Are Black Men Complicit in Black Women’s Obesity?

One thing I have noticed is that criticism of a Black woman’s weight often comes from other Black women, not from Black men. They will tell Black women that they will never get a date with a White man if they are overweight. They will accuse Black men of being complicit in contributing to Black women’s obesity because a lot of us like overweight women. One thing about being an African-American, is that you are wrong if you are right and if you feel that you are still right when you are wrong some charismatic traits are in order. Too much of what goes on in our communities are the result of how we feel. How we feel about racism. How we feel about being an African-American. How we feel about being too Black. How we feel about not being Black enough.

Our culture is not a monolithic one. Then again I have a thing for larger women. What makes a Black woman undesirable is not the weight but when she does not have any curves. I’ve seen some underweight Black women, and women that are that ideal body size, and it doesn’t work for me at all. I need a woman with something on her, if not from behind or nice hips at least a nice chest you have to give me something to work with. No one wants a flat woman; there are some really nice, pleasant, easily to get along with women that are very pretty. However these women just do not have anything that I can work with.

If I ever talked to a White woman she was probably at least twenty to thirty pounds overweight by most standards. Those Black women out there that are that ideal weight that are in good health confuse me. Why do they care what overweight Black women do? A sure way to make money in this country is by promoting programs and services that help people lose weight. In fact I think the demand may be higher than ever before. So it is not as though Black women are truly enlightening other Black women because I don’t know anyone that is overweight that does not already know what they need to do to lose the weight. The problem is in finding the discipline and motivation to lose weight, and in learning how to appreciate healthy foods. I have my own issues in which I will occasionally exercise and eat right, but then the hunger comes at me in the evening and I binge.

You have seen those Weight Watchers commercials with the orange monster, an anthropomorphism for hunger. Well the orange monster sits next to me on the couch and in the backseat of the automobile when I am driving around in the car. Black women have never listened to us before so they are not going to start listening to us now, but using tactics that involve guilt and shame about being undesirable are not going to encourage anyone to looe weight. Black men have adapted to their surroundings, so when an overweight woman is the norm you may eventually find that to be desirable. It isn’t as though they do not like a woman that is fit and trim, but as I have mentioned in my earlier articles men are attracted to women that are feminine that are pleasant and easy to get along with. The problem that most women have is that they attack other women and they attack men, but no one wants to talk about the true reasons why those men are attracted to the women that their peers have an issue with.