Get ready for your weekly dose of unnecessary offense. I was going to talk about folks being upset over “The Wiz” having an all-black cast **blank stare**…but the Ayesha Curry story just got out of hand.
Saturday night Ayesha Curry took a moment after basking in the glow of the Warriors win over the Raptors (which brought them to 21 – 0 btw…), putting her kids to bed, and anticipating her Mother’s arrival the next day to crack open a “Style Weekly” magazine. She then tweeted out “Everyone’s into barely wearing clothes these days huh? Not my style. I like to keep the good stuff covered up for the one who matters **laughing emojiis **” I’ve heard more than once if you look hard enough for something…you’ll find it. I’m guessing that’s what some of the folks of the Twitterverse did in creating this “shaming” narrative off of her opinion. HER OPINION. She followed up with a couple more tweets saying… “Just looking at the latest fashion trends. I’ll take classy over trendy any day of the week. #saturdaynightinsight” and finally “Regardless of if you like my “style of clothes” or not (which I don’t care) please do not tear women down and degrade them… Not cool peeps.” This final tweet was her response to what had become a full blown debate on sexism and patriarchy. To that I say a good old fashioned Detroit Whoa, there, buddy. Fashion is an incredibly subjective matter. Some people “agreed” and some people “disagreed” with Ayesha’s position on fashion. That’s where it should have stopped. But no….the people of various schools of thought had a lot of feelings on this topic…200,000+ tweets of feelings. Did she rub some salt on a wound or nah? One sentiment her comments brought about was this idea that she was trying to shame or look down on women who choose to wear less clothing. Some folks conveniently replaced the word “trendy” with “trashy” and ran with it. Another argument was that she is just another zombie of a patriarchal agenda who bases her self-worth off of what her man thinks. I could go on and on but…Double-U-TEE-EFF?!?! Are these not the same folks that “about a week ago” were calling Steph & Ayesha **insert praise hands emoji** “GOALS”? I’ll take OVEREACTING for $100 Alex… (Jeopardy reference…it’s funny…laugh about it) Before I go on, let’s be clear that at no point did she say what women should or shouldn’t do. Also her use of “I, I’ll, My” means she was talking about herself in comparison to the current fashion trends…so…**blank stare**…where is the “shaming?”
There are several epidemics happening…the worst of which is this “Mob-Mentality,”“Group-Think,” or “Bandwagontry” better known as not thinking for yourself. Just to illustrate how inconsistent and irrational the upsetness is I’ll give you a “for instance.” What if I were to say “I’ll take lemonade over coke any day of the week”? Would you then think that I’m shaming Coke drinkers? Do I think that my preference of non-carbonated beverages makes me a better person than someone who loves carbonated beverages? What if I were to say “Everyone is into drinking soda these days huh? Not my thing. I like to keep lemonade in my house for the one who matters” Regardless of what position you take on Ayesha’s style preferences ask yourself…does it matter? Here’s a hint…the answer is no. The way Ayesha chooses to live her life and dress has NO IMPACT on you. I am actually surprised and disappointed at what happened. Those who “agreed” with her used it as an opportunity to express THEIR opinions which were in fact pretty derogatory, misogynistic, and shaming. Those who “disagreed” with her used it as an opportunity to express their dislike of her, belittle her down to a mindless woman who operates only to please her husband and in turn judged her for her preference of modesty. Basically doing the very thing they were accusing her of doing. Just call me What DeWhat because I no longer understand social media and I’m beginning to think people just like to be offended. I love how the mob jumped down Ayesha Curry’s throat sharing her conviction about modesty but when Louis Farrakhan implied that a man is to govern a woman’s body (by suggesting Jay-Z cover-up his wife Beyoncé) everyone shrugged and said, “well that’s just Farrakhan being Farrakhan.” AND THAT’S OKAY BECAUSE…..he’s a man?! No people!!! THAT right there is what is actually worth getting upset over.
Now I’m going to make the assumption that you understand we live in a patriarchal society. That is fact. Not ideal, but fact. Perhaps some of that aggression directed at Ayesha would be better served elsewhere. If folks really wanted to get into it…fashion that is…and really understand the roots of why we dress the way we dress…how products are marketed to the masses…and how trends come about…we could do that. We could explore the intentions behind the fashions we choose for ourselves. Are we dressing for self, acceptance, likes, to-be-seen, or to-not-be-seen? We could explore the etymology behind words like “conservative” “sexy” “modest” “trashy.” I could go on but at the end of the day, your body, your choice. Now let’s be over it together.
A little extra to chew on…I bet most people didn’t even know who Ayesha Curry was before this Twitter episode. At best, she was probably only known as Stephen Curry’s wife. Not an actress, not a chef, not a person with thoughts and opinions…some man’s wife. Yeah. Bye.