While some women still subscribe to the soft feminine model- alot of women in general don't want to be "soft" because soft in the minds of some women means vulnerable or dependent. We need to accept that women have been conditioned to be harder than necessary and meet them where they are now; hold them accountable 100% (I do it all the time) but not shame them for what they've been groomed to be in the first place. I agree that the statue was one unsubtle diss to BW, it really is the modern mammy stereotype. And notice how the guy who made the statues majority of the statues body language is agitated & unwelcoming, ZERO approachability. Liberal white ppl will praise it now, but wouldn't befriend or hang out with any BW that looked that unappealing in just the body language. Otherwise, redirecting back--- Fact is femininity is not soft, it's a more subtle force, & it's unifying just as masculinity is. Women are the hearts of the community, regardless of race, that's a human species constant- women & children are what unifies community. Women as vessels of life, are symbols of hope. People need to project that narrative & perpetuate that reality more than just "soft" femininity. _Women will be less likely to be intimidated or rightfully turned off by a implication of softness, which for a lot of men just means a woman that's non-threatening. Let's just put that out there._ Many BW are protecting status quo, yes, I stand by that. Agreed. But not all of this is white supremacy boogeyman; Asian, white, black, Indian, women are women. We need to look at what exactly it is we're saying to describe femininity & ask ourselves is "softness" flattering in any way as the world is now? Vs what we want it to be in fantasies or how things were. More importantly is it accurate to even describe femininity as soft vs an emotionally unifying force that drives society's social progress (for better & worse) or is it just comforting to say "soft" from the male perspective. We really need to slow down before we go pathologizing how women react to things & put yourself in their situation. As for the specific no-named person that attacked the book, yeah they likely got turned off by the cover itself; that much Shawn is correct on. If it was action driven comic or more pop culturally relevant or had an animated trailer- there'd be a wider window to reach the audience, because people as a whole like COOL shit- if Isis had like a Youtube exclusive trailer that looked anime or Boondocks inspired or John Haynes trailer fighting some villain or something, or hiring someone to ANIMATE a fight from the book: That would boost retention & reach people. The marketing of these books of Shawn's really needs to evolve as well. The vast ratio of blks that actually read like that isn't even over 50%, well below, so the medium itself is a turn off to most blacks to begin with & yet that group is exactly who Shawn is trying to reach. Self-defeating because formula & format and the target demographics aren't clicking. That also factors into a reaction like that persons.
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