Bad Bunny: A Contemporary Latinx Activist
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Abstract
Oppressive and hostile values of sexism, racism, and homophobia remain active within the Latinx community: values resulting from a continued history of U.S. imperialistic practices. This research explores the resistance against these values within the Latinx community through Reggaetón. I focus this work on Bad Bunny (also known as Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio), an increasingly influential and popular Reggaetonero from Puerto Rico. Using a feminist approach to textual and media analysis, I demonstrate how Bad Bunny is engaging in politicization, gender-play, and cultural resistance to challenge and dismantle the oppressive themes of citizenship, white privilege, and gender/sexuality hostility that maintain the prejudiced perceptions of race, gender, and sexuality within the immediate Latinx community as well as society as a whole. With the increasing academic attention to Reggaetón and its unique potential to serve as a global means of resistance, this investigation is an important contribution to the growing body of scholarly work seeking to outline the significance of Reggaetón to Latinx activism, praxis, and community.