‘The People vs Janelle Monae’: In Defense of Black Bodily Autonomy

Essence posted a clip on Instagram of Janelle Monae showing her breast during her performance at Essence Fest. I commented in support of Janelle, and all hell broke loose.

Janelle Monae performing at Essence Fest 2023; Image via Getty Images

Occasionally, I “step in some shit”  on social media. And by “step in some shit,” I mean that every now and then I will comment or respond to a hot-button conversation, and my comment gets met with hundreds of replies that fall somewhere on the spectrum of “brilliant analysis” to “you’re a moron that needs to deactivate your account, then go jump in a bed of fire ants.”

Yesterday was one of those instances.

Essence posted a reel on Instagram of singer/actor, Janelle Monae performing on the first night of the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture that whipped their followers into a frenzy. In the clip, Janelle lifted her bikini style, showing her almost bare left breast, while singing the lyric ‘You cannot police me, so get off my areola’ off her hit song, “Yoga.”

Janelle, who recently dropped her sexual and fantasy-driven album “The Age of Pleasure,” has been on a bit of a boob-flashing run as of late while promoting the album which is centered around themes of body autonomy, sexual fluidity, and in her words being “a free ass motherfucka.”

“The Age of Pleasure” album cover; Image via jmonae.com

Janelle’s comfort in her/their presentation and sexuality has not sat well with many Black folks, and many of them made their objections to her freedom loud (and, for some, ignorantly clear) in the comments on the Essence post.

After sitting back for a minute and scrolling through comments that either body-shamed Janelle, called her antics a publicity stunt, questioned her mental health, and declared how she “needed Jesus,” I decided to chime in as one of the few alternative perspectives being expressed.

And when I did, I absolutely stepped in some shit.