At A Moments Notice...

So it seems beauty does matter!

One of the recurring questions or should I say comments I keep receiving regarding my novel is the physical descriptions of my characters. I have been told by some, accused by others, of creating characters that are way more beautiful than your typical bruh/sis walking down the street. Though I have attempted to explain my theory: beauty is in the eye of the beholder, thus depending on who you ask even someone like Mike Tyson is to-die-for, I have still been hit with: "but that's not me you're describing".

So needless to say I began to think perhaps I had in fact done something wrong. Maybe, I reasoned, my characters are unreal and far from the common beauty so many of us say we want or possess. *Sucks teeth loudly* Yeah fucking right. I am convinced most of the people who complained about my descriptions have serious issues with the way they look. While writing I'm On My Way I made sure I did not over exaggerate the physicality's of my characters largely because so many other writers tend to do this. Instead I sought to describe them through their personalities. You get to know all of my characters personally before you even learn their physical attributes. I did this for two reasons.

One. Though we often hate to admit it, we are a shallow society. It is not enough that a person possess all the things we say we desire while searching for a relationship, he/she has to be physically beautiful too. Not just beautiful to us, but to our friends, families, co-workers, etc. He/she has to walk a certain way, talk a certain way, and if he/she happens to be gay fit a pre-defined stereotype: top/bottom, femme/aggressive, masculine/straight-acting. One of the prime reasons some of us can't find a love is because we're not looking for a relationship as much as we are a type...or as I like to refer to them: a gimmick.

Two. As a reader I rarely get the images some writers use when describing their characters, and that frustrates me, especially if they use an entire paragraph to do this. Maybe I'm not imaginative, or maybe, just maybe the person they're trying to describe with the almond eyes, regal neck, thick cinnamon complexion with freckles scattered about just doesn't click. I'd much rather some of them explain their characters personal characteristics than their physical characteristics, except of course when it comes to sex.

But I digress.

All of this comes on the heels of yet another conversation with yet another person about how beauty should not be a factor or rather a major factor in our lives.

Enter the real world.

Literally. This season it seems er'body and their mother is talking about the real world. Now I know for a fact there has been a gay housemate every season since the show's inception. It's a staple, sorta like the token blackie. But it seems this new guy Karamo is behind all the ooohs and ahhhs. Is it because he's black. No. Is it because he's educated. No. Most of us don't care jack shit about that. It's because he's a handsome, masculine, non-finger snapping black man that could very well be the boy next door. A boy apparently some of us would not mind sopping up with a biscuit. You would not believe how many comments I've heard and read about ole boy and his revelation on the season premiere of the Real World Philadelphia. Or how many people are eager to tune in this week, and every week thereafter just to see Karamo do his thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know some of you will swear you're watching it because it's history in the making. (bullshit) Or because you're a reality junkie. (bullshit) Or because there was absolutely nothing else on television. (bullshit) But y'all can't fool me. I know like me you love a good piece of eye candy. I know you wanna see what the ass looks like, or somehow get just one good look at his print (I know some of you got the tivo ready), or maybe even see what type of guys he gets into...and it seems only right. Because after all, we're ordinary plain Jane folks, and well, guys like him, they're just fiction. Right?