Apparently Erykah got things pretty passionate on Twitter after she tweeted her thoughts on how young ladies should dress at school in order to be protected from men.
Feminists were not happy with Ms. Badu.
US Weekly writes:
On and on, indeed. In a long-winded Twitter rant, R&B legend Erykah Badu stated that girls should wear long skirts to school so as not to distract male teachers.
“There was an article ruling that high school girls lower their skirts so male teachers are not distracted. I agreed because I am aware we live in a sex I-driven society …” she wrote on Monday, April 11. “If I had a school I would make sure that the uniform skirt length was a nice knee length … It is fair to everyone.”
Badu, who is the mother of two daughters, Puma, 11, and Mars, 7, felt compelled to voice her opinion after reading a news story about a New Zealand school that forced female students to wear conservative skirts that fall below the knee.“It is everyone’s, male and female’s responsibility to protect young ladies,” she continued. “One way to protect youth is to remind them we are sexual in nature and as they grow and develop it is natural to attract men.”
However, the singer, 44, contradicted herself several tweets later by saying that her daughters should be able to “wear what they like, yet be aware.” She then reverted back to her initial argument by writing: “We are sexual beings. We should consider everyone. Young girls are attractive. Some males are distracted.”
After catching so much heat for her tweets, Erykah then tweeted the following:
Honestly people need to stop taking what Erykah says and tweets to heart. She’s a very out of the box person and you’re not going to agree with most of her beliefs. But as long as she makes good music, I don’t really care.
Girl what? It’s like she doesn’t even know what she believes in sometimes. But whatever.
She tries way too hard to be deep and it’s annoying. I had to unfollow her.
#DEAD
I’m not really surprised by anything she said. A lot of women believe this.
I think men are coddled way too much in our society. Regardless of what women and young ladies wear, men need to learn how to be respectful and act like they have sense. We’re not animals. We are able to make conscious choices.
I strongly disagree but I still love her.
Well at least she didn’t delete her tweets and stood by her opinion like a G.
Twitter is really nothing but a place for talented people to get in trouble. I wish more celebrities would just stop tweeting their opinions all day long. Shut up and get your money.
First, teachers, whether male or female, have presumably had 4 years of higher education. If you know plagiarism is wrong, you know very well that ogling young kids or entering into inappropriate relationships with them is also wrong. That’s plain in my eyes, and I know others will agree.
Second, Ms. Badu has walked down the street in broad daylight butt-booty a** naked. So, there’s that.
However, I get the “oversexualized society” part. As a mother of two “tween” black females, I would never want them to go outside of my protection as easy prey for a predator. So I try to teach them common decency (in dress, word, and actions), which is not so common these days among their peers.
A woman can wear what she wants, and I, as a black woman, for one appreciate the women, especially black women, who helped to ensure my right to do so, along with a myriad of other things.
But, I do not think wearing revealing outfits makes you stronger than you already are, and covering up head to toe will not do it either. Or more of a woman, or more outspoken, or more powerful, or more anything. In the right context, it can make you appear confident, whether you are or not. And I know I’m veering off the topic, lol, but in this “Insta” society, we know that many women dress in skimpy clothing simply for attention, and then say, I’m a feminist, and I am offended in the name of feminism, if you call me out or have a negative opinion about it. I have the right to think you need to present yourself in a better light (or put some damn clothes on!) without it furthering the agenda of men.
Women certainly can wear what they want, but do we want to present the idea of being a free-thinker and independence based on how much skin can be shown? No. Do we want to cover ourselves because of what society or a man may say, think, or do? No. We have to have balance, and whether people like it or not, or reasons why, our children need to be protected from thinking the world is like social media. But the idea of longer skirts will do nothing about a perverted teacher. It starts at home, teaching kids to value themselves, and teaching girls that their gifts are not tied into appearance. Teaching them to be so free that we see a** cheeks for days hinders them, just like telling them that covering up is the only way to be respected is a hindrance.
Sorry for the book, but I am tired of seeing girls seek validation in the form of the Kim K’s, Black Chynas, or the Amber Roses of the world, and then see grown people who should know better turn around and say it boils down to more clothes. It boils down to speaking wisdom in the lives of kids, male or female, and when they grow up we will see them making “real” power moves, instead if posing and showing their “moves” on social media.
I apologize again for the long post. 🙂