Think Like A Man

"You gotta act like a woman, but think like a man."-Jennifer Hudson


This is the blog where one may question my status as a young, educated black professional. I may even lose friends, associates, and acquaintances who pride themselves for being on a journey to becoming a part of the black elite. And here's why.

I WILLINGLY BOUGHT ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A MAN. I WILLINGLY PAID NON-MATINEE PRICES ON OPENING WEEKEND TO SEE THE MOVIE. AND I TURNED AROUND AND BOUGHT THE SOUNDTRACK. AND I AM NOT ASHAMED, NOR DO I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE FACT THAT STEVE HARVEY JUST MADE A LOT OF MONEY AND I HELPED. AND I ENJOYED IT ALL.

Finally, that is off of my chest.

I just felt like that is the one thing I have not seen written about his various projects by any black person that has a degree. If you want to read why such people don't like any of it, just Google it. There's plenty and that’s about all the negative space I plan to lend to this.

Now let's go into my feelings about the book. The book was funny. It was simple and it was written in Steve Harvey's comic-yet-country voice. To me, a lot of it was common sense but common sense isn't all that common. No, I do not believe it is the Bible on dating for black women, but I'm sure it provided “a ha” moments for quite a few women. Now you may be asking how could a woman have such a moment from a middle-aged comedian with multiple marriages. My response to you is how many times have several people said the exact same thing to you, only for it to finally stick when a particular person said it. Hell, from the day you're born, your parents tell you to close your legs. Your pastor tell you to close your legs. Your sex ed teacher tells you to close your legs. But it's not until you've been through some bullshit and someone tells you in a way that you understand that you think maybe you should close your legs. And if you don't believe comedians don't hold a certain amount of weight in this world, you must not have seen the various reports of young adults receiving a lot of their news from The Daily Show.

Now on to the movie. It took me back to the black romantic comedies of the late 90s and early 2000s. My favorite critique thus far is how things wouldn't have worked out like that for the characters in real life. Ummmm, that's why it's a movie. In real life, Morris Chestnut's character in The Best Man would have had that fight, gotten arrested for hotel vandalism, had his pic posted on TMZ, and Mia would have been at his side at the court hearing, possibly with a black eye. (I'm just saying dude was violent.) But it was a good movie about various types of people trying to figure out their way around this thing called love and relationships. Hell, I have a whole romantic comedy collection filled with white people doing the same stuff.

So yes I enjoyed it all and I don't want to kill the messenger like some people. Hell, my dad talks about how women and men should carry themselves all the time and my mom is his third marriage.  He has kids from multiple marriages, but that doesn't mean he's not worth listening to.  Many people say that the book promotes playing games and forces women to change gender roles. I've read it and it doesn't say “act like a man", it says "think like a man" which to me read as “here is the way men think." Men don't think of 90-day plans to not have sex, last I checked. And for people, particularly women, who say it's about playing games, just know that the second you decide to put on 5-inch heels, beat your face, get your hair done and put on your best dress to go out, you are executing strategy. Winning at anything requires strategy. But then again, what do I know. Last time someone asked me for a book on relationships, I suggested Sun Tzu's Art of War.