Basketball Wives. Football Wives. Hip-Hop Wives. Love and Hip-Hop. Real Housewives of _______(take your pick). Now I heard they're coming out with Mob Wives. All of the aforementioned shows are either guilty secrets or shows people shamelessly watch. But my question is, where are the REAL wives of Real Life?
When I say "Real Life", I mean the life we live when we wake up and there are no cameras rolling. I mean, are there any out wives out there in the Afro-Am community b/w ages of 21-39? There isn't enough material out there to generate "Section 8 Wives", "Real Housewives of the Hood" or "Real HouseWives of ____" where they just feature regular Afro-Am married couples? I guess the apropos title would be "Baby Mamas of Birmingham."
Including family and friends, I only know 4 black married couples (ages 21-39)! They represent healthy and wholesome relationships built on rock-solid foundations and substance. I can't speak for other regions, but I live in Atlanta. I've always said 'Atlanta is a good place to raise kids and a family, but a terrible place to find your soulmate and or family.' Everybody and their momma is trying to move to the A, and the perception of the city from outside looking in is far cry from the reality!
When you don't live in Atlanta, you think you're missing everything. Just because most of the music from your favorite show/artist is produced here, you think you have to be here. Because all of these rappers are name dropping clubs and malls like Velvet Room, Magic City,Lennox and Phipps, that has the whole black commerce nation thinking they can only buy their Gucci or Jordans on Peachtree Street. With all that said, the city perpetuates a superficial, opulent, glamorous, and excessive lifestyle that most people can't sustain. I can't front, people besides athletes, rappers, and dopeboys are getting it, but the pressure to conform to this affluent image can immensely affect the process of engagement and interaction between males and females. Meaning, if you don't adhere to a certain image, or you're not plugged into the industry, then you're not gonna get quality "buns" (video girl-esque) and conversely if you're a lady not conforming to this objectified image, you wont end up with a "baller." Thats just a presumptuous observation from an immature single dude who covets both substance and superficiality...but sophisticated or mature enough to value and cherish internal qualities and attributes.
It's either that (following the Atlanta blueprint) or you marry your highschool and/or college sweetheart. If that doesn't workout, most people marry who they end up working with...Taking it back to Atlanta screw marrying somebody, you just want to meet somebody! Because it's so spread, the best places to find women are surprisingly remote and humble locations like the grocery store, the gas station, and MAYBE church, but everyone is on to that....I don't know, I think the best way to court or meet someone compatible is to meet them somewhere where ya'll have a mutual connection or interest (ie if your an ant collector, and u go to an ant farm and find a cutie there, there's a good chance you guys are going to connect because of a shared interest... that interest is more substantive then going to the club and your shared interest with someone is your love for Young Moolah baby!)
According to US Census Bureau, 70% of black families were headed by married couples in 1963, and in 2002 that number was down to 48. As of 2011, these are the new marriage stats in the Afro-Am community:
*(1) Forty-two percent of black adults have never been married, compared with just 26 percent of all American adults.(2) By the time most black Americans reach their early 30s, half have never married, compared with 31 percent or less for other racial and ethnic groups.(3) Black women ages 35 to 44 are the only group of American women of child-bearing age with lower rates of marriage than men of the same race or ethnicity.(4) By their early 40s, 31 percent of black women have never been married, compared to 9 percent of white women, 11 percent of Asian women and 12 percent of Hispanic women.
*USCensusBureau/TheYbf.com
