Posted by Mark Wyche Morehouse College
on August 22, 2004 at 21:01:09:
A Woman's Worth
'A Woman's Worth,' 'This Woman's Work,' 'When A Woman's Fed Up'... themes familiar to many people. Sure, they're all, based on popular music preferences, great songs. They're also familiar for a different reason. Many women have lived, felt and symbolized these themes.
What do these themes mean to a man? In most cases, very little or nothing at all. After all, having a conscience about the role some of us have played in a woman's pain and/or misfortune could dramatically shape our behavior, our outlook, and our approach to women. It means that men would actually have to take a woman's feelings, her wants, her needs, and most important of all, her heart, seriously. It's simply too great of a risk to take.
Ladies, please be assured that I have not conceded anything on behalf of the male gender. Men aren't solely responsible for a woman being fed up, undervalued or devalued, and working for little or nothing in return. For those of you who with a different opinion, the HBCU Network has a discussion forum to make your voice heard.
Gentlemen, take a look around, refer to your history books, and take some time to reflect. Chances are you'll recall a "theme woman". She's "the one" that got away because you didn't care to keep her. She's the one that shined so brightly but never quite regained that brilliance after falling so hard. This theme woman is the one who would and could do it all. But all never would, or could, be enough. She could be your mother, your sister, or your close friend.
These are all very powerful scenarios. But the true power is in what one will find when he looks into the eyes of a theme woman, listens to her voice, observes her demeanor, feels her heart and pulse, and senses the depth of her soul. One will not only learn a lot about, and be affected by, this theme woman. He may perhaps learn some very important things about women overall. 'A Woman's Worth' may just carry greater significance than being a popular song...
"They say you can't turn a bad girl good. But once a good girl's gone bad she's gone forever."
-- Jay-Z