“Big, lovely honies, you rule the world… You ain’t ‘a big girl’; you just ‘a girl’… They jealous, so give ‘em more to hate… You workin’ with a lot, but you handle that weight…” -Ise Lyfe, “Thigh Bone”, Prince Cometh
Because America is such a melting pot of ethnicities, beliefs, religions, and cultures, we have no definite ethnicity, belief, religion, or culture. Other cultures seem to have standards when it comes to beauty, but we tether back and forth between “definitions” of beauty, connected by a string that leads nowhere. One could travel around the world and collect portraits of beauty per country: brass rings to elongate the neck, feet bound to the tiniest size, red lipstick and powdered skin, alabaster skin never touched by the sun, bronzed tans and curvaceous bodies, dreadlocks and ebony skin… the list is never-ending. And we Americans stick out like a giraffe amongst horses in these countries for the mere fact that we look “different”. And by “different”, I mean confused and unsure of ourselves.
“Make-up don’t make you who you wanna be… It’s just Maybelline…” –Future, “Before My Time (Back To The Future)”, SpitPersonality
We don’t know what beauty is. Every new season, magazines and media tell us what colors, styles, hairdos, accessories, and the like are “in”. And many of us are so quick to dive right into the pool of conformity despite the fact that we don’t even like Ugg boots, neon jewelry or skinny jeans.
The truth is that no matter how much we’d like to believe it, these material things don’t make us beautiful. We ARE beautiful: in action, word, and deed. That’s why the “ugliest” dudes get the “hottest” chicks and why “celebrities” who are usually spackled over with stereotypes get the “ugly” stamp when they journey forth without their masks: because at the end of the day, confidence and admirable attributes are what’s important and the more we cover up our true selves to create false images, the more our true selves will be shunned. And it’s not because our natural selves aren’t attractive. It’s because we intentionally tell people, “This is me. Love me for me,” then we turn around and strip ourselves of the height (heels), weight (type/size of clothing), shape (push-up bras, corsets, and butt pads), pigment (tans), flawlessness (foundation), smoothness (shaving, plucking, waxing), length and texture (relaxers, texturizers, extensions, wigs), color (contacts, lipstick, mascara, blush), and other forms of illusions (nails, body spray, muscle shirts, slimming pants) and expect to be accepted after such a quick, yet drastic transformation.
Remember that episode of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” where Will (Will Smith) and his date Kathleen (Tisha Campbell-Martin) were trapped in the basement during an earthquake? By the end of the night, Kathleen had removed her hair, snapped off her nails, and put her eye color in her purse. A dazed Will had sat with her weave disheveled upon his head, singing:
“I’m stuck in a basement, sitting on a tricycle, girl getting on my nerves… I’m going outta my mind. I thought she was fine. Don’t know if her body is hers…”
Nobody appreciates being lied to…
Though we have these things to “enhance” ourselves, one should not forget just that: they are to highlight, not mask, what’s already there. A tree is just as beautiful bare as it is bedecked in lights and ornaments. Some would say it’s more majestic in the forest than beside the fireplace.
We should think of ourselves as more radiant without the decorations. Maybe then we would stop striving to reach a bar of beauty that has not even been set. Maybe then the American standard of beauty would be the fact that we are so magnificently diverse instead of a quest to be dolls that companies can dress up and accessorize. Our spectrum of shades, shapes, and sizes should be celebrated; not cellophaned and repackaged to be sold back to us. We should proudly exhibit what we see unclothed and unmasked even while robed. No greater spectacle exists than beauty as nature intended…
***Below, find several quotes that speak on beauty in unique ways. Though they didn’t make it into the actual article, I would like you to think about the singular and collective message that they emit. I encourage you to seek quotes, poems, songs, and images that exhibit beauty in truth and complexity…
“My only desire is that this beautiful sister find time to remind herself of just how fine… she is… just as… she is… even in the aftermath of birthing a few kids…”
-13 of Nazareth, “Optionz”, Lovelutionary: Th Xprntl Gdspl
“The images of womanhood that cover the silver screen carry her one step closer to depression one stereotype at a time in intervals of five minutes, so every five minutes she’s found in front of the mirror only to be reminded of areas on her body that need improvement. Says that her thighs are ‘too big’… Claims that her eyes are ‘too small’… Says that she’ll need to be in the gym all night, everyday for the rest of her life just to make sure that her waist looks right before she’s on her deathbed… And I tell her that I love her just the way that she is… but, she don’t care what I say or what the rest have said… Refusing to believe that she already carries with her the beauty of a sunrise… Says that she hates to see the sun rise because the sunlight exposes all of her faults… and I’m starting to believe that it might be my fault…”
–Rudy Francisco, “Untitled”, University Avenue
“I’m in love with your girly traits… I’m in with your curves, your face, your walk, your talk, your grace…” –Lyrical the Lyricist, “Never Blinked”, Traditional American Poetry
“Night queen of my night dreams and the sky is your crown. Your smile is my favorite sonnet and your kiss… your kiss tastes like it got angel on it… You… The light from your eyes so precise like you could slice through a laser beam, yet it’s light in your eyes like you’ve seen an angel’s dream… You […] And the air here is perfect… as you are in this moment… Perfect… You are perfect as you are… Natural star… You are what grown men cry about… and what poet’s write about… Sleeping beauty… Dreaming angel… Sleep in beauty… Dream in angel… You…” – Komplex, “Stardust”, “Grown Folks Bizness
***Lyrically Speaking-XIII
Written by: Ccep J. Dew, West Coast Editor
as published in eXcape the matriX magazine
www.eXcapethematriX.com
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Lyrically Speaking-XIII
“Big, lovely honies, you rule the world… You ain’t ‘a big girl’; you just ‘a girl’… They jealous, so give ‘em more to hate… You workin’ with a lot, but you handle that weight…” -Ise Lyfe, “Thigh Bone”, Prince Cometh
Because America is such a melting pot of ethnicities, beliefs, religions, and cultures, we have no definite ethnicity, belief, religion, or culture. Other cultures seem to have standards when it comes to beauty, but we tether back and forth between “definitions” of beauty, connected by a string that leads nowhere. One could travel around the world and collect portraits of beauty per country: brass rings to elongate the neck, feet bound to the tiniest size, red lipstick and powdered skin, alabaster skin never touched by the sun, bronzed tans and curvaceous bodies, dreadlocks and ebony skin… the list is never-ending. And we Americans stick out like a giraffe amongst horses in these countries for the mere fact that we look “different”. And by “different”, I mean confused and unsure of ourselves.
