Who Do I Think I Am...? I Hate Women Hear Me Roar

I do not believe it (the media)fits my life at all.  If anything, the media makes me feel incredibly lonely.  What the media portrays—praise for bad behavior, those who I perceived to be intelligent, sophisticated adults adopting degrading phrases to describe women—reflects absolutely nothing in life I cogitate about.  Am I the only one on the planet who does not believe Beyonce’ is a feminist or a smart business woman?  Am I alone when I question, “Why is it acceptable to use the word ‘bitch’ on television and not the word ‘nigger'?" Of course, the militant, defiant and perhaps a bit maladjusted person that I am, my answer to my own question would be, “Because the word ‘bitch’ only offends women.”  But yet, the two of us (myself and the media) still seem to be inextricably linked.  My relationship with the media mirrors the one I have with modern art—I just visit MOMA to criticize what I see.

For myself, television and the internet are to be used together.  If I am watching someone I don’t trust, I have to immediately go to the internet to fact-check.  When those whom I do trust are feeding me information, I have to fact-check before I repeat it.  I am a writer, photographer and have also created video to express my sentiments and theories about why I believe women hate each other: I Hate Women Hear Me Roar, http://vimeo.com/67914868.

Through the eyes of others, all of me is measured against media examples.  US Weekly and Star Magazine are always flooded with questions, such as, “Who wore it best?,” that pit women against each other. Rhythm and Blues singer, Toni Braxton, was asked by a reporter, “Who’s the better entertainer, Rihanna, Ciara or Beyonce’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IurMgMOmo08?”  Instead of refusing to answer such a question, she happily said, "Beyonce’.” These are some of the agitations about women that I cannot stop obsessing about. But, one of the saddest things I saw unfold in the media was the public firing of Ann Curry of the Today Show.  Television execs said the ratings were going down because of Curry.  Could it have not been the fault of Matt Lauer?  Needless to say, Curry also blamed herself on national television: http://www.examiner.com/article/curry-lets-today-execs-see-her-cry.