With an innocent comment about how Halle Berry is off, SJ inspired me to write about Halle, Lauryn and the challenges of being an adult Black woman dealing with their men sh*t in public. My response is that she isn't any more off than any other woman to a greater or lesser extent.
Then the conversation got good.
He began to speak on how Halle represents an americanized Black mans standard of Black female beauty and she still couldn't keep Eric Benet tight. Of course. I got livid. The inner feminist got riled. Women get together and break up with dudes all the time. White hollywood women do it, me and my girls do it, so why should Halle be married to another standard?
Yes, she is visible and a standard of beauty in many quarters which places her on a pedestal, but Eric, Wesley, David, put her through some sh*t the same way men have put US through some. Trill talk.
My rational was that, with regard to Eric, his career was poppin', but not like hers and he was a allegedly a sex addict. Trust me. You want to ruin a relationship. Let one of the partners be addicted to something. Come to think about it, there is also the presumption that Wesley and or David assualted her with physical violence so you KNOW something was wrong with her. Implicit in that statement is the presumption that a womans beauty should insulate her from being beaten. And if your partner is assaulting you that some how YOU are culpable.
And a lot of people, a lot of Black people, have been on some old "Halle look good and still can't keep a man"as if being attractive can help you KEEP someone.
You can only KEEP someone who WANTS to be kept. <<
Which brings me to Lauryn. I never liked the Fugees. I just didn't like her. Partially, cuz I was a nappy and a b-girl, so people just expected that I would. Plus rockin' the natural before it was being showcased in Essence every month caused some aches in m.dot's newly nappy pioneering heart. So I was like nah, Im cool. Plus at the time, I was crazy conservative with regard to what I thought was appropriate levels of skin that a Black Woman should be showing in public as an entertainer. Clearly, that has changed.
With regard to Lauryn and Rohan, it is really easy to be dismissive of her having her babies, embracing that career while putting the other one with Sony on hold.
Bear in mind that this is a culture that resents mothers and is so f*cking ambivalent about mommas with careers that its criminal.
Ms. L. can have her babies. Sing her concerts at Wingate field. Tease us with Fugee reunions all she wants. She grown and she somebodies momma.
Just like Outkast, we will never get the old version of them back. And honestly its selfish. Selfish because it doesn't take into consideration that artists break us off something and then move on. Can't be asking n*ggas for albums from 15 years ago. Thats a wrap.
Can Halle and Lauryn live?
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Why are people so rough on L?
Why so much resentment for how she handled her career?
Why the hate for Halle and her white dude?
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