The Pussification of America
Fed up hearing about the Modern-Day-Cinderella, a woman who instagrams her way to fame and fortune one photo-shopped bikini SELFIE at a time…or tweets her way to infamy, the only heavy lifting required…her fake booté? #METOO.
You’ve also heard of the “Wussification of America” right? The name given to the demise of the Strong American Male, the “Alpha Dog,” only now a dying breed (you know the one that used to take control of more than the remote…and made a decision other than what ESPN channel to watch) replaced by a growing trend of “insecure-still-suckling-at-the-teet-of-his-mother-aged 30-something-male” who bless his heart, is more in touch with his feelings than y’all! Yeah I hear ya sista! We all know one, or worse still have dated one…no shame!
Well as annoying as it is, this is not what keeps me up at night! Oh no! It’s the other trend; and one that is more pervasive and corrosive to women’s’ values everywhere. And that is ladies “The Pussification of America”! Not a term you might find in the “Oxford English Dictionary” perhaps, it is no less a growing phenomenon that is robbing women and young girls everywhere of their self-esteem, self-worth and most importantly their value.
I touch on it in my book, but I believe I need to say it again just in case you didn’t hear me the first time. Also it might be that I like to repeat myself. We are in a dangerous place, ladies, where we are de-valuing our own currency faster than the “Chinese Yuan” and trading our self-worth so readily that we make NAFTA look lame. Do you really want to trade your values, like a pair of cheap jeans made in some sweatshop in Southern China? I think not! We are better than that!
In today’s Social Media obsessed society, young girls are learning that their body and not their brain is their currency, that self-esteem is measured by the number of likes received on any given day – and the “SELFIE” the closest thing to self-love they’ve ever known. From “The Kardashians” to “Teen Mom” and everything in between, Reality TV and Social Media have helped enable and proliferate a culture of instant gratification teaching young women that “Success” is entitled not earned…Trashy behavior rewarded with a “Reality Show” and “Rehab” the new normal for lack of accountability and responsibility.
With every “cleavage-bearing-instagram-shot” you are handing over your power and telling the world – and of course every “perv” out there – that this is all you got. Yes I know you think the opposite is true and that the guy you like thinks it’s hot. Remember a guy worth having will think it’s not! C’mon ladies it is time to put the girls away and focus on the currency within and not the exterior! Women have fought for centuries to be treated, as equals to men, to be respected in business and to have the right to vote. Let’s not give our power away like a disposable pair of panties!
My concern is that today’s young girls…tomorrow’s young women…are a ticking time bomb…of “Self-Esteem” issues… the byproduct of a generation … constantly bombarded with sexualized images of everyone…from “Miley Cyrus” to “JLO”; their only point of reference for success The Kardashians. Today’s young girls… more than ever… are learning that “Sex” sells … that the fast track to wealth and success… isn’t “Education”… but stripping off and getting a million “Likes” on Instagram.
With no shortage of good female role models out there (Sara Blakely, Sheryl Sandberg…Ginni Rometty…to name but a few)…unfortunately the ones garnering all the attention…and the “likes”…are the wrong ones…while the women worth aspiring to…are less conspicuous… too busy running billion dollar empires …to have the time…or the desire…to strip naked for a legion of 100 million Instagram followers…the majority made up of impressionable young girls.
My hope in writing my book is to show these same young women…that you don’t need to show your “t*ts and a**” to get ahead…that with a good dose of “Old fashioned PHD” (Persistence, Hunger and Determination) you can do anything you want…and better still…get there…with your self-esteem in tact…feeling more empowered than ever.
There is nothing more powerful in life than “Knowing your Currency,” and there is no dollar amount, or number of likes on instagram that can replace the feeling of knowing your success is built on the foundation of hard work, overcoming adversity, self-discipline and NOT the superficiality of a “hot bod” and good looks that may, or may not stand the test of time.
Know your currency! If you don’t, no one else will!
