Should Black Women Keep a List for Dating Choices?

A black woman put a list of her dating requirements on my facebook page as part of a broader conversation some were having about black relationships and why they don't work.  I wonder what others think about this list and whether or not it's healthy to have a list like this in your quest for true love.  Here is the list:

 

I don't date men in jail
I don't date men with children
I don't date men who don't have a job
I don't date men who  are not career oriented
I don't date men who have a criminal history (it's called a background check and I highly recommend it)
I don't date men who carry guns
I don't date men who abuse drugs
I don't date men who are verbally or physically abusive to anything OR anyone
I don't date men who borrow money
I don't date men who reject education
I don't date men who can't cook and clean
I don't date men who can't cry
I don't date men who disrespect their mothers
I don't date men who worship their mothers
I don't date men who are still in love with his ex
I don't date men who are married
I don't date men who are separated
I don't date men who are legally separated
I don't date men in open relationships
I don't date men who have girlfriends
I don't date men who have a girlfriend
I don't date men who brag about taking care of their kids
I don't date men who don't take care of their kids
I don't date men who don't know how to get rid of an ex-girlfriend
I don't date men who are disrespectful to their ex-wives
I don't date men who refuse to take an AIDS test

Hip Hop Needs to grow up - Respect Black Women Please

The age of the Hoochie Mama is over

by Dr. Boyce Watkins | TheLoop21 in Culture & Society

It's time for hip hop, and its audience, to grow up.

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Lola Adesioye: Are Black Women Victims of a Bad Dating Situation?

by Lola Adesioye, Huffington Post

Over the past few months, black women and their relationships - or should I say, lack thereof - have been getting a lot of attention. The Washington Posthas done a couple of features on it. Then ABC'sNightline did a show asking why there are so many single black women.

All of a sudden the mainstream media is taking a keen interest in our love lives. We are being told that there is a 'crisis' amongst black women, particularly educated professional women, who are apparently unable to find a 'decent' black man.

Last night, ABC continued once again, with the airing of "Why Can't a Successful Black Woman Find a Man?," a taped discussion featuring Hill Harper, Steve Harvey, The View's Sherri Shepherd and others.

There's no doubt that it's a topic that sparks heated debates and discussions amongst black women and men. It has for years. But is it really that bad? Or is the media - now that it has found a hot topic - exploiting this issue for all that it's worth? I'm an educated black woman and I personally have no problem with meeting eligible, educated, great black men. Whether or not I choose to date them is another thing, but they are out there.

I am somewhat perturbed by the slew of stories on this topic. They are negative, unhelpful and only serve to perpetuate negative ideas about black men and women which often become self-fullfiling. They basically say 'oh, poor black women. They try so hard yet can't find a decent man ... Boo hoo, black women are victims. Ooh, it's all the fault of those pathetic black men. You know, they have no education or are locked up in jail.' Sorry, but I do not subscribe to that view.

 

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Black Love, Black Sex and HIV

It's a warm summer night. A young man sits on the corner of Broadway and 12th Street in downtown Oakland sipping from a bottle of Hennessey. Bored and looking for a sexual fling with no strings attached, the young man dials up The Biosphere, a popular social networking tool that anyone with access to a phone can use to meet people in their area. It's basically a party line for random hookups and one-time sexual encounters.
As soon as he gets through, he hears the disclaimer that The Biosphere is not responsible for any actions or consequences that may result from meeting someone online. An hour later, the young man finds himself in the company of a complete stranger -- names don't matter since they're probably all made up. Besides, the odds are against the two of them making a love connection. Ten minutes in, they're engaged in some extremely risky behavior.
The young man is only 17, a senior in high school, from a good home, and curious about exploring his sexuality.

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Black Barbies Come Out – What do you think?

Grace, Kara and Trichelle were created to fill a void for young black girls who for so long have been playing with dolls that don't look like them.

Stacy McBride-Irby, creator of the new Barbie, poses with the dolls.

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The new black Barbies released by Mattel have fuller lips, curlier hair and other features that the company says more accurately represent African-American women.

Some have cheered the new dolls. Others jeered them, saying they're not black enough.

"I love the black Barbie. It's about time," Jua Simpson said on CNN's iReport, a user-generated news community. "But the hair is still a step backwards, since most of our hair is not straight and light brown."

Others disagree with critics who say the dolls should have had more natural black hairstyles, such as afros or braids.

"Many people have criticized the dolls for either having hair that's too long or too straight, but I have long, straight hair that I straightened. But it's my hair and a part of me," said Tanisa Zoe Samuel, an African-American iReporter from the Turks and Caicos, in the Caribbean. "Black women come in all shades, shapes and varieties that there is just no way to capture everyone with three dolls." iReport.com: Samuel shares her thoughts on the new Barbie

The dolls were created by Stacy McBride-Irby, an African-American who watched her daughter play with dolls and wanted to create a doll that looked more like her.

