Monday, December 29, 2008

Touré Can't Find A Single Black "Thinking Man's Sex Symbol"



Former CNN pop culture correspondent -- whatever that means -- and present BET host Touré appears on The Daily Beast with his TMSS -- Thinking Man's Sex Symbol -- top ten list. As if it isn't bad enough that Touré's list omits Lucy Liu and Danish pastry Helena Christensen altogether (what was he thinking?), not a single of the top ten is an African-American. Charmed, I'm sure. Touré bloviates in the wind up:

"A man has two minds. The lower mind is a brainless whore excited by any woman with breasts, curves, and a thong. The upper mind, which works with actual grey matter, is more persnickety. The upper mind, when employed, is moved by intelligence, success, power, self-confidence, a smart sense of humor, and, of course, not having a castrating nature.

"And that’s the challenge. Can a woman be independent, creative, sharp, witty, strong, and self-empowering without making me feel like she wants to be a man? Ann Coulter and Judith Regan could never make the list—they’re sexy, brainy, powerful, but I feel like they secretly want to steal my manhood."


Oh dear. After the gassy windup comes the pitch. We are treated to a photo gallery into the theater of Touré's empty skull, including, in order: Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholme (#10), Samantha Power (#9), Jhumpa Lahiri (#8), M.I.A. (#7), Meredith Vieira (#6), Lisa Ling (#5), Katie Couric (#4), Sarah Silverman (#3), Tina Fey (#2) and Ana Ivanovic (#1). Toure, perhaps conscious of his omission and possible backlash adds British-Jamaican author Zadie Smith as an "obligatory honorary mention" -- his words.

This from a BET host? Not to begrudge all of his choices -- Samantha Power, in particular -- but why couldn't Touré, who represents Black Entertainment Television, find a single African-American women to break his Top Ten "Thinking Woman's Sex Symbol" list? What does that say about Touré's thinking about thinking African-American women, hmm? No Taraji P. Henson? No Fredricka Whitfield of CNN? No Victoria Rowell? No Michelle Obama? No Regina King?

Oh Touré, desist .. desist!

(Image: TheDailyBeast)

1 comment:

Frank said...

Maybe Touré feels Black women are all out to steal his manhood.

If a man doesn't find Fredricka Whitfield sexy, his upper-lower mind connection ain't working right.