Black People, Why Are WE Mad That Blake Shelton Is People Mag’s Sexiest Man Alive?

Listen, when I saw that Blake Shelton had been named People Magazine’s sexiest man alive, I might have raised an eyebrow or two.

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But my questions about it died before they were even formed. The magazine cover  reminded me of this news clip we’ve all seen:

So I wasn’t all that surprised. However, within minutes of the announcement, my timeline became flooded with think-piece after think-piece coupled with faux-outrage about these white people publishing a magazine with one of their own on the cover.

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I thought to myself, am I in the Twilight Zone? Blake Shelton, for the record, isn’t sexy or unsexy to me; I don’t care. What I care about is the number of black folks out here wanting to see one of our own represented on a magazine not made for us. The Root recently published this article:

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The list, of course, blesses us with photos of beautiful black men. And for the record, I agree wholeheartedly with the list. But do I need white folks to see that our men are sexy and put him on their magazines? No. No I do not. We don’t have anything to prove to people who do not see us. And try as we might, publishing these articles, while shaming the man elected, does not, in any way, force these people to see us. They brought us here on slave ships! Kill us like animals in the street to. this. day.  Hell, they Elected 45!  Yet we want them to see us as beautiful? Put us on their magazines?!

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I am not of European descent,  so I have spent much of my life in the dark about how folks from that part of the world perceive beauty. I find much of this blonde haired blue eyed  phenomenon bizarre, to say the least, but hell, it’s not my culture. As long as they keep it to their own media outlets, like People, I’m not mad.   History has certainly shown that they do not find people who look like me attractive, so while I might chuckle or even side eye their choices, I gives no damns.

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Am I alone on this one, people? Y’all can tell me, for real. Cuz I swear, every day I find myself more and more at odds with what social media declares to be synonymous with “woke.”  I wish I would beg these folks to see me, shit….

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5 Comments

  1. ShawnTe Pierce says:

    When I heard Blake was chosen for that magazine’s Sexiest man alive, I was like, “Go ‘head, Blake!” Then I went back under the covers because I was cold. Sure there are other men who physically look better but I can see his appeal. He is funny, not bad-looking, and can sing (I do like country music).

  2. Stephanie says:

    I agree. People magazine has been missing the mark for years. Black people need to stop begging for inclusion and acceptance from them! White culture is none of black folks business and the sooner some of us can see that the better off they’ll be.

  3. Andrea Simpson-Jones says:

    It’s not a black thing. The late-night talk show hosts made all kinds of jokes about it and they are all white. It’s just wrong on so many levels.

    1. My post was directed at black people and black media outlets, though. I’m not so concerned about what white hosts are joking about. My point is why do we, black people, have a bone in this fight? Why are WE insisting that one of our own would have been a better fit to be included in a magazine that has, historically, not included us. I even included an image of the last 20 “people magazine hottest men of the year” covers to reinforce my point.

  4. NoMoreCandy4U says:

    It didn’t surprise or upset me because that’s a white magazine.
    And Lisa, that image of those other 20 men, NONE of them are SEXY TO ME.

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