My Polar Opposite » Current Events

Addiction, mental illness and disrespect in American culture

mypolaropposite — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:08:30 +0000

Yesterday, Amy Winehouse died. Her death was probably drug related since the singer suffered a long-term addiction to various substances – heroin, crack/cocaine, crystal meth and alcohol if I remember correctly. But I’m too sad to Google it. Not because I knew Amy and feel the grief of a lost loved one. Rather, I’m sad about [...]

Perqs of being a black woman: Why Psychology Today can suck it

mypolaropposite — Mon, 16 May 2011 19:51:58 +0000

A few weeks ago my roommate and I were watching one of those Kardashian shows on E! (don’t judge us!). We got to talking about how pretty women just get stuff because of how they look, and how it must be for Kim K. getting dick thrown at her all day, every day. You’ve seen her, you know [...]

NBA All Star Weekend: More like Christmas than Thanksgiving

mypolaropposite — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 19:31:39 +0000

Black Twitter – and various other social media contingents – are up in arms about David Aldridge‘s opinion piece for CNN in which he calls NBA All-Star Weekend “Black Thanksgiving.” I’m never one to say people are too sensitive about race, but in this case I’m going to go ahead and say it. Stop being so [...]

Suicide is NOT entertainment

mypolaropposite — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 23:43:48 +0000

UPDATED: November 14, 2010:

Just realized that I didn’t include the telephone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in this post. If you’re thinking about doing harm to or killing yourself, please call 1-800-273-TALK to speak with one of their counselors. You are not alone.

Good #MHSM (Mental Health Social Media) – like all good social media [...]

Fantasia-Gate, Day 2: We need to do better

mypolaropposite — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:14:44 +0000

Yesterday, I wrote a blog post about news coverage of Fantasia Barrino’s overdose not because I like to gossip, but because the mainstream media puts out a lot of crap about people without dealing with the substantive issues related to a celebrity event. Stories about Lindsey Lohan focus on her hair extension what she’s wearing when [...]

No offense to Alicia, but I’m NOT Superwoman

mypolaropposite — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 03:04:43 +0000

Fantasia Barrino is the latest casualty in the myth of the Black Superwoman.

The news on the wire today is that Fantasia, on the heels of public innuendo about an affair with a married man, attempted suicide. According to Huffington Post, the American Idol winner took too many aspirin and sleep aids, and is resting comfortably [...]

On Big-Girl bras and why I’ve never liked Kathie Lee Gifford (REVISED)

mypolaropposite — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:12:49 +0000

Uh, in what world is THIS not sexy? (image courtesy of LaneBryant.com)

Imagine a beautiful, voluptuous woman going to meet a lunch date wearing nothing but sexy red lingerie under her trenchcoat. If you’re the woman, you feel empowered, strong and just a little naughty. If you’re the guy she’s going to meet, you’re probably [...]

The fat TV ghetto

mypolaropposite — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:21:40 +0000

There’s some new TV show on ABC Family called “Huge” or “Big Fat Girl” or “Wide Load” or something like that. It looks to be about a weight loss camp in which the overweight star doesn’t want to lose weight. My size 16 self , and my thinking female brain are not happy about this.

Apparently if [...]

Music, identity and Erykah Badu: Haters, please!

mypolaropposite — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:33:48 +0000

#NowPlaying in my iTunes rotation: the entire Erykah Badu musical oeuvre, Tyrone and all. Why? First of all, her new album dropped today and like the good fan that I am, I pre-ordered that shit last week and downloaded it as soon as it was available. Second, she’s a little strange and unpredictable and undefinable, and [...]

What John Mayer taught me about race and sex

mypolaropposite — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:53:13 +0000

OK, so I used to be a huge John Mayer fan. I was all over the first album, the second one, even his short-lived show on MTV. For the record, I’m one of those Black girls that likes guitar players. And Guns N’ Roses. Don’t ask me why, but I grew up in the suburbs. That [...]