Well, here's another one of my rants.

Although I did find the Douglass reading interesting and thought she brought up some good points, I had two problems with chapters four and five. First, it seemed to me that Douglass is somewhat suggesting that the "girly" is antifeminist. This thought comes across in her examples of Legally Blonde and Miss Congeniality among others. Because Miss Congeniality embraced the world of the hyperfeminine in the end, she becomes less feminist. I get that their has to be a balance between girl power powered by girliness and girl power powered by feminism. However, my question is what does someone liking to do their hair and nails have to do with the quality of that person's ideology? A definition of feminism that includes rejecting the "girly" inhibits people from being who they want to be. Self-expression is of the utmost importance. So what if a female believes that there is  still inequality between the sexes yet spends two hours painting her face in the morning? Does that reflect what she believes? I really do not think that it does. I don't find anything wrong with being traditionally feminine or girly. It's the ideas inside the head that matter not whether or not the head is covered in foundation, lipstick, eyeshadow, and a pink headband. She writes, "Girl power may have emerged in the mid-1990s to enhance girls' self esteem and validate girl culture (and, yes to sell records, make up, and bras), but the "power" part had now shriveled and the "girl" part inflated as the new girliness took hold." I do not see a problem with a new girliness as long as the girliness is a choice made by the person. I think that hyper-girliness and feminism do not have to be oil and vinegar. They can go hand in hand for some people.

The second problem I had with Douglass is her discussion of black women. Douglass writes, "Sykes delivers her routine mostly in standard white english, but often drops her g's and peppers her commentary with Black Speak locutions and terms like "ain't nobody," "I need me some," and, of course, 'girl'." I absolutely hate the idea of talking white and talking black. I cannot express how many times I have been told that I speak "like a white girl". In actuality, I just speak like me. This stereotype of how black people talk and how white people talk is so annoying to me. Because I do not use what Douglass calls "Black Speak", I am somehow less authentic as a black woman. Anyone can speak the way he or she wants regardless of race.

The whole Wanda Sykes paragraph really struck a nerve in me. Douglass states, "We all instantly recognize Black Speak for what it is: way cool insider talk...one that requires a solid "amen" from listeners and a truth that standardized white-bread English can't quite convey because it's too official..." Okay, why is "Black Speak" "way cool insider talk"? Why is it something to marvel at? Why does Black Speak signify that a "truth is being spoken"? And why, why does it require an "amen"? I guess it's good we have Black Speak because it makes feminism "hip, cool, and funny". Why is the way some black people talk something to laugh at? It must make feminism funny simply because of the way it sounds because Douglass does not provide any other explanation. Also, her definition of Black Speak is a little odd. She writes, "As the interns hope to get to scrub into a surgery, Bailey decreed, "Your job is to make your resident happy. Do I look happy? No. Why? Because my interns are whiney...No one holds a scalpel 'til I'm so happy I'm Mary Freakin' Poppins...Why y'all standin' there? Move!'....Standard English and Black Speak in delicious suspension, making female power awesome, intimate with it." This whole thing is really so ridiculous. First of all, what in this quote makes this what Douglass calls Black Speak? The only words I can pick out that are not standard English are "y'all and mama", which are words that plenty of white Americans say all the time. And also, I cannot help but wonder if Douglass would say "Amen, sister." when talking about white women. Douglass continues later in the chapter, "Indeed, it was through language more than anything else that the women made clear they had simultaneously succeeded in whitey town and yet remained true to black culture. More to the point, it was either through Black Speak, or the physical style of sass, that the women ripped the veneer off of male conceits...Living single insisted that African American women have a rich, lively langauge all their own that was way cooler and more authentic that anything white girls had." It's like she's suggesting that by not speaking like a stereotypical black person one is not remaining true to black culture. According to people, I talk "white", but I am more immersed in black culture than those people would imagine. Also, why is Black speak so much cooler than standard Engish? I mean, really. Half the time a black person is speaking in slang around non-black people that person is considered as ghetto not cool, which is a completely different issue.

When talking about Oprah, Douglass writes, "Her effortless glide into Black Speak is endearing and almost always gets laughs." Why is "Black Speak" funny though? I mean think about it. Why do people laugh? It's just a way of talking after all. There's nothing inherently funny about it. I really could go on, but this is getting long enough. I have other points I'd like to mention also.

In chapter five, Douglass speaks about Black women not having the same access to birth control as white women. This is truly sad. When a black woman gets pregnant at a young age, the amount of judgment placed on her is unbelievable. In reality, she probably is not having any more sex than other young women. The difference is she may not have access to quality birth control.

Also, I'm glad Douglass talks about the word bitch. It is still so degrading. Think about it. How many degrading words do we have for the term female? Whore, bitch, slut, thot, hoe, chicken. How many do we have for men? I'm struggling to come up with even one.