 

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All About Swingers and Sex Clubs

by Nicole Spence

So I was on the way to school talking on the phone with one of my girlfriends. I brought up a previous conversation that I had with my friend Jack. Just recently Jack invited me to go with him to check out this Sex club in Brooklyn. Jack knows damn well that I won’t be partaking in any of the reckless behavior, but we both figured it would be juicy material for me to write about, if I wasn’t such a damn fraidy cat, and I actually had the balls to enter such a place. 
The crazy shit is nasty people are everywhere, as I’m walking and chit chatting to my surprise this clean cut black guy over hears my conversation. As I attempt to cross the street he stops me. Now I’m thinking “ Oh you want my number?” But No! He tells me “ I didn’t mean to over hear your conversation, but I did. My girlfriend and I are looking for a new Sex club, can you tell me the name of the one you were just speaking about?” Get the fuck outta here! You swing? He begins to ask if I’m apart of the “community” I say, "No" followed by a very loud weird laugh. Lol 

 

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15 – 20% of Couples Have Sexless Marriages

Jennifer (name changed) didn't have sex with her ex-husband on their wedding night. "I chalked it up to fatigue," she says. But should it have been a red flag? Well, maybe.

It's not that it didn't happen that one night that was the problem; it's that it was the first of many sexless married nights. As an engaged couple, Jennifer and her fiancé were doing it about three times a week, but once they said their vows, it quickly dwindled to about once a month — sometimes less.

Some experts call marriages that average 10 rolls in the hay per year or less "sexless," but other experts take the word more literally, like Susan Yager-Berkowitz, who coauthored (with her husband) "Why Men Stop Having Sex: The Phenomenon of Sexless Relationships and What You Can Do About It."

 

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Divorce Takes Health Toll Study Says

 

(CNN) -- Divorce causes more than bitterness and broken hearts. The trauma of a split can leave long-lasting effects on mental and physical health that remarriage might not repair, according to research released this week.

Research shows health differences between people who are married and those who have gone through a divorce.

"People who lose a marriage take such damage to their health," said Linda Waite, a sociologist at the University of Chicago in Illinois.

Waite and co-author Mary Elizabeth Hughes, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, found that divorced or widowed people have 20 percent more chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer than married people. They also have 23 percent more mobility limitations, such as trouble climbing stairs or walking a block.

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Oprah Winfrey Advises Jamie Foxx on How to Act Right

Comedic actor Jamie Foxx has credited talk show host Oprah Winfrey with refining his rough exterior.

Foxx debuted his new MTV show From G's to Gents in America earlier this week in an effort to teach socially-challenged men how to perfect their modern-day etiquette. And he insists it was Winfrey who whipped him into shape before he became an Oscar winner.

Black Love: Lauren London's Comments Reflect Problems with Black Women

To say that the recent statements of 'Actress', Lauren London - in a "King Magazine" interview - is disquieting, is both an underestimation and misunderstanding of the potency attached to the wordage of certain celebrities within our community. Young Black Women are continuously lusting after the aptly-described "ruffnecks" and "thugged-out" brothers within our culture. It was in 1993, when MC Lyte, rapped - on a song called "Ruffneck," from the album, "Aint No Other" - "I need a ruffneck/I need a dude with attitude/Who only needs his fingers with his food/Karl Kani saggin' timbos draggin'/Frontin' in his ride with his home boys braggin'/Lying 'bout the Lyte how he knocked boots last night/But he's a ruffneck so that's alright." At the time, such allusions were looked upon as little other than artistic-expression, but with the rise in domestic-abuse among black households, such sentiments are beginning to lead to open clues vis-à-vis black-female misjudment. It is an ancient blurb that the good guy always finishes last, but Miss London seemed to put the L in Ludicrous with her recent morally-reprehensible comments. When asked by the interviewer of her choice in men, she replied:

"An authentic gangsta—that deletes about half the rap game off your list. I love guys who are street. I won’t even give soft guys a chance. Menace II Society is my shit! Caine was like my first crush. Actually, O-Dog was my true dream guy. I was in love with him, from that opening scene where he pops the convenience-store worker. He had me from that gunshot [laughs]. He was ’hood, and I loved that."

- With such statements, it is no wonder our culture is dissipating faster than the dreams of 'authentic' actresses who are more than qualified, but are turned around as a result of their stead-fast belief in integrity. That therefore 'deletes' Ms. London off any such list.

Black Love Advice for Black Men: Why Good Brothers Finish Last

Are you a nice guy who has always wondered why the cocky guy -- the one who barely appears interested in the girl -- is usually the one who gets the girl?

Have you suffered from hearing the words, "You're a really nice guy, but I only like you as a friend," from a woman who you would do (or may, in fact, have already done) just about anything and everything for -- only to turn around and watch her date (or even chase) a guy who treats her like she's nothing special? And are you stumped wondering why she would date a guy who treats her like that when she could have you who would treat her like a princess and give her everything she wants? Well, you better brace yourself because I'm going to tell you a couple of secrets that you might not want to hear.

