“But first we must learn to respect ourselves. That’s the test we must pass, the challenge of our lives.” – Sista Souljah
Every 90's baby loves a good Fresh Prince pick up line. Hardly flattering, yet always funny.
"Girl, you look so good I wish I could plant you and grow a whole field of y'all."
"Somebody call the cops, 'cause it's got to be illegal to look that good."
"Hey girl, you look so good I'd marry your brother just to get in your family."
Just a few of his best lines from his days of collecting the honeys. But aside from the corny humor, what are cat calls really teaching our men and women of the world? That it’s okay to be loud & obnoxious, or that respect has no place in a relationship? When you stop and think about it, cat calls are degrading for both men and women. They affirm the lie that men and women don’t need to respect each other. A guy uses a corny pick up line or whistle to gain a woman’s attention; however, a woman can view it as a man being a pig. So now we have a male with a bad image and a women feeling disrespected. But this should not be the case.
We need to be careful how we raise our young men and women. Because regardless of how funny it was seeing Will get shut down by women for being childish; it’s not so funny in the real world. We want to make sure that when they grow up, they look more like men instead of boys playing dress up in daddy’s suit. And as little girls gain their maturity, we need to ensure that they understand what they deserve instead of accepting how they are treated. We need to extract the societal prototype and rebuild the brain of the male gender.
Put Adam back in the frontal lobe so that patience and understanding can be back at the beginning. Take Joseph and gloss him over the temporal lobe so that strength and creativity may lead them. Drill Paul into the center of the parietal lobe so that love and forgiveness can transcend through them. And pack David into the crevices of the occipital lobe so that they understand they always have God to fall back on. The Lord did not create men in the structure they are in. Society has molded them like clay and let it harden like Play-Doh in a form that is unfamiliar. So I suggest we melt it down and start over. And for my ladies…
God built us to need companionship, not to proclaim there are no good men. It’s a facade-filled world for a little time and attention. So let’s only portray how we want to be seen instead of what we are expected to look like. Give the men something to admire. Remind ourselves that if we want to be respected, then we must show signs that we are respectable. If you don’t want him telling you he likes your Coke body he wants to sip from, your figure eight in a prom dress, figure four lust test or figure two that you starved to be, then change your image.
Fresh Prince could easily be labeled the smoothest at cat calls and pick up lines. He knows how to balance humor and flattery with a dash of obnoxious.But this is a skill ill-mastered by many men. Cat calls get our attention, but what attention are you seeking? Depending on the woman you approach, you might get a number or a classic Jaz kick out. Choose wisely how you want to uplift our women. We aren't on television, and this isn't another episode of "The Fresh Prince."
