From Ha.lf Empty To Ha.Lf Full

Gator Boots, with the pimped out Gucci suit
Ain’t got no job, but I stay sharp
Can’t pay my rent, cause all my money’s spent
but thats OK, cause I’m still fly
got a quarter tank gas in my new E-class
But that’s alright cause I’m gon’ ride
got everything in my moma’s name
but I’m hood rich da dada dada da

[Baby :]
gotcha car play gems on shine, said its mine, get a mink, baby girl lets ride
You da Numba 1 stunna, and we gonna glide
and go straight to the mall, and turn out the inside
Prowler Gucci full length leather, Burbons cooler, Coogi sweater
twenty inches pop my feather, The Bird man daddy I fly in any weather
Alligator seats with the head in the
inside
Swine on the dash, G-Wagon so Fly
Numba 1 don’t tangle and twisle
when it come to these cars I am that nigga
The Gucci with the matching interior
3 wheel ride with the tire in the middle
Its Fresh and stunna and we like brothers,
We shine like paint daddy this our summer…

Women are not crazy for wanting to have a discussion about body image. And the conversation isn’t as superficial as the one Dove keeps encouraging us to have. It is a conversation about sexism and racism. It is a conversation about the real reason we try to shrink our waists and whiten our teeth (and sometimes even our skin). Most of the time we don’t do those things to make ourselves happy, we do them for someone else. I think we should start talking about that.

The easiest place to see discrimination is our incomes. Modeling is one of the few professions where women actually out-earn men. And across all jobs, studies have found that more attractive women earn more. A woman’s value is too often skin-deep. In 2004 a study found that resumes with very African-American-sounding names were 50 percent less likely to get called for an initial interview. And racial bias in salaries is overwhelming. While white women make an average of 78 cents for every man’s dollar, for African-American women that number drops to 62 cents, and for Hispanic women to 54 cents.

Unfortunately, the industry with the most potential to change this reality is also a site where women have little access. In the media, where we can powerfully perpetuate as well as undermine damaging stereotypes, both coverage and employment are hard to come by (The OpEd Project).

Physical appearance plays an enormous role in who gets seen. When women and other marginalized groups do get access to the media, they often have to fit into a narrow definition of what the people in charge are looking for. Women, for example, are more likely to be portrayed as victims when they get news coverage, and are more likely to be depicted wearing sexy clothing when they are cast in Hollywood’s leading roles.

I’ve experienced this first hand. During the last couple months of press around my TEDx talk, when I’ve suggested that TV producers include more women in discussions around access to media, they wanted to see headshots. (Not bios, or clips, or anything a sane person curating a panel would ask for.) And while last year women wrote just 20 percent of all op-eds, over the last month I have been invited to contribute more op-eds than I have time to write. Many an editor has made it clear why I’ve been invited to contribute. “We sought you out because of how you look,” one put bluntly.

Women are often worried about how they look and that’s not superficial. We know that our appearance has nothing to do with how smart, creative, or hardworking we are, but it plays powerfully into what society decides we are worth. There are healthy ways to have this dialogue. A good place to start is inviting those who are marginalized and discriminated against into the conversation more often.
…

Ah-head of my time, sometimes years out
So the powers that be won’t let me get my ideas out
And that make me wanna get my advance out
And move to Oklahoma and just live at my Aunt’s house
Yeah, I romance the thought of leavin it all behind
Kanye step away from the lime-
-light, like, when I was on the grind
In the “One, Nine, Nine, Nine”
Before, model chicks was bendin over or
Dealerships asked me Benz or Rover, man
If I could just get one beat on Hova
We could get up off this cheap-ass sofa
What the summer of the Chi got to offer an 18-year-old
Sell drugs or get a job, you gotta play gyro
My dawg worked at Taco Bell, hooked us up plural
Fired a week later the manager count the churros
Sometimes I can’t believe it when I look up in the mirrow
How we out in Europe, spendin Euros
They claim you never know what you got ‘til it’s GONE
I know I got it, I don’t know what y’all on
I’ma open up a store for aspiring MC’s
Won’t sell ‘em no dream, but the inspiration is free
But if they ever flip sides like Anakin
You’ll sell everything includin the mannequin
They got a new bitch now you Jennifer Aniston
Hold on I’ll handle it, don’t start panickin, stay calm
Shorty’s at the door cause they need more
Inspiration for they life, they souls, and they songs
They said sorry Mr. West is gone!