Lethia Cobbs's Open Salon Blog

Saldana as Simone and the Aesthetics of Sexuality

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:08:07 -0400

Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone? Why not? Mary J Blige was slated for the role but for unknown reasons, is no longer a part of this production. The noise in the blogosphere around this controversy is akin to a hive of agitated hornets. I will admit that I was flabbergasted too but then remembered how well Diana Ross portrayed Billie Holiday despite the initial reaction she faced. Still, this is not about Saldana’s talent as a singer or actress. The casting itself raises questions about beauty and sexuality. As the details about this film project have emerged, I can see why she was chosen over so many actors such as Pariah’s Adepero Oduye who is closer to the late Simone’s phenotype.

From what I have been able to gather from various search engines on this project, the unauthorized biography does not focus on the child prodigy Simone. It also does not focus on the real woman who was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties nor even the real woman whose compositions, “Four Women” and Mississippi Goddam!” were her signature songs because of their resonance with the Black experience. Instead, the film is based on a fictionalized romantic relationship between the late musician and her assistant Clifton Henderson from the autobiography “I Put a Spell On You.”

Had the film project focused on a Civil Rights activist, a composer, and a child prodigy, then an actress such as Adepero Oduye may have been chosen for this part. Since Simone is being sexualized in this film, Saldana will be the object of affection because African American women who look like Simone do not play love interest in most forms of visual media whether it is mainstream films, television, or the videos of rap stars. Simone was the epitome of “Black is Beautiful” for a short period of time but currently very few believe it and this includes and is especially true of African Americans.

Some will say that this is due to mainstream media’s focus on African American women whose looks are more biracial. Olympic competitor Lolo Jones who did not place in track during the 2012 Olympics in London leads every American track athlete in magazine covers despite athletes such as Sanya Richards-Ross’s winning a gold medal for the 400mm.

On television, shows such as “The Unit’s” Regina Taylor or “Grey’s Anatomy’s” Chandra Wilson whose characters are married do not in fact engage in sticky, sweaty sex scenes while their costars have been copulating throughout each series. It seems to suggest that the American audience does not want to see actresses who do not conform to People Magazine type beauty standards entangled with their onscreen husbands and lovers.

In most music videos produced or starring African American males , the women who receive the attention from the male protagonist resemble Halle Berry more than Viola Davis. In fact, one famous dark-skinned rapper has been rumored to say that he would never marry a dark-skinned woman despite fathering a dark-skinned child.

In the trailer for the documentary Dark Girls directed by Bill Duke & d. Channsin Berry , one of the interviewees admits that he does not want a dark-skinned girl because she would look “funny” beside him (he was light brown). There are exceptions to everything that I have written but the rule seems a lot more ubiquitous.

Production companies fund films in hopes of profiting which complicates this controversy because Saldana is also more well-known especially to a younger audience than most darker-hued actresses whose looks and acting chops may be better suited for the part. She does not need to sing i.e. (Angela Bassett lip syncing Tina Turner). In fact, Saldana’s familiarity could revive the music of a once celebrated social icon though it would be at the risk of erasing what was most significant about her.

It appears that Hollywood along with its U.S. audience whether African American or not cannot envision a woman whose features are not fine and whose skin resembles sable in a romantic, sexualized role. Of the two camps, only one has the financial backing to produce a film that will conflate history as aesthetics thus further complicating what future generations will think they know about Nina Simone.

The Ticking Time Bomb

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 19:08:09 -0400

As we sat listening to the grim prognosis of my mother’s breast cancer, the doctor asked, “Do you have any children?” After hearing my response, he went on to say that health insurance, no matter how excellent it is, does not take care of us nearly as well as our children as exemplified by my presence in the exam room. I have heard this before and that this, situation is the very reason why I should have children. This in fact should have transformed my biological clock into a ticking bomb… very quickly. It does not. But, I have to admit that my mother’s current health crisis does add a chill of apprehension about facing my own elderly years… alone. I am not the only one facing this dilemma.

Jane Gross’s article, “Alone in Illness, Seeking Steady Arm to Lean On” in many ways describes the future that is in store for me and as a result, I am a member of a nascent community of friends; some of whom do not have families. Let’s take the proverbial pen and draw the shifting demographics of America.

Currently, there are approximately 99.6 million unmarried people in the U.S. over the age of 18. Considering that this data begins at age 18, many who qualified for this data could marry at some point in their lives. As of now, one in five women has chosen not to reproduce and may or may not marry. Others may divorce and never remarry. The standard statistics for divorce in the U.S. is at 50%.

