworks: Hip Hop Feminism Comes of Age. The editors and contributors of the issue theorize ratchet feminism and provide an outline of the scholarly conversations around ratchet feminism. According to Elizabeth Fielder, ratchet feminism (radicalism) is a form of activism that may often be seen as inappropriate or "over the top."

Derogatory meaning

Several scholars have argued that ratchet as an empowering practice for poor women of color reveals a "shadowy" underground feminism in creating an alternative performance space for black women. There is still a negative meaning attached for many black women, as the term mainly targets them. "There's an emotional violence and meanness attached to being ratchet, particularly pertaining to women of color," says ''

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'' editor

Michaela Angela Davis Michaela Angela Davis is a writer on African-American style, race, gender and hip-hop culture in the United States. She is also a fashion expert and an "image activist." Early life Michaela Angela Davis was born on March 31, 1964, in Landshut, ...

Reclamation of the term

Although the term ''ratchet'' has had a negative connotation for many decades, in recent years the term has been reclaimed and its meaning recast by not only African-American people, but specifically African-American women. It has been used in songs such as "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion and "Rumors" by

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After college she ...

and Cardi B. The word ''ratchet'' has been used by celebrity women of color globally. These artists include Megan Thee Stallion, Lizzo, Cardi B, City Girls, Taraji P. Henson, and Spain's

La Zowi Zoe Jeanneau Canto (born 10 April 1993), also known as La Zowi, is a Spanish trap musician. Biography La Zowi was born in Paris, France and raised in Granada, Spain, although she has lived in diverse European cities such as Marseille, Londo ...

. In reference to

Tamar Braxton Tamar Estine Braxton (born March 17, 1977) is an American singer and television personality. Braxton began her career in 1990 as a founding member of The Braxtons, an R&B singing group formed with her sisters. The Braxtons released their debut ...

's reality show, Theri A. Pickens says that "ratchet" has also been seen as "a performative strategy that secures a liberatory space for black women." ''Ratchet'' has also used by white celebrities such as

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...

, who has been called out for acting "ratchet" and accused of appropriating black culture.

Conversations on the term

As of 2021 the term ratchet had many different definitions, and there was ongoing debate on what is considered ratchet. For some people, the word symbolizes empowerment among women. Rapper and TV personality Cardi B is often cited as an example of a celebrity criticized for being too "ratchet" but who chose to embrace the term. The term was also discussed during an episode of the PBS web series ''A Seat at the Table'' titled "Bougie, Ghetto and Ratchet? Stereotypes of Black Women." At the

University of Texas, Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Christen Smith Christen Smith (17 October 1785 – 22 September 1816) was an early 19th-century Norwegian physician, economist and naturalist, particularly botanist. He died, only 30 years old during a dramatic expedition to the Congo River in 1816, leaving a ...

from the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies created the blog "Redefining Ratchet" with students to encourage conversation on the term. One goal of the project was "to redefine the meaning, implication, and power of the term 'ratchet. Several scholars have also engaged in conversations around the performance of ratchet by black women in reality TV. Some scholars have also connected the image of the ratchet black woman to the sapphire or

angry black woman The angry black woman stereotype is a racial trope in American society and media that portrays Black American women as inherently ill-mannered and ill-tempered. Related concepts are the "Sapphire" or "Jezebel". Among stereotypes of groups wi ...

trope discussed by scholars like

Melissa Harris-Perry Melissa Victoria Harris-Perry (born October 2, 1973), formerly known as Melissa Victoria Harris-Lacewell, is an American writer, professor, television host, and political commentator with a focus on African-American politics. Harris-Perry hoste ...

and

Patricia Hill Collins Patricia Hill Collins (born May 1, 1948) is an American academic specializing in race, class, and gender. She is a distinguished university professor of sociology emerita at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is also the former head of ...

History

Ratchet definition

Ratchet feminism

Derogatory meaning

Reclamation of the term

Conversations on the term

See also

References

Further reading