Lupita Nyong’o Wins Oscar For Role in “12 Years a Slave”

Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Courtesy of REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Lupita Nyongo’s image was recently altered in Vanity Fair magazine to lighten her skin tone. But as you can see in these photos, she’s absolutely beautiful just as she is. And she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress! For a black woman to win this award, and receive glowing reviews for her dress, says that Hollywood is inching closer to acceptance of black women as just as beautiful and talented as their white counterparts. The fact that “12 Years a Slave,” a film about slavery, won for Best Picture says a great deal, as well.

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Ellen DeGeneres Does LGBT Community Proud at the Oscars

Photo courtesy of RawStory.com

 

At this year’s Oscars, Ellen DeGeneres took a “selfie” photo with some of the many stars on hand at the ceremonies she hosted. These celebs seemed genuinely excited to take the picture with her, which says to me that people are becoming more and more comfortable and accepting of gays and lesbians. I’m very, very proud of her for her bravery and achievements as an “out” lesbian. You go girl!

Female Self-Consciousness (Even Celebs Feel It!)

Jennifer Lawrence- She says she looks like a troll! (Photo from mrwallpaper.com)

If you’re a woman, you are most likely familiar with the dreaded, sinking feeling of self-consciousness. I feel it myself. The voice in your head that says, “I look so fat in this” is something my brain has, many a day, uttered as well. And that voice grows ever louder when we compare ourselves to our counterparts on TV and in the movies. They just look so perfect, don’t they?

Kanye West is a Misogynist

Kanye West- Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.org

 

Even if you don’t listen to rap music regularly, you’ve most likely still heard of rapper Kanye West. He’s sold millions of albums, been nominated for and won Grammy Awards and MTV Videos Music Awards, and has been hailed as a great musician by Rolling Stone, Time, Vibe magazine, and several others

All of this disgusts me. Why? Because of his lyrics. While it is true that some of his music is more introspective than a lot of rap music of the day and discusses social and racial issues, enough of it is so sexist and narcissistic that the praise heaped on his work is baffling to me.

The dictionary defines the word “misogynist” to mean a person who hates, dislikes, mistrusts, or mistreats women. Kanye West does an excellent job convincing us that he indeed is a misogynist through his own music. Below are a sampling of some of his Grammy-winning lyrics. I apologize in advance for the crassness of the content. Just remember- he’s actually won AWARDS for this.

When necessary, I include translations- much of it is very difficult and messy to understand.

Lyrics from “Niggas In Paris”:

“She said, ‘Ye can we get married at the mall?’/I said, Look you need to crawl ‘fore you ball/Come and meet me in the bathroom stall/And show me why you deserve to have it all”

“You know how many hot bitches I own”

“Fuck that bitch, she don’t wanna dance”

For clarification purposes: “Ye” is short for Kanye. “Fore” means before. “Ball” means to make a lot of money and show it off.

Lyrics from “E.T.” (with Katy Perry) (from MetroLyrics.com):

“I got a dirty mind/I got filthy ways/I’m tryna lay my egg, egg,/ in your Milky Way”

“Pockets on Shrek, rockets on ya dick/Tell me what’s next, alien sex/I’ma disrobe you, then I’ma probe you/See I abducted you, so I tell ya what to do/I tell ya what to do, what to do, what to do”

For clarification purposes: “Tryna” means trying to. “I’ma” means I’m going to.

Lyrics from “Gold Digger”:

“18 years, 18 years/She got one of yo’ kids, got you for 18 years/I know somebody payin’ child support for one of his kids/His baby momma’s car and crib is bigger than his/You will see him on TV Any Given Sunday/ Win the Superbowl and drive off in a Hyundai”

“If you ain’t no punk, holla, “We want prenup”,”We want prenup!”/ yeaah/It’s something that you need to have/’Cause when she leave yo’ ass she gone leave with half”

For clarification purposes: “Crib” means house.

Lyrics from “Deuces” (remix):

“You know what, yo?/you a bitch!/you should have a travel agent cuz you a trip/you should make your own toilet tissue since you the shit/but all you got is some fucking issues you fucking bitch.”

For clarification purposes: “You the shit” means you think you’re so great.

Why is he being rewarded for this trash? Is the entertainment industry still this sexist?

Celebrity Images Photoshopped

So you’re not perfect? Neither is anyone else!
Ladies, stop comparing yourselves to the women on the cover of magazines. No one looks that perfect!