Site Presented By
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
It's kind of stupid for you to be suggesting that people where I live out in suburbia ditch their cars and start walking everywhere. It would be fabulous if I were living in an urban area, but out here there's no public transportation, and to get to the freaking stores it's about five miles each way. Great, I'd still be able to walk or bike that distance on a nice day perhaps, but what about commuting to your job, for chrissake? That's the problem with suburbia. Without even trying to exercise, I've been much leaner in the past when I lived in cities (though I still work hard to get exercise). Please try to use some logic and refrain from the stupid statements. And I still think that as a guest here, you are a rigid-minded person with not particularly intelligent ideas about fixing the problems you see around, I'm not particularly impressed with the fact that you pay taxes here (I used to live abroad too--it didn't lead me to feel I had the right to make flippant, unhelpful remarks about the local society), and I tend to doubt that you are out in the fields working with the other immigrants, who really do perform a useful function here. So most of the immigrants can stay. The invitation for you to leave is still open.
Most of what I have to say on this subject has already been posted by my fellow readers.
Deb. D. learn the difference between being fat and having a fat ass. And according to the new BMI measurements, more than half this country, including athletes in the best of shape are deemed "overweight."
That is certainly not to say that Americans in general (not just black women) have weight problems. That is a fact. We are all fatter and so are our kids.
But sorry, honey. Buffie is not fat.
As usual you reveal your judgmental and ugly personality by admitting to harassing your co-workers about what they eat. As already mentioned, why am I not surprised that you would be THAT type of person.
To sum it up, it seems you hate fat people as much as you hate black people, so what chance in hell does a fat, black woman have?
Just shut it, Deb.
Just Google-imaged Ms. Dickerson.
She looks quite lovely to me.
This is not surprising coming from Dickerson. She always seems to raise decent points, but her unbalanced, inflammatory style writing prevents her from really exploring them with any type of credibility.
There is a perception that many black women strive for
"thickness" as an attribute that attracts black men. "Shockingly," here are some real societal, cultural, and scientific issues that undermine Dickerson's analysis.
1. Eating right often, but not always, requires additional time, effort and money. Some stats still show that black households have a significantly lower annual income than white households. You don't see many Wild Oats or Whole Foods in black neighborhoods, and (anecdotally at least), the supermarkets in black neighborhoods offer lower quality produce at higher prices than stores in "majority" neighborhoods. And, of course, McDonald's is quick, easy and cheap.
2. The definitions of "obesity" and health are very fluid. People with acceptable BMIs can be less healthy than people with less acceptable BMIs. Fat is fat, overweight is overweight, true enough, but what we consider healthy is not always dependent on gender. Which is why Buffy the Body could be healthier than, say, Kate Bosworth.
3. The theory that all black men love "thick" women is true to a degree, but overblown. Many Black men would prefer women who can keep a healthy shape, particularly after birthing kids. I'm a single black man, so I know this to be true. Just like all men, many brothers see a fine line between shapely and out of shape.
4. Don't think a lot of sisters (or women in general) don't want a ripped guy too. Dickerson implies that. Even big and beautiful sisters like Jill Scott and Angie Stone don't have any large cats in their videos. D'Angelo, Tyrese, Denzel, Genuwine, Chris Brown, Usher et al set the bar pretty high for us. The image thing can cut both ways.
Regardless of all this, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease are no joke. This is why Dickerson makes a decent point for the first time in months. The dating/mating game shouldn't put us at risk heathwise, whether it's a woman trying to maintain "thickness" . . . or a woman who develops bulimia to stay thin.
Ms. Dickerson is reacting to lyrics she doesn't explicitly quote, and I thought they might be helpful to the conversation:
I'm tired of magazines
Sayin' flat butts are the thing
Take the average black man and ask him that
She gotta pack much back
So, fellas! (Yeah!) Fellas! (Yeah!)
Has your girlfriend got the butt? (Hell yeah!)
Tell 'em to shake it! (Shake it!) Shake it! (Shake it!)
Shake that healthy butt!
Baby got back!
"Baby Got Back" -- Sir Mix-A-Lot
--------------
In speaking specifically of one example's "diet" to get said back "[Buffie] eats nothing but junk food and sugary drinks, and she doesn't work out." Dickerson is pointing out that eating like that isn't "healthy" as suggested by the song. I think we can agree on that point. How one's body happens to carry fat isn't really the issue. A subculture making fat -- or any kind of unhealthy relationship to food for that matter -- a fetish is.
Trace Adkins, White representative to the Sir Mix-a-Lot Caucus:
Now Honey, you can't blame her
For what her mama gave her
You ain't gotta hate her
For workin' that money-maker
Band shuts down at two
But we're hangin' out till three
We hate to see her go
But love to watch her leave
With that honky tonk badonkadonk
Keepin' perfect rhythm
Make ya wanna swing along
Got it goin' on
Like Donkey Kong
And whoo-wee
Shut my mouth, slap your grandma
There outta be a law
Get the Sheriff on the phone
Lord have mercy, how's she even get them britches on
With that honky tonk badonkadonk
(Ooh, that's what I'm talkin' bout right there, honey)
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