“Make-up don’t make you who you wanna be… It’s just Maybelline…” –Future, “Before My Time (Back To The Future)”, SpitPersonality
We don’t know what beauty is. Every new season, magazines and media tell us what colors, styles, hairdos, accessories, and the like are “in”. And many of us are so quick to dive right into the pool of conformity despite the fact that we don’t even like Ugg boots, neon jewelry or skinny jeans.
The truth is that no matter how much we’d like to believe it, these material things don’t make us beautiful. We ARE beautiful: in action, word, and deed. That’s why the “ugliest” dudes get the “hottest” chicks and why “celebrities” who are usually spackled over with stereotypes get the “ugly” stamp when they journey forth without their masks: because at the end of the day, confidence and admirable attributes are what’s important and the more we cover up our true selves to create false images, the more our true selves will be shunned. And it’s not because our natural selves aren’t attractive. It’s because we intentionally tell people, “This is me. Love me for me,” then we turn around and strip ourselves of the height (heels), weight (type/size of clothing), shape (push-up bras, corsets, and butt pads), pigment (tans), flawlessness (foundation), smoothness (shaving, plucking, waxing), length and texture (relaxers, texturizers, extensions, wigs), color (contacts, lipstick, mascara, blush), and other forms of illusions (nails, body spray, muscle shirts, slimming pants) and expect to be accepted after such a quick, yet drastic transformation.
Remember that episode of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” where Will (Will Smith) and his date Kathleen (Tisha Campbell-Martin) were trapped in the basement during an earthquake? By the end of the night, Kathleen had removed her hair, snapped off her nails, and put her eye color in her purse. A dazed Will had sat with her weave disheveled upon his head, singing:
“I’m stuck in a basement, sitting on a tricycle, girl getting on my nerves… I’m going outta my mind. I thought she was fine. Don’t know if her body is hers…”
Nobody appreciates being lied to…
Though we have these things to “enhance” ourselves, one should not forget just that: they are to highlight, not mask, what’s already there. A tree is just as beautiful bare as it is bedecked in lights and ornaments. Some would say it’s more majestic in the forest than beside the fireplace.
We should think of ourselves as more radiant without the decorations. Maybe then we would stop striving to reach a bar of beauty that has not even been set. Maybe then the American standard of beauty would be the fact that we are so magnificently diverse instead of a quest to be dolls that companies can dress up and accessorize. Our spectrum of shades, shapes, and sizes should be celebrated; not cellophaned and repackaged to be sold back to us. We should proudly exhibit what we see unclothed and unmasked even while robed. No greater spectacle exists than beauty as nature intended…
***Below, find several quotes that speak on beauty in unique ways. Though they didn’t make it into the actual article, I would like you to think about the singular and collective message that they emit. I encourage you to seek quotes, poems, songs, and images that exhibit beauty in truth and complexity…
“My only desire is that this beautiful sister find time to remind herself of just how fine… she is… just as… she is… even in the aftermath of birthing a few kids…”
-13 of Nazareth, “Optionz”, Lovelutionary: Th Xprntl Gdspl
“The images of womanhood that cover the silver screen carry her one step closer to depression one stereotype at a time in intervals of five minutes, so every five minutes she’s found in front of the mirror only to be reminded of areas on her body that need improvement. Says that her thighs are ‘too big’… Claims that her eyes are ‘too small’… Says that she’ll need to be in the gym all night, everyday for the rest of her life just to make sure that her waist looks right before she’s on her deathbed… And I tell her that I love her just the way that she is… but, she don’t care what I say or what the rest have said… Refusing to believe that she already carries with her the beauty of a sunrise… Says that she hates to see the sun rise because the sunlight exposes all of her faults… and I’m starting to believe that it might be my fault…”
–Rudy Francisco, “Untitled”, University Avenue
“I’m in love with your girly traits… I’m in with your curves, your face, your walk, your talk, your grace…” –Lyrical the Lyricist, “Never Blinked”, Traditional American Poetry
“Night queen of my night dreams and the sky is your crown. Your smile is my favorite sonnet and your kiss… your kiss tastes like it got angel on it… You… The light from your eyes so precise like you could slice through a laser beam, yet it’s light in your eyes like you’ve seen an angel’s dream… You […] And the air here is perfect… as you are in this moment… Perfect… You are perfect as you are… Natural star… You are what grown men cry about… and what poet’s write about… Sleeping beauty… Dreaming angel… Sleep in beauty… Dream in angel… You…” – Komplex, “Stardust”, “Grown Folks Bizness
***Lyrically Speaking-XIII
Written by: Ccep J. Dew, West Coast Editor
as published in eXcape the matriX magazine
www.eXcapethematriX.com
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