Degrading Comedy? Or Just a Good Laugh?

Lately, I have notice the making of movies and television shows that are borderline degrading and full of cultural stereotypes. Movies such as, “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan,” “The Love Guru,” and “Baby Mama.” “You Don’t Mess With Zohan,” portrays countless stereotypes of Israeli and Pakistani people; the main actors are all white, mainstream comedy actors, such as Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow). In this movie, Zohan is very sexual and a lover of hummus to the point where he brushes his teeth with hummus. “The Love Guru,” portrays stereotypes surrounding the Indian culture and practices. Not to mention Television shows such as “Aliens in America,” which portrays the life of an Indian family in the States in a “comedic” way; this show aired on prime time television. I had to ask myself, and others are these movies and the television shows a step forward or backward?

For decades, African-Americans have been heavily stereotyped and ostracized in the media, especially in television and film. In the 1840s, there was black-face minstrelsy, and today it seems like we as a people don’t need others to pretend to be African-Americans and make stereotypical jokes about our culture, however, black people now play those stereotypical roles and continue to help others to perceive us to be a people who don’t take care of their family responsibilities, overweight, “ghetto,” loud and obnoxious, and just plain unintelligent. Of course there are some African-American actors/actresses who refuse to play these roles, and I commend them for that. How can we move forward?

About a year ago, I was enrolled in a Cultural Communication class and I was forced to ask myself, “What is my culture? What does it mean to be black in America?” The latter was not as difficult to answer. It’s a simple task to define the experiences of blacks in America—the good, the bad, and the ugly. However, it’s not as easy to define what our culture consists of. If you allow the media to answer, it’s not a good look; black people are living in the hood, on welfare, recovering from a drug addiction or dying in one, and we all carry guns. Now, I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with someone experiencing these hardships or triumphs, but they are not all we’re made of. Unlike most people in this country, our people were forced to be here. We have lost many of our native languages, and sadly, our customs.

Is it okay for society to accept “comedy” at the expense of offending our various cultures? Should we accept this “comedy?” Is it degrading or just plain hilarious? Or, is it both?

It's Time to Invest in You...

How many of us have fallen for the credit card schemes of Visa, MasterCard, and even worse, our favorite store cards? It can be a mess if you allow yourself to continuously bury your financial freedom in a hole. I remember taking a personal finance class my senior year of high school and hearing over and over the risks of signing up for credit cards, and the pain and agony they can cause if they get out of hand, etc... Less than a year later, I found myself a freshman in college, $2500 in debt---and pulling my hair out. It was a nightmare to say the least.

Believe it or not, whether you currently find your finances in a bind or you have been there and done that, there are numerous ways for you to unbury your financial freedom and/or keep it on track. One of the most important things you must do is invest in yourself. I know you're probably wondering how you can "save, save, save!" if you're constantly paying off credit card debt and/or your student loans. It's time that you did some research on how much you're paying in interest on all of your credit card balances, as well as your student loans. If the interest is extremely high, it's more important at this point in your life to make a financial plan to pay off those debts rather than placing your money in a savings account that is earning way less interest than your credit cards are charging.

I have always said, "It's hard to invest money if you don't have any to play with," and this is often the case for a lot of us. A friend once told me I should enjoy being able to take care of myself financially. If we are more responsible with our finances and more conscious of the consequences of our spending habits we will be more capable of achieving financial freedom and happiness--on our own. In other words, it's our time ladies, and men, to get it together so we can truly state that we are capable of being independent.

In order to work toward your goals, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy of Suze Orman's The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke. She gives some good pointers and answers to questions about finances for young professionals. Chapter 5, titled "Save Up," is very helpful in recommending lifestyle changes that can put you on the path toward financial freedom.

Think on it: "Success is not soley about making more money. It's about knowing where the money you make is going,"--Suze Orman.

Steps to Free Yourself:

1. Keep track of how much money you're spending on a weekly/monthly basis, and what you're spending the most on; Ask yourself can you cut back in any way?
2. Budgets can be compared to diet fads--they often don't work; so as with dieting, be real with yourself.
3. Create a plan to pay off your credit cards--and fast. According to most finance websites and books, your credit score will suffer if you close accounts, however, it will flourish if you pay the cards off.
4. As difficult as it may be, you must learn to live within your means.

I am...Superwoman.

Too often we find ourselves trying to take over the world--every single day. We are masters of juggling the many work and/or school demands, our families, friends, you know, the works. I distinctly recall having 12-16 hour days at least 2-3 times a week while in undergrad. I had to not only join 50 million clubs/organizations, but I had to run them. Believe it or not, there's a name for what we seem to do effortlessly on a daily basis and it's called Superwoman Syndrome. Superwoman Syndrome can get the best of you if you allow it to take over your existence.

Now allow me to break it down for you. Superwoman Syndrome is often experienced by young black women. As a result of being twice the minority--female and black--we feel as though we have to always work twice as hard and do twice as much in order to be successful. I'm not discrediting this need; in the U.S., women earn 75.5 cents to every dollar men earn. As an African-American woman, it's often more difficult to get our foot in the door, and when we're in there we have to "prove ourselves" to everyone--even our own sisters. We have to be the best at what we do or our opportunities for advancement can seem almost impossible to achieve.

As African-American women, we have learned to be extremely protective of our family members. This can range from always being prepared to stick up for our family no matter what, to always supporting them in any way possible--including financially. We will even go to the poorhouse and back being generous.

While always trying to please others, day in and day out, when do we take time out for ourselves? How do we manage to keep our stress levels under control? If we fail to do so, we can experience anything from hair loss to anxiety attacks. We must learn to put ourselves first and never place our sanity in danger.

Here are some tips to come out on top:

1. Realize that although you may be able to do everything, it's not always the best option.
2. Prioritize: identify your values and make them number one in your life. Ask yourself, is everything consistent?
3. Make lists every day: what would you like to accomplish today? What can you realistically accomplish today?
4. Most importantly, love yourself: make time for some "me time."