Goodies?

A new hip-hop artist, by the name of Ciara, recently dropped her first single. The title of the single is "Goodies," and in it she proclaims that if you're "lookin for the goodies, keep on lookin' cuz they stay in the jar!" So essentially, she's not the kind of girl that you're just gonna spit game to and end up waking up next to the following morning.

Not a bad message if you're listening to the song in your car (minus the Petey Pablo rap verses). But upon viewing the video, you might find yourself a little confused.

There she is, gyrating like a pop tart that's just risen, leaving you with the impression that her goodies are ripe and ready.

Ok, to be fair, she is wearing jeans and a top.

However, her jeans are extremely low cut (especially enticing since she spends half of the video bouncing her hinder parts in an apparent attempt to tease you with "what's in the jar"), and her top only covers her arms and breast (and could almost be mistaken for skin paint because it is so tight).

Although the lyrics suggest a cool young lady that isn't gonna easily give it up, the video displays a young lady who is throwin it all around, in what some might suggest invites negative male sexual attention. If you haven't seen this version of the video, watch MTV or VH1 because BET runs a much cleaner version.

I raise this issue because for years, I have heard women argue that no matter how provocatively they dress, men shouldn't make assumptions about the kind of girl that they are. Furthermore, men shouldn't expect a certain behavior, like easy sex, out of a woman because she's dressing provocatively.

Fair enough; I agree.

However, although men shouldn't make assumptions, they're going to (in fact, so are other women). And no matter how wrong it is, recognize that how you dress and carry yourself will send a powerful message to "the viewing audience." And frankly put, it can be very confusing.

I heard the very illustrious comedian, Dave Chappelle, once address this issue in a comedy skit. I'll paraphrase what he said:

"If you were walking down the street and someone snatched your purse/wallet, and you looked around for help, and saw me standing there in a Policeman's Uniform. You'd probably walk up to me and ask me for help. Well then, I'd respond that although I'm wearing the uniform, I'm not a policeman, and you should go somewhere else to seek help."

Confusing, huh?

Now certainly the assumption was wrong, but given the social norm, it was completely valid. Policemen walk around in police uniforms, not average citizens.

My point is that people should be careful that what they are saying and doing all line up. As the cliche goes, "it's hard for me to hear what you're saying, for seeing what you're doing."

-Maelstrom