There are also a growing number of heterosexual married couples who have opted out of parenthood. And to add the final statistic, 70% of African American women, of which I am one, never marry. As Generation X ages, many of us will have to rely on a “mandala” of friends to get us through the tough times.

When I had orthoscopic surgery on my knee last year, it was my friend Margaret who drove me to and from the out-patient procedure along with “D” and various friends stopping by to check on me. On the emergency forms that are filled out in doctor’s offices and at work, I have left them blank because I am reluctant to place anyone in a position where they may have to make a life or death decision on my behalf. Legally, they cannot do much without some classification of our relationship since we are not blood related.

Plus, my experience in emergency situations has taught me that hospitals/doctors can choose to honor the wishes of adult children in their choices about their parent’s health but they can also choose to forgo family input. The exception is heterosexual legally married spouses and their minor children. All others outside of this narrow scope must appoint someone to have power of attorney over their health and/or financial matters.

Thus, friendships are relegated to the periphery while the nuclear family is considered the nexus of adult life even if your siblings or other kin live out of state or if you are an only child. In response to the doctor’s comment, I wanted to say:

I would not be able to care for my mother to this capacity if I had children. In addition, because my mother was diagnosed with Schizophrenia thirty years ago which is now compounded with dementia along with chemo-brain, she requires the attention that someone would give to a whole family! Thank God I don’t have other people to care for because someone would get kicked to the curve!

Over the years I have heard the entreating of a few friends, family, random people at large who have attempted to cajole, intimidate, scare, or manipulate me into looking for someone to marry and have children. I admit that I have not actively sought a companion with whom to journey into my golden years. As for children, I still do not desire them and I believe that it is ultimately selfish to have children as “insurance” against dying alone. I chose my path because I love my mother and she has always needed me in a way that most parents do not need their adult children. Moreover, I would not want to have a child of mine placed in my position, therefore my womb does not detonate.

Alternatives to Marriage Project. (n.d.). Statistics. http://www.unmarried.org/statistics.html

Gross, Jane. (2005). Alone in Illness, Seeking Steady Arm to Lean On. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/health/26alone.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Smith, J.,J. (2010). Real Reasons Why 70% of Black Women are Single. Black Star News.http://www.blackstarnews.com/news/125/ARTICLE/6191/2010-01-01.html

Wikipedia. (2012). Post Chemotherapy Cognitive Impairment [Chemo-Brain]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-chemotherapy_cognitive_impairment

I Believe a Student Loan Crisis is Coming to Your Town Soon

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:07:38 -0400

I grew up in South Central Los Angeles during the seventies and eighties and attended schools that were not known for their academic prowess. Nevertheless, the academic counselors, teachers, and adults around us believed that higher education was the answer to leaving the ‘hood’ and all of its vices. These same counselors and teachers already had tracked students who showed the potential to compete in higher education thus their attention went towards guiding those individuals towards the ivory tower. It wasn’t until I hit my mid-twenties and had worked a series of jobs that paid at or slightly above minimum wage that I decided to get a degree. I returned to school determined to get an education because the world of work had shown me that my situation would remain stagnant.

Fast forward into the present and I like so many Americans owe in student loans. I always expected to repay the loans however; I never expected to see the U.S. in its current financial crisis. Most of us who chose student loans did so with a complete and utter faith that employment could be found if we actively sought it and worked hard. We believed we would be able to live adequately while paying back our student loans and go forward in owning homes and starting families. Do most college students expect to become millionaires from attending college? No, but we did expect to be able to afford our basic necessities and a few of our desires.

The unemployment rate in the U.S. for college students with a bachelor’s degree as of February 2012 is at 8.1% which is up from 4.6% according to CNN Money.org. Many other individuals return to school to receive certification in a trade or enhance their academic credentials to boost their employability only to find themselves in a debt they cannot repay. Most student loans have a grace period of six months post-graduation to begin repayment while other loan services allow for deferment due to financial hardship. Some of us who are employed but struggling have attempted to contact the loan bureaus where the loans are administered to request a reduced payment only to be told that the payment (per month) must be in full and that the consequence of not following this is a 15% garnishment of one’s wages. In short, better to impoverish the borrowers and risk default than acknowledge that so many individuals are living paycheck to paycheck or are unemployed.

