Thanks MJ.
I’m a middle-aged low-melanin-type male, but I whole-heartedly agree that one main bastion of male abuse of women seems to be the “sub-par” hip-hop rappers.  The Christian Right seems in many areas to be just as demeaning of women.

The late Haile Selassie had a wonderful comment that he looked forward to the day when “the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes.”

But when you stop and think about it scientifically, ALL human beings are the same color, unless they are albinos.  Skin color is generated by the presence of melanin.  In response to excess UV, more melanin is produced and we get darker--tanning.  People with more melanin are darker, but all melanin is the same color.  So we all are the same color, just some of us are more of it and some of us are less of it.

I would have to agree with Mad As Hell.  I live in California and you can find plenty of fat and sassy white women here. I think times are changing and Hollywood is going to have to change with the times. I am more upset at seeing beautiful black women in Hip Hop videos, butts hanging out of shorts that are too short and being treated with distain by sub-par rappers. Black women have to say"enough is enough”, we have to appreciate ALL of our beauty, and try to live healtier lives, no matter if we are peaches and cream or dark mahagony.

First off, there is nothing wrong with being “fat, black and sassy.” What is wrong is that those traits become negative when used to create negative characters. I’ve seen worse in films like In Good Company where the only black actress (dark skinned, overweight), is cast in an unintelligent role. I understand how hard it is to get work. Halle Berry still gets the not ethnic enough or too ethnic response from directors. The fact is that those commercial actress are playing the stereotype and many black folks won’t say much about it because now its all about gettin’ paid. Why fight against racism when one can suck it up and create wealth for future generations.

As a former model, struggling actress and journalist, I’ve seen two extreme depictions of black women in media: (1) the mulatto type who is as close to white as possible and is normally used for romantic roles and (2) the fat, angry, dark skinned woman who is depicted aggressively.  The lighter and thinner the black actress, the more docile her behavior and just the opposite applies to the heavier often darker black actress.  When was the first or last time you’ve seen a light skin black woman with long hair and Euro features depicted as agressive?

There is definitely a need for balance and by the way it would be nice to see a brown skin woman whose weight and height are proportionate and her hair is short and natural.

It wouldn’t be troubling if the same character didn’t appear over and over again. And over again. And over again. If we had a balanced portrayal of people of color, then seeing this character once in a while would be no biggie.

The problem is that whenever there is a prominent place for a black woman—or often the ONLY place for a black woman—in a script, it turns out to be this character.

Kinda limited thinking by the casting directors, no?

Unless it’s deliberate… Hmmnmm…

it’s mystifying why the nyt picks on the entertainment industry for showing black women who are big & beautiful—maybe it’s because we’re not supposed to notice that nearly all white women’s roles are typecast for thin women who look nothing like their everyday counterparts—i travel throughout our country & throughout the world: it’s plain as day that among developed countries, america’s white women are shorter & fatter than women anywhere else—medical research confirms it—but apparently the nyt wants to throw sand in our eyes by pretending it’s horrified that some black women’s roles show the reality that white women’s roles lack

Do we still deny that television is a classroom that millions take cues from-- that this Black, loud, and overweight woman teaches some white kid what to expect from Black women?

Just a thought.

Why does it surprise anyone that there exists double standards between behaviors when they are exhibited by persons of color as opposed to those save behaviors exhibited by white people?

Persons of color (be they African-American, Hispanic, American Indian, or whomever) are supposed to be many things, though strong–or should I say head-strong–and independent generally aren’t among them.

And THAT is a bullseye!:

“That it becomes troublesome when black women “bring it on” is, well, troubling.”

Interesting. I was totally unaware of Yvette Nicole Brown’s existance until reading this story. Her NY Times notoriety, in a perverse way, will boost her career. I believe there’s an old saying in show business going something like, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

As the entertainment world moves glacially, at least it’s moving.

After 80 years of a constant trend towards thinner, taller, whiter women (the anorexic fashion models) we are now, FINALLY seeing a trend toward viewing all types of women as beautiful.  With films such as “Real Women Have Curves” and the Miss F.A.T. beauty contest the pendulum is swinging back.

While celebrating obesity is certainly as foolish as celebrating anorexia, at least recognizing that beautiful women come in all sizes and colors, from petite to statuesque, from peaches’n’cream to dark.  Intelligence, poise, competence and confidence--at least the stereotypes are getting more positive.

“Could you be more ethnic?” “Could you show me what you mean?” Brilliant! What a riposte!

Has anybody noticed that for ALL non-white actors, but most noticeably for Black actors, you have to be twice as good as White actors to get half as far.  The past 35 years have seen the entertainment industry pulled reluctantly, kicking and screaming into modern times.  It seems SO long ago that it was revolutionary for The New York Shakespeare Festival to cast James Earl Jones as Claudius and Ruby Dee as Gertrude to Stacy Keach’s Hamlet, and then Jones as Lear, and if I remember correctly, Raul Julia as Edmund and Rene Auberjenois as Mad Tom.  Remember the FIGHT Louis Gossett, Jr. had to get the role of the DI in An Officer and A Gentleman, because it wasn’t an “ethnic” role?

We all remember the SuperBowl “Costume Malfunction” and the America’s prudery coming to the fore.  But what was VERY interesting and even positive was that it was a Black woman and a White man--and it was sexual and she was beautiful, and little to nothing was said about THAT!

We still suffer from racism.  Either we stupidly embrace it, or stubbornly fight to conquer it.  It’s so glorious to see kids just playing and just friends, who describe people worrying about color as “stupid”.  Simple and accurate.  We grown-ups are stupid.

I have to say that as a black man, I did find it troubling that in movie after movie and commercial after commercial whenever they want to portray a situation that was slightly threatening, there she is, miss “fat, black and sassy”.  My wife and I would always comment on it: The unhelpful person at the DMV? “fat, black and sassy”, The person you accidently bump into in a bank line? There she is again. She would always get a cringe and a laugh from white audiences.

On of the women says: “I project strength without being threatening” perhaps she doesn’t realize that to a white audience, she IS threatening. Just enough to get that cringe and laugh.

I’m glad that the actresses are making a living. I only wish they didn’t have to do it playing the same character over and over.