Did you see the 2014 BET Awards last night. I sort of did. I watched a good chunk of it but the anger, irritation, and appall within me rose to an unsafe level causing me to shut off the television. Maybe because I don't watch TV or listen to mainstream music was the reason I was so taken aback, enraged, and repulsed by the celebratory debauchery I witnessed.
It's curious how black people could complain about the negative way we're portrayed in culture and treated in society when we so vehemently promote that degrading stereotype when given the chance to reframe it. Often times, the only idea other ethnicity have of black people is the one they receive from mainstream media, and while there is reason to believe the media's depiction of black people has an agenda achieving underbelly, we are responsible for being the refreshing change we we would like to see.
So often we hear mentally blinded people cheering over all the progress our nation has made, and how it is such an achievement to see black people on television. I beg to differ. In most cases, when a black person is on television he is either stupid, conniving, drowned in emotional baggage, or branded with some other undesired adjective. How is this progress, to see our people on TV behaving in the way other ethnicity already expect us to? Blacks feel good because now they have a lot of money, completely missing the fact that the gold chain around their neck is just that, a chain, a symbol of their willful imprisonment.
They mentioned Jesus more than a few times on the awards last night, and a woman sang a gospel song somewhere in the middle of profanity laced, basically naked women gyrating as a man in dark sunglasses sang about big booties and alcohol. Ironically, this same man later mentioned how grateful he was to Jesus for his award, right in the middle of his participation in modern day Sodom and Gomorrah show.
One of the main events of the evening was the Civil Rights presentation wherein a slide show depicting black s being thrown on the ground, a white woman using the "n word" and other dark memories that shouldn't be focused on during a positive, celebratory event was played on the big screen. It was a not so sleuth way for the non black owners of BET to make sure the unsuspecting, materialistic, idolatry invested "celebrities" in the room didn't forget their place. In hindsight, it is actually funny how they showed all those dark scenes and used the n word and all the black people in the room didn't even notice that the joke was on them. Chris Rock made unfunny jokes, where many of his colleagues served as the punchline.
It was all very disgusting.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
shame on skinny shaming
“Someone get that
girl a burger.”
“Dude, you look anorexic.”
“Oh my gosh, you’re so skinny, I hate you.”
For some reason, when someone is thin, they automatically
become an acceptable subject for public ridicule. I mean, sure you don’t know
the slightest thing about them or their life but due to their mostly universally
appealing figure, it is perfectly fine to unabashedly hurl insults, express “genuine concern” for their wellbeing,
or blatantly tell them that you hate them. Furthermore, the skinny person is
overreacting, or suffering from “privileged people problems” when offended by
such banter because duh, they are skinny, absent of body fat and apparently of
feelings.
Basically every facet of media is dominated by weight loss
advertising. There are bunches of
liposuctioned, gastro bypassed celebs on TV swearing by programs and pills,
incessant surgery based spots in between songs on the radio, and that gross
.gif on the internet where the chick’s stomach repeatedly expands and shrinks
enticing you to click and discover the ultimate diet secret no one wants you to
know. To save you time and face, I’ll go ahead and reveal that the biggest
secret is that there is no secret. Eat healthily, exercise regularly, and you
too can experience shameless mockery.
Some skinny people are naturally that way, they eat whatever
and whenever they want yet their inherent metabolism keeps the scales from
tipping. A lot of thin people though, are health conscious, active people that
have adapted healthy eating habits in order to achieve and maintain the slim
figure many look at with feigned disdain. Admittedly, it can be initially
difficult to eat right and exercise. But learning how to read wasn’t effortless
at first, yet you didn’t give up, did you? And over time it became a natural
part of your being. Establishing a healthy lifestyle works the same way.
Instead of hating all over the result of someone’s disciplined lifestyle, why
not be inspired by it? At least that’s productive, and kind of takes off the
evil, yet socially acceptable, skinny shaming label you’ve subscribed to.
Everyone has “fat days”, everyone, whether it is the result
of a food/booze baby or the monthly visitor that assures you are not having
one. However, skinny people are attacked for feeling fat. “Shut up, you’re not
allowed to complain!” or “Oh my gosh, if you think you’re fat, what do you
think of me?!” While people with higher BMIs can go on incessantly about how
fat they are amidst Big Mac inhalation, the thin crowd must silently harbor
their mutual, body discomfort. Just because a larger person’s fat day happens
to occur on a daily basis should not afford them exclusive rights to body
concern expression. What if the thin
person in question really does have an eating disorder? Though many have already
assumed they do. While good old
Hollywood portrays anorexia as glamorous, in truth, it is not. It has a lot more to do with how a person feels
than what they look like; it is also a deadly mental disorder, not a casual supposition.
Fat has become an abhorrent swear word, it is surprising
it’s not bleeped out on the radio. Call a skinny person sick, conceited, or
gross all day but the moment someone even whispers that a fat person is indeed
fat, their morality is questioned. How dare you? You don’t know their life! She
could have a health issue! It does not make any sense how referring to a fat
person as fat is obscene. I mean, they
are fat, like… isn’t that what it’s called? Of course there are dozens of truly
negative words one can call a fat
person, but declaring their true bodily state is not one of them. However, that
toothpick, prepubescent looking, little never eating thing over there should
just laugh and shrug off the truly derogatory statements made toward her.
Everyone claims to be so turned off by racial, sexual
orientation, and gender prejudice. However, when it comes to body weight, a
universally unanimous theme, a blind eye is turned to the common cruelty and
hypocrisy it entails. Next time you see a thin person, keep in mind that they
may have already had a burger, one made with whole ingredients and not obtained
from a paper bag passed through their car window.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)