    
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 584
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 | | Posted on Friday, July 30, 2004 - 01:57 pm: | |
Moonsigns,
Please don’t stop now. Consider how generous your conversation has been thus far, I can hardly wait to read what you have to say that would make you feel inclined to preface such with a "I have strong opinions about this, however, will....keep silent--yea, keep silent" 
I do, however, I find your response to Thumper to be interesting. Do you choose NOT to tell your children they are beautiful at all? Or is it you choose not to do so simply as a counteraction to more negative circumstance/influences around them?
Either way, upon that, I think we may disagree. I DO believe that in the world we live in where are OUR children are incessantly pummeled via a myriad assaults to their will and self-confidence, it is important that we attempt to provide them with as much of a mental buffer as is possible. Thus, I use words/deeds help reinforce in my children a sense of themselves. And face it: For females, personal appearance can (to varying degrees) be a vital part of that formula of promoting good mental/emotional health.
That certainly does not mean that women should view the totality of who/what they are via what is reflected back to them in a full-length mirror. Still, you can NOT ‘rationalize’ or ‘educate’ away something that is so very basic to what being a living human being is all about. A female’s sense of her beauty is as important as anything else in life. And that should be respected and honored.
Moreover, I don’t think that Whites dictate ALL of what we think of beauty. Believe me, Black men and White men often have VERY DIFFERENT views about what is/isn’t ‘foine’. Thus, I don’t think we should discard the notion of the concept of beauty simply because Whites have often perpetuated biased, perverted notions of such.
I think that the issue is often about degree, moderation and variety. AI have no problem with glorifying White women in of itself. I just would rather not see it EVERYWHERE I go. But, again, the only way I can see that changing is if/when Blacks and other people of color can wrestle away or create equally potent versions of their own media. And, to some degree, this is already occurring in hip-hop, though often in what many of us would consider a particularly decorous manner. |