I don’t have a clever thesis statement or ideological synopsis to sum up my disdain for Steve Harvey’s latest work, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. I can only hope that you will wrap your mind around my recent late night tirade.
I have to say that I'm disappointed that a man of Steve Harvey’s age and past experience with a failed marriage would concede to such an archaic mindset. One that says it is “okay” to play the game, its all in how you play it. When will we abandon this immature attitude towards relationships and sex that has been pervasive through generations and set us back so far? I have to believe that Mr. Harvey made a conscious decision to cash in on this tactic to stunt our mental and emotional growth as it relates to how we interact emotionally and physically with one another. Perhaps this is why so many view having multiple children with multiple people outside the family unit the norm. Are we easily fooled? We laugh at talk shows that feature women unable to decipher who the father of their child might be. It’s not funny anymore. It’s sad. And I’m not laughing – but Steve Harvey is. I guess the joke’s on us…again.
Whatever happened to thinking like YOURSELF and stumbling upon someone who actually respects you for having the audacity to do so? Someone, who for once can view you as a lady for thinking like YOURSELF. But no. Instead you are told to mimic the miniscule minds not of men but of boys who see the fun in the chase rather than courtship. I have to say it baffles me that one sincerely thinks it takes nothing more than picking up the piss poor character traits of adolescent boys to win the affection of someone worthy. Not to mention someone far less likely to actually appreciate your individuality and mental aptitude. So once you get this man are you supposed to then stop thinking like him and commence to thinking like yourself? I don’t get it. You play the game to get him, and then retreat back into the impressionable, docile, simple-minded woman you had to be in the first place. That is, the impressionable, docile, simple-minded woman you had to be to take advice from, dare I say it – a comedian. He’s laughing at you and so am I.
It’s quite humorous, the 90 day rule, isn’t it? To make a man wait 90 days before sex to “strengthen” your relationship. WHAT RELATIONSHIP? That’s no relationship. Where I’m from we call that a TEASE. So while you’re keeping your kitty locked up for 90 days he’s banging the next woman who had the gall to actually think for herself! If it’s sex that you want then by all means, be forthcoming and let it be known. If not, then don’t have sex. Simple, isn’t it? This is not an ode to loose women by far, this is an ode to women and men who believe that a relationship is founded on respect, principle and understanding – not trickery.
The most obvious and blatant element of this book is the plot behind the text. Train us to be with men who play games, until we’re so good at it that we cheat ourselves out of love. We play each other til the death like it’s a fierce duel, and then end up babies mama’s and babies daddies – jaded and bitter about the world and the people around us. But wait there’s more; come out with a blockbuster film featuring a beautiful cast that we trick ourselves into believing we can relate to. We laugh at the cliché one-liners, sink in our seats at the scenes that remind us of the mistakes we’ve made and are presently making. But life, my friends, is not a feature film. There are no “sets”…there’s simple reality. And until we dig our heads out the pages of this bullshit fairytale long enough to see that, we will constantly be fooling each other and ourselves.
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