The world has been watching the ongoing beef between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, and has a lot of feelings about it. Onlookers have taken sides and made their allegiances clear on social media, vigilantly trolling comment sections on Instagram and elongating threads on Twitter. I know, because I’ve taken part, too. The tension between these two women has cracked open conversations about the wrongs committed against women in hip-hop. Even those who aren’t invested the feud at all — including those— seem to have have settled on the position that the very fact that these two are going at it is a failure in itself. A quick search foron Twitter will reveal how respectability has manifested itself in the debate between the “Queen” and the “Trap Selena.” However, as their conflict spreads from the confines of recording studios, many of these perspectives — perhaps even mine — are misguided. If you didn’t learn some of the unwritten codes governing how this disagreement has played out, it’s much easier to condemn Cardi and Nicki for succumbing to petty drama.