I ain't saying she's a gold digger ...

After Juliette's "I am a gold-digger" proclamation, 4:05 into And God Made Woman, I could not get Kanye West's 2005 hit out of my head for the remainder of the film[1]. In my Human Ethology class, we just finished reading a book by Deborah Tannen in which she studied the differences in the verbal interactions between men and women and how that impacts their work and relationships. I could not help but think about Tannen’s description of men seeing the world as hierarchy, in which everything is a battle where they must preserve independence, convey knowledge and avoid failure, while women value community, empathy and approach the world as an individual trying to make connections and avoid isolation[2]. Though both descriptions are generalizations of gender, Juliette and many of the men in our film fit these descriptions. Juliette throughout the film is searching for the love and attention she never felt she received as an orphan and the men in the movie who pursued her seemed to view her as something to be tamed, a broken individual who needs fixing.

Much like Bridget Todd, a social media editor at MSNBC.com mentioned in the NYT article, as a woman of color I struggle everyday with making sure my hair isn’t presentable and I’m just going to class! I couldn’t imagine her stress level in getting “TV ready” each day. Even though I am not in the public eye the same way Todd is, it is disheartening to hear that our Afro naturally curly hair is so off-putting to some and I’m frustrated that these comments are used to undermine our intelligence and divert focus from our knowledge and accomplishments. My favorite part of the article was the final theory as to why many commentators focus is on the fashion of women in media, “… the commentators are unable to respond on the substance”[3]. This resonated with me because many times when any woman is attacked about her appearance, we seldom hear a follow-up complaint about the validity of her comments. People are quick to find something bad to say about you, and as sad as it is, if they can’t talk down your intelligence, the best they can do is attack your clothing. These types of people need to find a hobby, knitting is always fun.

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[1] Lévy, Raoul, Roger Vadim, Brigitte Bardot, Curd Jürgens, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jane Marken, Jean Tissier, et al. 2000. Et Dieu-- créa la femme God created woman. [United States]: Criterion Collection.

[2] Deborah Tannen, You just don't understand: women and men in conversation (New York: Harper 2007).

[3] Pamela Paul, “She Sounds Smart, but Look at Her Hair!,” The New York Times, March 27, 2015, accessed March 31, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/style/she-sounds-smart-but-look-at-her-hair.html.