‘Don’t be like that.’ - Black Mamba

There she was in all of her glory – booty popping out of her coochie shorts, long cleavage hanging peeking out of her low-cut halter top, three-toned hair swept up in an updo weave with cascading curls framing her face, back-in-the-day bamboo earrings glistening in the golden sun, cellulite stretching as far as the eyes could see, inked art on her breast and arm, nails…done (complete with jewels), teetering on 4 1/2 heels that clearly weren’t from Manolo Blahnik’s, Jimmy Choo’s or Christian Louboutin’s newest collection – strutting down the Daytona Beach catwalk boardwalk like she was Naomi as her admirers ogled and tried to grope her.

‘I’m just a bad bitch.’

A True 'Baddest Bitch'

The True ‘Baddest Bitch’

The filmmaker, who was producing a hip-hop documentary about masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in rap music, was in Daytona Beach for that year’s Hip-Hop summit. He called her over. The segment he was filming was called Bitches and Hos. (You see where I’m going with this?) He asked her how she felt about rappers referring to women as bitches and hos. She replied, ‘I don’t care ’cause I know they ain’t talking ’bout me.’ (Close your mouth.) I…was…speechless. She was poised, confident and – do I dare say it – a bit haughty. She was the baddest bitch and no one could tell her otherwise.

At first, I thought Ashton Kutcher was punking the filmmaker. Then I realized this female was utterly clueless. She had no idea how she appeared to the outside world. Although she looked the part, whether she was a bitch and/or a ho was unclear (more on that in another post). Mzzz. Daytona Beach made me wonder how many of us women are in her shoes and don’t even know it? So, when the creators of TheseStreets asked me to blog about TheseStreets from a women’s perspective, I jumped at the chance. The last thing I want is unassuming women ‘who don’t know any better’ to end up on one of the foot soldier’s blog and be described as thirsty or smashable.

I personally know all of the foot soldiers and believe me when I tell you they are exceptional guys. But, they’re still men. (I didn’t say dogs, I said men.) And although they know I’m going to tell you how to flip the script (or just not bother with them), don’t think for a minute they believe my words are going to put a wrench in their game. They know that a lot of women are like Mzzz. Daytona Beach. The moral of the story? Don’t be like that. Now…let’s get to work.