Uh, I totally disagree with your assumption that I don't think black sexuality is allowed as opposed to white sexuality. I'm not even white. I used Rihanna as an example because I consider her to be one of the most famous pop stars in the world. I feel the same way about her that I do about Britney Spears.

When this was written way back in 2010, and this was written in April, it stated she identifies as female. Whenever I read about her, she is referred to as a "she". That being said, some sources say she identifies as male while simultaneously being referred to as a "she", so maybe this is confusing but I don't think…

That's exactly what I mean, though. It's very clear in our list of celebrities who is being sold based on a manufactured sexy image and who isn't. I'm not picking on Rihanna because she's the only one, she just came to mind because she's the first one that I thought of. She's possibly the most famous pop artist…

A man who identifies as a woman. Are we going to argue about whether or not a transgender person is allowed to be identified as a woman, now? Because that's an entirely different conversation.

...but you never hear people complaining about that, maybe because she's a nice white lady that covers up.

Thanks for the article, good read. Miley and Katy are indeed good examples, I just picked Rihanna because I had that Planet Money article in mind.

If you think I'm picking only on Rihanna and not the other shitty/mediocre singers out there who sell themselves based on their image and not their talent, you're wrong. Especially Lana Del Rey.. Jesus Christ, she's the fucking worst. If she weren't beautiful I seriously doubt anyone would have paid any attention to…

I think there's a difference between playing a role on a tv show and playing a role as a celebrity, but that's another discussion.

No joke, that story pissed me off hard.. lol Not because I didn't know that this was happening, but for it to be so transparent and people STILL buy into it? Grinds my gears, I tell ya.

Exactly!

I agree, I'm not cool with calling other women whores. I'm just not against criticizing the way they market themselves.

I don't even know her motives besides making money. All of her acts are written for her!

I'm not down with women calling each other whores, either. I'm just not against people criticizing each other's (very public) choices when it comes to marketing themselves.

I'm not a big fan of Beyonce either, but I think she's a good singer. The difference between the two is that Rihanna is not even a very good singer. Judging solely based on her talent as a singer, she is mediocre. She is famous because she is selling a highly marketable sexual image, not because she's a good musician.

Not at all. She totally has a mind of her own, but that doesn't mean we see it in her music or her videos because she doesn't write any of them. All of it is written for her. She's an actress. You want a black woman who expresses herself sexually without the control of someone else? You have plenty of other options.…

Woah, no. This has nothing to do with her being black. There are about a million black women out there with control over their image. Rihanna is not one of them. She's another Britney Spears. There is no difference between the way their careers are handled. Rihanna doesn't write her music, she doesn't design her…

It's possible, but I don't think it's true at all. Considering the fact that it costs over a million dollars to to write/record/promote just ONE of her songs speaks strongly against what she's promoting. She has no creative control over her image or her music. The only control she seems to have is when she isn't…

Same here! I didn't believe the description when it said the movie was funny, but it really was in the most respectful way imaginable.

Rihanna's entire "empowered woman" image is completely manufactured. I really wanted to believe it was real, but the truth is that she is the willing puppet of others created to make tons of money.

No, I agree with you. I'm not on-board with saying that every time we criticize another woman we are "slut shaming". Some of it is slut shaming, sure. When you accuse a woman who has sex for her own reasons a slut, you're slut shaming. But when you accuse a woman of selling overly commercialized sexual images to get…