Real Talk: Is Fat the New Black?

I cringed reading the Sunday New York Times article, “Black Women And Fat” by Alice Randall. To be fair, the entire article is not cringe-worthy. Randall is a Black woman “battling” to loose weight, and as she advocates “doing better,” she’s adopted a healthy living plan that includes Zumba workouts in her living room and an eating plan for her family that excludes sugar and salt. Her changed lifestyle is one that all overweight women of any color would do well to abide by.

Where I took issue though was Randall’s justification for why Black women are fat. Four out of five “middle-age” Black women are “seriously” overweight, according to Randall, and she points to a Black male preference for women that weigh over 200 pounds and Black women’s obesity as a political statement for the reasons why. I take issue with that because it’s just not true.

Sure, most Black men appreciate curves – thick thighs, ample breasts, wide hips and a rotund posterior. By the reigning mainstream standards, women with the curves that our culture appreciates would be considered “fat,” and there’s a valid argument to be made that given a firm build and a trim waistline that they shouldn’t be. But let’s be realistic: the vast majority of Black women who are pushing 200 pounds or are over it, are probably overweight and at minimum, a little unhealthy. Two-hundred-plus pounds isn’t exactly fitting with the “brick house” ideal that Rick James crooned of, with a “winning hand” of 36-24-36 measurements.

I’ve interviewed thousands of men about topics pertaining to women in my near-decade long career as a dating and relationships expert, and while I often hear an appreciation of curves, guys are very specific in drawing the line between curvaceous and fat, which a woman likely is if she’s topping the scales at 200-plus. When asked, Black men often list “in shape,” “works out” and is “conscientious of her health” in their top five of their ideal woman, i.e., she’s not fat. Trying to justify a health-impairing weight as “Black men like it” isn’t just inaccurate, it’s co-signing a life of diabetes, heart disease, and possibly, an early death. I just can’t get with that.

Let’s also be clear on this: there are multiple reasons Black women are overweight — from unhealthy eating habits passed down through the generations to lack of exercise to being uneducated about what “healthy” actually is to “food deserts” where convenient access to healthy food is hard to come by. But our fat – not our curves — is not a political statement, rallying against a “Twiggy”-like boyish frame. Thick thighs and a trim waist? Fine, I’m convinced. But the elevated numbers on two-thirds of Black women's scales, isn’t Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists on an Olympic podium, Malcolm X on a megaphone, or “We Shall Overcome” on the Washington, D.C. Mall. It's fat, that's all — more calories in than expended out.

Demetria L. Lucas the author of A Belle in Brooklyn: The Go-to Girl for Advice on Living Your Best Single Life in stores now. Follow her on Twitter at @abelleinbk

Common....make up your minds...Small, Medium or Large???  We are all Beautiful!

What's your opinion?  "Is FAT the NEW Black for Women?"   Yes or No????  Leave a Comment....Your views are important to us @best3concepts!

Stronger With Each Tear

This was posted originally on February 8, 2010...and still remains true!  

Many were once Mary J. Blige fans a long time ago, with her meaningful songs such as “Be Without You.” The song always reminds me of good memories and just can’t help but to sing along with it.  Those good old memories have since pass and now are filled with disappointment and anger.  Her latest album “Stronger with Each Tear” just did not meet the music expectations that many of her fans have put on her.

This album is just another marketing strategy to gain short-term profits. First, why would you want to collaborate with a rapper or a R&B artist that does things differently from you? As it shows, their lyrics and music career are based on more club enjoyment and one hit success while you have been singing from inspired music lyrics and notes with a mission to lift up a person hope. To be direct, both of you are just from two different parts of universe.

Not only that, from the collaboration with this type of artists shows that you are indirectly supporting what they are rapping or singing. Before this, most loyal listeners would view Mary J. Blige as a superwomen that could help fight human rights form your powerful and meaningful songs especially women issues such as domestic violence.  Unfortunately, from this album it has shown the total opposite of that.

To prove this, just try listening to singles such as “We Got Hood Love” and “The One.” Both songs do not have much motivational and inspirational lyrics rather than just songs about putting your “swagger” style.
The album also lacks of quality collaboration from strong artists such as Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys and many more.
 
Not one artist featured in her album is considered a great artist. They are only featured because of their sudden hype or the current “hot thing” in today music community. It is time, the Mary J. Blige start to hold the responsibility and role model towards her title “The Queen of Hip Hop Soul” or risk being snatch away by other artists that are striving to create much better and powerful music.

Other billboard artist managed to stay true to their artwork despite the constant changing music scene such as Alicia Keys.  It’s time Blige learned a thing or two from her.

Vintage Vamp: Josephine Baker

Flapper fever has officially swept the Essence.com offices. From super-short, spit-curled haircuts to wide-eyed, heavily lashed eyes, we're so into the hair and beauty trends made popular by 1920s-era jazz babies. Needless to say, we're obsessed with the original Jazz Baby herself, Josephine Baker (or "Le Baker," as she was christened by her fawning French fans).

Born Freda Josephine McDonald in 1906, the beautiful teen made her way from the St. Louis slums to New York City, where she began dancing on Broadway and at The Plantation club. She definitely drew a crowd with her vaudeville antics and saucy choreography, but it wasn't until she moved to Paris in 1925 that she became a legend. As a headliner at Folies Bergères, Baker performed her wildly risque Danse Sauvage, wearing no more than a skirt made of bananas--and European audiences fell in love, declaring her the most beautiful woman in Paris (the sad irony is that, in her home country, Blacks were barely considered worthy of basic human rights, let alone considered beautiful).




Josephine Baker broke barriers, made her own rules, and set trends. In the '20s, there wasn't a woman alive--Black or White--who didn't want to copy her glossy, spit-curled crop. Back then, spit curls were created by, literally, applying spit to a section of hair, winding it into a pin curl, and then allowing it to dry.

Read more: http://www.essence.com