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Archive for the ‘Black Women’s Improvement Project (BWIP)’ Category
On Why Your Ethnicity Doesn’t Automatically Make You “Right”
If you don’t already know this, there is a factoid I would like to share with you: You don’t get to tell other people what to do with their thoughts and feelings just because you happen to have something in common. That thing in common may be that you share the same ethnic group or are also an ethnic minority. Whatever it is, that small item does not entitle you to step on a soapbox and speak for all “persons of color, no matter their shade, language, culture and situation in life.”
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Shutting Up About Black Men (Part 3)
And here is the promised final part to a rather touchy subject. Just like how not everyone may have agreed with the observations made in the first two parts (here and here, for those who missed it), there is likely to be controversy over what follows. Note: You are perfectly within your right to agree to disagree. (Let’s just let’s all please keep it civil and on topic. No derailing or attempts to shut down discussion!)
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Black Woman’s Bill of Rights: Pride
Pride is “feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired”. Pride only becomes evil when it becomes excessive. The sin of pride; the deadly sin that is vanity.
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‘Harleyq2′: The Mammy Stereotype Gone Too Far
“Why is this mammy saying so prevalent and why are some black women assuming that the entire world view them that way?”
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‘Swirling’ Guilt Can Cause Sisters to Soldier On…
We’ve done little discussions about the “reluctant swirler.” But you probably know this girl as well as I do. She probably dated intra-racially her entire dating life, but just so happened to find a rainbeau that she really, really liked…a lot. They date a while and maybe they get married. But in the back of her mind, she feels a dreaded, secret guilt, one that she can’t share with her significant other, nor anyone else.
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Why Media Representations of Black Women Still Matter (And Always Will)
When black women are consistently portrayed in the media as being overweight (to an even greater extent than what they actually are), as Mammy, as Sapphire, as Jezebel, as the neck-snappin’-finger-poppin’ chick who loves to fight, please understand that these images are created with a purpose and with the consent of thousands of advertisers who are making money off of promoting ‘safe’ stereotypes of black women.
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BB&W Exclusive: Cher Smith’s Weight Loss Transformation
“Look ladies…The ‘You Go Gurl’ crew is determined to co-sign us right into a life of loneliness, despair and early grave. Black women…I want you to be at your prime, in tip-top shape. Someone who doesn’t care would not take the time out to share these things. Please examine the spirit behind ‘You Go Gurl’ factions. This notorious group is interchangeable and can be comprised of any gender, sex, political affiliation or religious background. These are the people who have an interest in maintaining a certain hierarchy.”
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Feeling Green? Six Tips to Help Get Over Jealousy
When St. Patrick’s Day rolls around, you just can’t escape green. Even if you don’t wear it (and want to risk getting pinched), it’s still everywhere from store windows to menu specials to parades on TV. But that’s okay—on March 17th, green is good. “Irish†green is associated with happiness, celebrations, shamrocks, and the Emerald Isle. Too bad that’s not the case the other 364 days of the year!
According to Todd Patkin, most of us normally experience green in a much more negative way: through envy. And that’s definitely not a good thing.
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Time To Have A Conversation About The Connection Between Sex, Children and Responsibility
Marriage–of the legally and spiritually binding type–is the safest way to raise children here in America. I think it’s about time for Americans to ask themselves what do we need to do to make our marriages more like the kinds of marriages that Europeans are experiencing–even if the ‘marriage’ that Europeans are partaking of is not one that involves standing before a judge and pledging ’till death do us part’. Clearly, Europeans–and German’s in particular–know something we don’t know or have yet to acknowledge.
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Leona’s Love Quest Part III: Getting my Pretty On
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.â€- Miss Piggy, Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life
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Black Women And Self-Esteem: Do Black Women Have High Self-Esteem, or Are Researchers Just Asking The Wrong Questions?
I wonder if there is a mis-measurement of pride and self-esteem–due to cultural misunderstanding–being reflected in the surveys that say black women have higher self-esteem than other women.
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Toni: Beware of Female “Lifestyle” Sabateurs!
“Critical reading and thinking means not just looking at what is said, but understanding what it means, and how best to apply what knowledge has been provided.”
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Should We Strive To Raise Elite Black Girls?
As I devoured the pages Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, I had a pseudo-divine revelation…I’M NOT CRAZY NOR A DESPOT IN AN APRON.
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Definitely not your mama’s relationship book…
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