Last night I got the chance to observe one heck of a social experiment-me and the other half spent the evening watching VH1’s “VH1 Soul” program, a presentation of music videos in the Soul, Neo-Soul, R&B, Hip Hop and Reggae/Dancehall genres. It was a very nice mix of older/classic songs w/newer hits.
What struck me after roughly a half hour of viewing, was that nearly all the videos had something in common-Anthony Hamilton’s “Ain’t Nobody Worryin’” was a notable exception-
ALL of the videos featured very lightskinned, long flaxen haired, and “White Woman thin” Women.
It cut across genres and periods-Jodeci, Blackstreet, Eric Benet, Bilal, Trey Songz, Fabulous, R. Kelly, Buju Banton, Beenie Man & Akon, Shabba Ranks, Shaggy, Guru, Usher, Jadakiss-they all had, as their video’s “love interests” Women who looked a heck of a lot closer to Beyonce’, Mariah Carey, than Angie Stone or Missy Elliot.
Of course, this topic is nothing new, not only to the Black community, but to the American community at large-in the American pecking order of beauty and desirability, Black Women-and by that its implicitly and sometimes explicitly meant Black Women like Stone and Elliot-tend to come, if not in dead last place, not that far from it. Even *these* ladies’ videos had the “Beyonce’ Girl” in them, if not several.
Those of us who understand Game know well, that in Nature, Males display and *Females choose*. For most guys, most of the time, this is how it works, and they have little, if any, say in the matter. And this can and often does go for guys who, one would think, *would have some say, given their relative status*.
So, these music videos are quite instructive, for a number of reasons, but perhaps the most important, is because they provide a window onto the *choice of Black Men when they have the ability to choose*. And by and large, if these videos are any indication at all, the verdict is in as to what kinds of Women they deem as hot…and which ones they deem as not.
I guess in personal terms, that makes me that much more an outlier. Though I’ve never been attracted to Missy Elliot in the least, I’ve always had a thing for Angie Stone, and when watching the video she did w/Guru, felt that she was the most attractive Women in the whole thing, the “plot” of which was centered around a rent party. Jennifer Hudson and Jill Scott come in as strong faves for me too, but then I love Black Women as they actually are seen on the block, on Sunday Morning, on the bus or train-w/big booty, big lips, nappy hair, and that kind of “soul” that-no disrespect to my Sisters from Other Mothers-you just don’t get from White, or Asian, or heck, many Hispanic Women.
Still, last night’s video viewing proves a powerful point when one considers the meta-message, if you will-and explains a heck of a lot of what we see.
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The Obsidian
