Saturday, June 6, 2009

WAOD and Essence Magazine Part Three

ESSENCE’s “New Normal” ain’t “Normal”–Part III of Why You Should Burn the June 2009 Issue of ESSENCE magazine
June 3rd, 2009 — Uncategorized
This is the last in our three part series “Why You Should Burn the June 2009 Issue of ESSENCE magazine”. (Read Part I and Part II)

I’ve repeatedly stated that there is a war on Black women; a battle to devour us mind, body and soul for the sole purpose of profit and power. We are in a sense to some people a “consumable” good. our purpose, as they see it, is to make THEIR lives better and in our community, our “leadership” organizations hand out lifetime achievement awards to those who have perfected the art of devouring Black women and girls. But how do you convince a group of sentient beings to allow themselves to survive for the sole purpose of being consumed? Psychological warfare.
Our bodies are “preserved” for future consumption, yet we’re so brainwashed we dare not object to someone attaching themselves to our aortas and draining the life from us over time. In a sense, as I’ve stated from the very beginning, we have psychological warheads aimed at our minds, bodies, and souls.

If you believe that instruments of mass media have the ability to be just as destructive as live ordinance, then the June 2009 issue of ESSENCE magazine is a daisy cutter. You should burn the June 2009 issue of ESSENCE magazine because the theme of the issue isn’t SEX, the theme of the issue is that Black women are powerless. Its about convincing you that your exploitation and degradation is the “new normal.”

The New Normal
We’ve already pointed out the OBVIOUS malice and contempt for their audience by suggesting that Black women go trolling for dates in strip clubs because, to quote the article’s author:
That’s a lot more action than they’ve had in a while.Charrea Jackson
We’ve called them out for publishing the self-serving rant of a violent criminal who blames Black women for his intentional violent acts against the, but perhaps the most SINISTER ( no, I am not being my usual hyperbolic self) article in the entire issue is The Body Shop on page 110.
First of all you should know that “The Body Shop” is touted in the table of contents and on the cover of the magazine as a guide to make Black men scream your name. What it ends up being is anti-Black woman propaganda of the worst sort because its destructive impact is cloaked in the respectability of “helping Black women.’ It takes the most dysfunctionally needy Black women you can find and the most oxygen-deprived Black men alive and mixes it all together with a side of a couple of quotes from Tracey D. Sharpley-Whiting, Phd and voila, we have a “new normal.” The article is written by Demetria L. Lucas.

It included unscientific studies about the prevailing view of African American men.
We polled twenty and thirty something Black men to see what they were expecting in the bedroom and heard similar responses.

She doesn’t mention the sample size or whether they even left ESSENCE headquarters to find Black men. She quotes Aaron, a 31 year old idiot who should go play on a busy freeway blindfolded during rush hour. Who offers this advice expectation to women:
“She can study a couple of pornography films on her own and try to learn some skills via imitation.” [as opposed to him telling her what he wants]
We are then introduced to Maxwell, 33, who is an absolute waste of organic matter. Maxwell, according to the author is outraged at the idea that a woman may not perform oral sex to his satisfaction and then throws this tidbit out there:

“A woman should be committed to the act. That’s the only way she’s going from wifey to wife”
As if you are some great prize Maxwell. No woman should EVER consider marrying this man. He will abuse you. He’s got narcissistic abuser written all over him. Demetria Lucas then goes trolling for additional opinions from self-serving Black men to support her thesis.
She introduces us to the wisdom of a FAILED magazine editor, Jermaine Hall. Hall was was so terrible at his job- his magazine no longer exists. That is likely the case because he appears to be an idiot. Why else would he publicly declare that Jessica Rabbit, a White cartoon character was the prototype for his magazine’s cover models. I guess he never heard of Sara Baartman.


Oh and we can’t leave out 31 year old Brandon:
"I won’t be serious with any woman if I feel she has a flat butt."

I mean Black men should be more outraged than Black women about this article. She went and found the most ignorant Black men she could find to offer their opinion. The article exclusively relies on the opinions of men who no woman, Black or otherwise, should maintain any sort of relationship.


Mix that with the prevalence of video models with protruding breasts and gigantic backsides who are redefining Black beauty standards and , ladies we may have a really big problem Demetria L. Lucas, Page 111

Um who took the national survey of Black America to declare this to be so? If you only talk to KING magazine readers, then are you RE-defining Black beauty OR promoting the previously held viewpoint and representing it as a new paradigm?

If you do an article about the housing crisis and you only interview sub prime lenders and a representative from the National Association of Realtors, don’t be surprised if the article ends up being anti-consumer.

