This week, social media, the online community in general, and reality television fans were shocked as news of a XXX Tape featuring Mimi Faust broke. Mimi is a star on the very popular VH1 show “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta.”
Much discussion surrounding this news took place in the black community, with many coming down harshly on Ms. Faust. Unlike some similar tapes from other public figures who claim to have been unaware of the intimate festivities, it was said that Mimi and her boyfriend, (co-star) Nikko, knew what they were doing and were in talks to release this video with the prominent Vivid Entertainment. Some question Mimi’s motives and say this is a ploy to boost the ratings of the new season of Love and Hip Hop which will premiere in only a couple of weeks. Others had very vile things to say about Mimi for doing this as a mother of a child. Kim Kardashian for instance, is now a mother, but was not at the time of her popular sex tape, as that was released years before her daughter’s birth. So it was seen as an outrage that Mimi would do this with her daughter soon to be in school and able to Google any and everything surrounding her mother.
I do not want to debate whether this was a good idea. I think it wasn’t, but Mimi is a grown woman, everything was consensual and she will have to answer for it.
However, I do think it is important to discuss the double standards in the sex industry and in our conversations around sex in general. As soon as this news leaked, popular memes and hashtags poking fun at Mimi filled the online universe. While I laughed at many of them because of their obvious humor, I wanted to delve deeper and ask why women are always the ones receiving the biggest backlash from adult films – Whether they were leaked or planned? Of course, Kim Kardashian was the “insert-derogatory-term-here” and not Ray J, who was in the video with Kim as well. He was maybe the “lame boyfriend” at the worst. People always seem to mention the infamous tape when arguing over Kim’s career, but it rarely seems to come up when discussing Ray J’s. The same goes for Paris Hilton. She was called every demeaning name in the book and many questioned her morals and whether she should even be called a celebrity anymore. But how many of us even know the name of the guy in that tape? Yeah, I don’t either.
Now, an adult tape is reaching the black community, but may of the reactions are the same. Mimi has received the brunt of the backlash. The same derogatory names have been thrown her way with very little being said about her male partner Nikko Smith. Most of what I personally have seen attacking Nikko, is for trivial things like his “size” or “performance abilities.” However, the attacks on Mimi are much larger and philosophical. Her very motherhood is being questioned. Her ethics as a woman are criticized.
While sex tapes may not seem relevant to society at large, they are indicative of how we have conversations about sex. New terms like ‘THOT’ (“That hoe over there”) are almost always used to describe females. How many times do we use promiscuous to describe males in the entertainment industry? Miley Cyrus is trash for wearing skimpy clothes, but Miguel is a heralded R&B class act, even though he has simulated (pretty graphically) sex on stage? While I am a fan of both of the aforementioned stars, I would be inadequate as a commentator if I failed to mention the clear differences their sexes play in their image, as is the case with many in the public eye our nation as a whole.
The black community and everyone who has seen the pictures, clips, or even knows about this latest tape involving Ms. Faust, may not like her decision; But I challenge them to reconsider how we solely target women when situations like these arise. Males are just as involved, are also on camera, and should take some of the “flack” if “flack” is to be levied out at all.
