Does one size fit all? This Philosopher-In-Residence has been pondering this of late. As regular readers and members of Plankind may well be aware, this blog is partial to taking an irreverent look at how the metaphysical relates to the modern ways of the world.

Accordingly, this fortnight, this Philosopher will be musing on the moral messages linking the world’s hottest rap tune, Jane Elliott’s brown eyes/blue eyes experiment and waking up to being woke. What else would you expect?

RUMOURS

The rap track that’s racing up the charts and a collaboration between two rising stars, Lizzo and Cardi B. Having tapped my knuckles to this when it had come on the radio a few times previous, I was surprised in a “good wow” kind of way when I then saw that the video featured all Black females, either pregnant or “unskinny” (I hate the term curvy so much I’d rather go all Gilead on my fingertips than type this as a descriptor).

My first thought was to share this as a great example of body positivity.

My second thought was: actually I think this would be reinforcing the ridiculous body specificity the media has most of us hating ourselves or others about. It’s an absolute whack outrage that in 2021 I’ve never seen a popular music video entirely comprised of Black females with bulging bellies before.

My third thought cast my mind back to first learning about Jane Elliott’s famous classroom experiment. Children were assigned privileges in relation to their eye colour. The higher-privileged colour went on to develop a sense of superiority and expectation of prevalence. Sound familiar?

Next time you DON’T see a balance of society in the media you consume, call out the editor or producer. Let’s change the conversation to what we shouldn’t be seeing, rather than making overtures about what is normal in real life being strange on the small screen.

Next fortnight, I’ll be musing On Obsession. Compulsive reading, to be sure (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Please get in touch with any particular aspects of this topic you’d like me to write about.

In the meantime,

Happy Planning

PS If you want some other free tips for your business life, check out the Working Well blog – out fortnightly on Wednesdays, courtesy of Make Me A Plan’s Productivity Expert, Penny Le Kelly. Browse the latest edition here: https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/gaslighting-in-the-workplace/