The article also features the stories of two Black women and “one woman of color”. The first woman introduced, “Brown” is taking a sex education class and practicing fellatio on a banana. She does so because one of her boyfriends in her 20s was verbally abusive and told her “Your head game is not on point.” ESSENCE could have at least brought back Dr. Gwendolyn Golsby Grant to tell readers that this was a form of verbal abuse. this manchild is responsible for his own needs and this statement was likely the result of his own sexual insecurity and immaturity.
But instead, Lucas ends the story with a quote from the woman indicating that now that she went to sex ed class, she’s snagged a new man. . . who will likely go on to abuse her because of the cloud of desperation floating about her. Lucas quips she” has found self-acceptance by kissing, ahem, bananas.” That’s not my take. Brown’s entire self worth is tied up in the whims of men. If this man (the current boyfriend )tells her he’s unhappy, then she’s back to feeling worthless and unacceptable again.

We then are introduced to Maldanado who is of unspecified ethnic origin. It matters only because Lucas pointed that out. Maldanado is engaged in self mutilation, but Lucase doesn’t call it that. Maldonado is getting illegal injections of foreign matter into her buttocks. Maldonado is doing so to look more like the women in music videos because “Now, that’s what ethnic men like.” Then Lucas comes back around to confirm Maldonado’s rant with references to unspecified studies and repeats that there is a new Black beauty standard. According to who? the rantings of a woman getting injections in her rear end in a strip mall next to a KFC?
Last we have a married woman who is taking pole dancing classes because she saw it on Oprah, so that makes it “normal.” I’ll stop there, but in summary,under ESSENCE’s new normal
Black women are objects
Our sole purpose in life is to cater to Black men
Even if those men are abusive
Even if those men are idiotic
Even if those men are sexually incompetent
Even if those men should go play on a busy highway blindfolded during rush hour.
Under ESSENCE’s “new normal,” the definition of what makes a woman marriage material is now defined by pornography producers, failed magazine publishers, and women with a demonstrable lack of common sense and self- esteem.

There was once a “normal” that said that the sun rotated around the earth. In fact they burned people alive for saying otherwise. There was once a “normal” that said that if you said too far to the west, you’ll fall right off the side of the ocean because the earth is flat. There was once a normal that said it was legal in this country to own other human beings. There was once a “normal” that said that women should not have the right to vote. There was once a normal that said Black people had to sit at the back of the bus, enter through the back door, drink at the Black water fountain, stay at the Black hotel, attend the sorely underfunded Black school, and hold Black jobs. So its important to speak out when folks are attempting to impose new normals the “normal” might not be in society’s best interest.Sanctimony as a Substitute for Doing SomethingSo why do a three part series on a magazine that none of my readers actually read? Because foolishness must be called out. Foolishness cannot be ignored or it will spread like Desmond Hatchett’s little swimmers. This writer is attempting to impose a new paradigm on Black women that is not in out best interests and is doing so based on questionable reasoning and that should be confronted.

I found those of you who touted the fact that YOU stopped reading ESSENCE magazine X years ago particularly tiring because this isn’t about YOU. YOU get it. YOU have some semblance of media literacy. YOU instantly recognized that Anonymous, who crowed about intentionally infecting Black women with Herpes, was a violent criminal. YOU instantly recognized that suggesting women head the strip clubs was complete and utter foolishness. You get it, but the blog isn’t called What About You or What About Me.

The response to some of you points to why at times our community appears to be in a death spiral of chicanery and foolishness. Those who have destructive values, like those quoted in this article, boldly put their values on display. They are proud of their values. They set their values to music. Make movies about their values, publish magazine’s touting their values. While Black folks who know better sit back and do nothing more than say “Well IIIIII am not engaged in foolishness!” as if that is enough.

You’re going to be okay. I’m going to be okay. This isn’t about you or me! You assume that because you’re okay, your daughters will be okay. As if the world doesn’t need to devour them in order to survive. As if your personal value system is going to be a hedge around future generations of Black women and girls, while the Regime is waging war for their minds bodies and souls with the help of magazines like this June issue. If you can’t do anything else, you ought to at least be able to open up your mouth and speak and say “Hey this is some foolishness!”
For those apologizing and “rationalizing” by saying ESSENCE is just like Cosmo or Glamour, I disagree. Neither one of those magazines, as far as I know, hosts a young women’s leadership conference or a conference about Women Shaping the World. In other words, they know better than this MESS!

I’m done!
http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/

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