The vitriol from reading various online post regarding the looming student loan bubble place the blame squarely on the backs of students who were naive about what they had signed or worst yet, had chosen a major (almost anything in the liberal arts) that does not pay well. I am more culpable for choosing my major than for ignorance about the contents in the promissory note. But I must return to what I had been told in the formative years – go with my academic strengths. Math and science were subjects in which my grades demonstrated no future despite being tutored and receiving additional assistance. Instead, I was always strong in writing, reading, history, social studies, and similar subjects.

For now, I am working and am grateful for it. I also find my work rewarding which is an extra bonus when there are so many who cannot find jobs at all or hate where they work. Because of the way the U.S. is and continues to change, I do not know if I would recommend higher education to any young adult who shares my background. The reasons for signing on the dotted line vary but here is one reason that I believe applies to the borrowers especially first-time college graduates in the family: those of us who come from humble beginnings believed that education in the United States could and would help us pull ourselves upwards. America has failed its people - the people are not failures.

There is No Student Loan 'Crisis'By Tami Luhby @CNNMoney March 30, 2012: 4:17 PM EThttp://money.cnn.com/2012/03/30/news/economy/student-loans/index.htm

Look at that Fat Girl Move!... Slowly

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 12:06:32 -0400

In 2009, I became inspired from watching the Ironman competitions in Kona, Hawaii and decided to compete in a triathlon. I could barely swim and had never run before. And incidentally, I weighed 260 lbs. when I decided to stop watching and become a part of the action. I knew that I could not do a full triathlon which consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a full marathon of 26.2 miles. Instead, I found a local sprint triathlon and felt that the shorter distance was doable for a newly reformed couch potato. Herein was the dilemma; although I could see myself becoming athletic for the sake of accomplishing something outside of my comfort zone, most perceived my training as nothing more than an elaborate weight loss scheme.

I understand this perspective because I fit the physical stereotype of the fat Black woman. People with a BMI of 32 like me (regardless of their race) are at a higher risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and a whole milieu of other obesity-related diseases. In the reality of the skinny universe of mainstream living nothing else should motivate my desire to move except becoming a slender person. Alas, this was not the case. I was in graduate school when I decided to train for the triathlon but wanted a physical challenge to counter the redundancy of the school-work-home routine. I was also inspired by Jayne Williams whose books describe her experiences as a plus-size woman who chose to become athletic sans any specific emphasis on losing weight. Losing weight was not at the forefront of my desires but it seems that for nearly all who knew of my training, nothing else existed.

Whenever I told anyone that I was training for a sprint triathlon, I received comments along the lines of: You don’t have to do all that work, my friend lost weight after taking Product X … or Why are you doing this? or Why don’t you try an easier way to lose weight?… and, finally, the ultimate discourager: That’s unrealistic for someone your size. Others encouraged my pursuit because they saw it as a means of losing weight but whatever opinion I heard, it all had to do with weight loss. Within the general population of the United States there are 149.3 million adults ages 20 and older who are overweight or obese. Alongside that sobering statistic is the diet industry’s ubiquitous presence via advertisement guaranteeing that almost everyone is thinking about their waistline regardless of where they fall on the scale.

Did this influence me? Sure it did. Still, I could not juxtapose training and dieting because the very idea of it was overwhelming and would eventually have led to abandonment of the entire plan. In the end, I decided not to change what I ate and focused on training. I found I did have to adjust when I ate in conjunction with the training because some foods sabotaged the training session. I also chose to focus on accomplishing milestones such as becoming a better swimmer in the pool before swimming in open water. As for bike riding, I have owned bicycles all of my life because I love riding for pleasure. What I had to learn for the triathlon was competitive riding: to don biker shorts (without shame – yes, this was a milestone) and train with competitive riders despite the fact that I own a hybrid bicycle. Running was another challenge that had to be conquered. It was during a rowing class session that I learned how to run barefoot or rather, how to run on my toes which greatly decreased the shin splint issues that have tormented me all of my life. When I needed training advice (which was frequently) or where to buy equipment such as a wetsuit in my size, serendipity stepped in with the chance meeting with an experienced plus-size athlete who helped me navigate in the triathlon world.

In the end, I did lose some weight, gained muscle, friends, and a healthy respect for amateur athletes who push themselves to do more. Nevertheless, no one would ever mistake me for a gym rat. It was a period in which I learned to embrace my own body and its ability to do what so many people considered impossible.

American Heart Association/American Stroke Association http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@sop/@smd/documents/downloadable/ucm_319588.pdf Sprint

Triathlon. http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/sports-training/what-is-a-sprint-triathlon.html

Note: Sprint Triathlons can vary in length for each section.

Williams, Jayne. http://theslowfattriathlete.blogspot.com/