Watching the VMA's on MTV this past week was definitely something new for me. Even in my short 27 years on this earth, I am an old soul and the constant butt of friends jokes for not being up on the times. While I knew who most of the stars were at the awards, I must admit that I knew them mostly for their antics that made headlines, rather than the hits they produced.
And that brings me to Miley Cyrus and the twerk seen round the world.
Let me get straight to the point: I am not surprised that Miley was twerking. Given her recent antics and the job she has in an industry that lives off of sex, it did not bother me that she was twerking. What did bother me however, was the black girl she had on stage with her who's butt was obviously padded to look enormous, shaking it "like she at a strip club."
Miley was twerking...so why did it have to be a black girl with a fake butt doing it too? As Miley showed us (albeit awkwardly and with small success) anyone can twerk. That means that there could have been a white girl, Asian girl, Latina...anybody up there twerking right with her. Yes, indeed twerking started in Africa, (though it definitely wasn't called twerking and was done for purposes other than to show off a healthy butt), and continued when we were forced to live on these shores. However, what twerking has become is more as extension of the present day minstrel show and another misrepresentation of the so-called sexual prowess of Black women. It has been essentially shown as that black girl thing....that's how "we" dance (and we all have these jelly asses). It's just sad because it essentially becomes what we're good for. While you may be less likely to find a video of a black woman talking about stocks and bonds and uplifting her people, you can bet your twerking ass that you will find millions of videos of black women twerking or showing you how to do it.
Have I twerked? In the mirror at home, yes :). Surely, when I go out to the club, I'm not two stepping but I'm certainly not out to imitate a stripper either. My mother raised me to know that the most valuable asset is my brain and I should strive to attract with that. This is what I think a lot of young black women need to be reminded of. I think that as a culture we have gotten lax in our thinking. Fifty years ago, we were striving to fight stereotypes; today it seems that we are rushing to live up to them.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see someone of another culture admire what we have created. I am not saying that Black women should be ashamed. All I am saying is that we need to do better in terms of making sure that the most positive and moral attributes of our culture are the first things that the others strive to imitate.
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