The concept of sectioning male and female artists off into different categories only reinforces the idea that men and women should be judged according to different standards. For example: debating if Nicki Minaj is a better rapper than Kendrick Lamar would be a much-welcomed shift from the media pitting Remy Ma and Minaj against each other this entire summer. That’s why MTV is eliminating its Best Male and Best Female categories and just making them, well, “Best” is a step in the right direction.
The 2017 VMAs (taking place on August 27) will be the first time the 33-year-old award show has gender-free categories. Regardless, the night looks like it’s set to be Kendrick Lamar’s. The rapper leads the pack with eight nominations, Katy Perry and The Weeknd following behind him with five nominations each.
Gender divisions are slowly falling away at award shows across the board. The Grammys made a move towards degendering its ceremony back in 2011 — but more in the interest of consolidation rather than combatting sexism. The Grammy committee cut over 31 categories in an effort to maintain “prestige,” combining low-submission categories like Best R&B Male Performance and Best R&B Female Performance into Best R&B Performance.
MTV also removed gendered categories from its Movie Awards last year. In May, Emma Watson took home Best Actor for her role in Beauty and the Beast and Millie Bobby Brown was awarded Best Actor in a TV Show for her beloved portrayal of Eleven in Stranger Things. “This audience actually doesn’t see male-female dividing lines,” Chris McCarthy, head of MTV, said before the ceremony. “So we said, ‘Let’s take that down.'”
It makes sense. Because don’t we all just want to be the best — no qualifiers?
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Text André-Naquian Wheeler
Image via Twiter