“WAP,” an acronym for something I cannot print in a school newspaper. We all know it, but not all of us love it. The song by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion has been a hit with its crude lyrics and provocative dance that has taken over TikTok. I personally think this song is a bop and it has made its way to my Car Jams playlist on Spotify.

I see it as a song for the girls after years of a male-dominated music genre but other people do not like the shift that has occurred. Instead of talking about a man having intercourse with all the women he can, Cardi and Megan decided to take the reins and create a female-driven song and music video. They changed the image of hip hop and rap videos featuring a male lead with several bikini-clad ladies behind him and made it new.

They showed women it’s okay for them to be powerful and make their ambitions known. I see this song as a step in the right direction for ladies in the rap genre. So, why are people so mad? The better question is why are men mad about the song?

Male rap artists have many hit songs about having sex and making money but now that two ladies are putting out a song with the same ideals, it’s a bad thing. This is a two-way street — women have been shown and sung about like objects for far too long.

Most of you have probably heard the famously conservative Ben Shapiro’s rendition of the song. He found a lot of problems with the song and its many innuendos. He got so upset that people were making fun of him that he made more comments and worsened the situation, on his part at least. He went on to say his wife gave the women involved a differential diagnosis of three vaginal diseases.

It is quite humorous and a bit sad for his wife at least. Ben Shapiro is someone I loathe so I think most of what comes out of his mouth is ridiculous. Even if I am biased, I hope other people can see the absurdity of what Shapiro said. Once he got roasted like a chestnut at Christmas time, his only comeback was trying to convince people that a WAP is a medical condition.

Clearly, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion exaggerated when discussing their need for a bucket and a mop. Of course, Shapiro is not the only person outraged over the song, with parents trying to pick a fight with the female stars. I see their problems with the song. The lyrics are dirty and even the “clean” version feels far from clean, but there is a simple solution: don’t let the kids listen to the song.

The world is not a bubble and there are things that are not necessarily kid-friendly everywhere. Protect them from the things you don’t want them to see, but don’t feel like you can require the R-rated songs and movies to be banned. Everyone needs to sit down, keep quiet and let “WAP” be a song that makes women feel empowered about the ways they choose to express themselves.