First, "nice" equates with boring and predictable. Look up "nice" in the dictionary and you find: pleasant; agreeable; satisfactory. In other words, average -- not exceptional, not exciting, and not sexy.I'll bet you've never heard a woman say she didn't want to date a guy because he was too confident, too passionate, or too exciting -- have you? But, I'll bet you have heard women say things like, "He's such a nice guy. He's so sweet and he's always there for me, but I only like him as a friend." Or, "He's such a good guy -- kind, thoughtful, generous, honest, loyal -- but there's no chemistry. He just doesn't turn me on." Sadly, I hear it all the time. The fact is, Mr. Nice Guy, you cannot bore a woman into feeling attracted to you or into wanting to date you. And as obvious as that sounds, if you are one of those guys I described that is exactly what you are trying to do. And it won't work.

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"We Like Black D***, Just Not Black Men"

Let’s be honest- who wouldn’t want a Morris Chestnut, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, or Taye Diggs type of man?


As black women, we’ve watched our brothers be romantically involved with white women for as long as we’ve been in this country. Just when we thought we were accepting it, Asian and Hispanic women picked up on the trend, and Black men started to choose them first. In a day and age where interracial dating is more or less accepted, we have to redirect our anger.

Now, black women are upset because we’ve taken home the bronze medal in comparison to the other races that seek out Black men. For the most part, young Black men are not choosing their Black women, while everyone else is choosing the brothers.

First, look at the music videos you see on BET, MTV or anything else. No longer are “video girls” really black. Hispanic and mixed women seem to be getting closer and closer to the camera. The Vida Guerra’s of the world have taken the front seat, and more brothers want long REAL hair, fair skin and another language to go along with the urban style.

Some people say Black and Hispanics are one in the same, and although we share the same ancestry, I think to put us in the same boat is to ignore the many differences that the two have, especially historically and politically (for the most part, Hispanics picked Hillary over Barack. Does that say anything significant? I think so.)

Next, let’s look at white women- from whom I got the title of this article. It’s not the preferred conversation to overhear during a study break snack, but that statement is exactly what my girls and I heard one day while sitting in the student center on our college campus.

“ Oh my god, I hooked up with a black guy last night…no, I don’t like black men, but I do like black d***!”

…Was this girl serious?

It just goes to show that the physical attraction is- in some cases- the only reason why these unions happen. Okay brothers, I’ll give you that. Some men enjoy having gorgeous exotic looking women of different backgrounds and ethnicities to trophy around with…but ask yourselves, are your parents going to approve of your relationship?

Maybe so, but what about her parents? Are they really as open-minded as she is? The truth is, not all parents are as accepting and open minded as their children.

Do not misinterpret what I’m saying, I do have a lot of white, Asian and Hispanic female friends who date Black men. They are girls with good heads on their shoulders, who are usually friendly, more reserved, smart and very genuine. They have no problem being my friend, and I have no problem being theirs.

It may just be from what I’ve seen around my campus, but the other-race girls who only go after Black men for their well-endowed features, are the ones who do not take the time to befriend black women.

Those girls stick to their own "kind". They’d rather say the curiosity about the physical pleasure was the reason they did it. Those are the kind of girls I overheard saying the above statement.

Brothers, let’s not take this completely as a compliment. You should be offended by such a blatant proclamation. What does this say about you? ”I don’t like black men” means I don’t like black people, and “I just like black d***” means I don’t see you for who you are.

I’ve dated white men, Hispanic men, and even an Asian once. But ultimately and collectively, they don’t want black women either. Of course there are some exceptions to this, one of my best white male friends only dates black women.

Who you choose to date is completely up to you. This article isn’t about that- it is about the reality of human attraction. It is about why Black women in general are becoming the least desired women of all.

We’re too strong-minded, independent, practical, and unadventurous. We argue too much. We work too much. We’re not as fair skinned or pleasing to look at. We like to dress down more than dress up. We’re not always creative in bed. Our hair doesn’t always blow in the wind, and isn’t always our own. We talk too much. We don’t give oral pleasure (says who?), we don’t want to cook every day (actually I love to cook), and we won’t stay with you after you cheat on us (yea, maybe not).

But if that’s why you’d rather not have us, then by all means, as Tyler Perry would say, have your 20%.

Karrine Steffans: Superhead - Is this Black Love or Black Prostitution?

Here is an interview with Karrine "Superhead" Steffans. Karrine has been the subject of controversy lately, after there were reports that her relationship is on the rocks due to physical abuse. She was also featured on the Wendy Williams Experience, with Wendy telling Karrine that she will never be able to find real love because she is known as "Superhead".

Given that Karrine really doesn't do much of anything that millions of other women don't already do, does that make her a dirty woman or a woman who is simply liberated with her sexuality? Perhaps the fact that Karrine, who is known (to be honest) as a "superhoe" respects herself as a great mother, good cook and wonderful lover, perhaps this implies that we are the ones who are rigid and need to rethink our perception of sexuality.

I am not sure how to process all of this, but I can say that given that there are a lot of superheads who let it loose behind closed doors, perhaps we should not just Karrine as harshly as we have in the past. At the very least, even a woman named "Superhead" doesn't deserve to be beaten by her boyfriend.

Here is a video....you be the judge: