Is Intelligence The New Sexy??

I know it's been a minute since my last post. Please accept my sincere apologies I have been outrageously busy. This week we will have our first guest pen. My friend  Victoria Kennedy who is an excellent writer and author. She has a very interesting topic that I think is relevant to our community as a lot of black men and women often choose beauty over brains which lands them in a whole world of trouble. So enjoy her guest spot as she blows up the spot and make you wonder is," Is Intelligence The New Sexy?"

Barack Obama walked out on stage at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston and changed the game for Black men.   This tall, polished brother with a confident strut and piercing eyes opened his mouth, began to speak and went from attractive to FINE!  Every woman of color watching him deliver the keynote address that night was mesmerized and I do believe some heterosexual men formed their first same-sex "crushes".  Telephones started ringing, we girls were giggling and all of our chests puffed up with pride:  Behold the arrival of the intelligent Black man.  The words came forth from his lips like “buttah” and he had us. His purpose that night was to nominate John Kerry as the Democratic candidate for president but long after he departed the stage and after Kerry delivered his own speech, the eyes of the country were still on Barack Obama. That’s what the power of intelligence and articulation can do – change the focus of the ones they’ve been showered upon, rendering perplexity and casting a spell.

The choice between beauty and brawn has long been debated.  Down through the years, men with six-pack abs and sixth grade mentalities have been able to pull many -a -smart sister.  After all, where’s a girl to direct her attention, when confronted with a fine physical specimen of a delicious Black man?  Is she to ask him for his I.Q., LSAT scores, or alma mater?  Or is she to just sit back and admire the view while he shoots hoops or lifts bags that bulge his biceps?  You know, like Jill Scott’s character in Why Did I Get Married? – when she’s watching the sheriff reach for the high shelves in the store and her mind goes blank. LOL.  I know that’s stereotypical but for the sake of discussion, let’s just consider that picture.  Women know from experience that a pretty face will take one far.  That also applies to men.  Even the preconceived notion of a nerd has been misleading.  He doesn’t always come with thick glasses and a pocket protector full of pens, ladies.  Sometimes, he is the quiet one sitting next to you in class or a meeting … the reliable one who pitches great ideas and impresses the boss at presentations. He can even be the diabolical one using his genius for criminal activity. Let's not get it twisted.  This is the time to set some things straight. It's not only the dumb men with brute strength who practice illicit behavior.

Maybe it’s more complicated than either example can convey.  Of course, we know that all buff guys are not dim-witted, just like we know all smart men are not socially-awkward bookworms.  I think it’s high time, we address the conundrum of how these two disparate examples are represented in the Black community and the world at large. 

Let’s start with the neighborhood basketball court in summer:  It’s a microcosm of the whole puzzle … full of young brothers who possess athletic prowess and swagger.  All that heated competition and trash talking is enough to get any red-blooded sister hot under the collar, even before she’s old enough to know what to do with that energy.  However, let’s not underestimate the spectator sitting in back of the bleachers reading a copy of Soul On Ice ,  The Autobiography of Malcolm X or anything by Donald Goines.  He might recite for you a sonnet that will make Will Shakespeare proud or try to impress you by spouting off data like the Scarecrow when he got his brain.  It can be very sexy to have somebody do it to you in your earhole. It’s all subjective.  Both of these types make an impression on a sister.

 

Having the brawn was always a little more popular.  The first impression is made by what we see, so if his body is tight or he has just the right amount of bow to those legs in his jeans, the man will warrant a closer look.  A lasting impression is made when we run into the studious spectator from the court, years later, to find he is a successful entrepreneur or trial attorney looking sharp in his suit and dazzling smile. 

Let’s just finish with that DNC in 2004.  Fast-forward to the Presidential campaign in 2008 when that same fine intelligent man had the brilliance to choose a team that pitched great ideas to the American public by way of Twitter and Facebook.  He even played basketball on the campaign trail and probably taunted his opponents with street slang mixed with his Harvard-tinged dialect, dispelling the cookie-cutter ideas of what brain vs. muscle looks like.  We watched as he made history by becoming the first Black president while exemplifying the ideal husband, burning his wife up with torrid stares, and portraying the doting dad.  The opposing party looked high and low for dirt to be slung but there were no notable skeletons in his closet. He could easily have been the next door neighbor, the big brother or the science teacher who made you blush in junior high. It’s as simple and as complicated as that.   Behold the enigma of the intelligent Black man.

Questions to Ponder:

1.)  Are men we consider to be eye-candy only good for physical desires or

      do we really want to know what they have to say?

2.)  Traditionally, have women been naïve enough to think that “smart” men

      are boring?  Have we been cheating ourselves by overlooking the

      “brains”, assuming he has no “brawn?”

3.)  What’s the allure that physically-attractive men have over intellectually-

      stimulating men and vice-versa?

I hope that you enjoyed Victoria's segment and until we meet again next week, same time, same channel I leave you with the picture she has chosen of  a supremely delicious black man and the lyrics of Complicated Melody by India.Arie.  As always have a great week! Church Hugs Gents, Diva Waves Ladies!!!

If he were a color
He'd be a deep dark forest green
If he were a car
He'd be a long stretch limousine
With room for all of humanity inside
Cause he is so giving
And he is so wise
If he were a number
He'd be a five cause he has such a brilliant mind
If were an animal
He's be an ass cause he's so stubborn sometimes

But if he were a song
He'd be a complicated melody
That complicated fellow he
I almost can not sing it on key

But he means the world to me

If he were a building
He'd be a beautiful cathedral
Cause he's so traditionally spiritual
If he were a dance
He'd be complicated like the tango
Exotic like a mango

But if he were a song
He'd be a complicated melody
That complicated fellow he
I almost can not sing it on key

But he means the world me.....