Glambition [Episode #4]: Stay In Your Lane

Alas, I'm late again! No shade, but I simply had better things to do than slave over a Glambition blog post... Whoops! In any case, I've watched the rest of the season, and I do some thoughts. Thoughts everywhere!

Most of the drama this episode centered on a tiff between Isoke and Leah. Firstly, we see Leah house-hunting for a place closer to the heart of Port-of-Spain (the capital of Trinidad and Tobago) so that she can be closer to her business ventures. Predictably, she's caught between a place she loves and can't afford, and a places she can afford, but doesn't love. But, either way, she gave us the line of the night: "Champagne tastes with mauby pockets." Love it! I might have to take that as my personal motto, because lord knows it describes my life!

Later, Leah meets up with Bianca, and talks a little bit about being Ms. World, and her perception of Sarah Jane's distress that she can't "do anything" because people expect her to be a pageant queen. (insert eyeroll...) Leah does make some salient point however, and I really appreciated her self awareness about knowing that the expectations of a beauty queen will often be at odds with the reality, forcing them to deal with an undue amount of scrutiny and criticism. My real problem with Sarah Jane is that she seems to want to co-opt that experience for herself, when in reality, the 4th place queen probably doesn't have it that hard...

On Why I Hate Taking Public Transportation In Trinidad

People think that I'm a princess because I don't like to use public transportation. I get teased about it all the time, and it doesn't help that my sense of navigation is abysmal. People think that I'm well-off and don't travel because I don't want to "slum it." Well, they're wrong on all counts.

I do not like to use public transportation because doing so makes me feel unsafe. I hate travelling, and I only do it when absolutely necessary. I will make plans around whether or not I will be required to travel. I will sometimes abandon plans altogether if it means travelling through a certain place or past a certain hour. And honestly? I'm just lucky. I have sometime-y access to a personal vehicle, and a flexible enough schedule that I can make arrangements arounds it's availability to me. Lots of women don't have that privilege or that choice, but it's what I do to ensure my own sense of personal security and control.

When I was younger, I thought maxi taxis (the vehicles in the picture above, and one of the main modes of transportation in Trinidad) were AMAZING. At eight years old, there was nothing I wanted more than to ride in one. They were alluring and strange and I thought they were cool. But I'm an only girl. My parents refused to allow me to travel because it "wasn't safe." A small female child travelling alone in a school uniform would make me a target for harassment or buggery. And I believed them. Because when you're eight, your parents are superhuman and they know everything.

As a result, I didn't really start using public transportation with any regularity until I was around 16 and I was sneaking off to my boyfriend's house. (Yes, that happened. I was a harlot. Deal with it.) And it only was then that I realized that even though my parents' fears for me were largely exaggerated, they weren't entirely unfounded.

#Scandal: Hell Hath No Fury Like Mellie Grant Scorned

Last night's episode of Scandal was too much to handle on a number of levels. There was a ton going on, and if you blinked too often you probably missed half of it. But what stood out the most to me this week, was the incremental development of the souring relationship between FLOTUS Mellie Grant, and her husband, POTUS Fitzgerald Grant. 

At the beginning of the season, I made a case for why Mellie doesn't deserve the bad reputation she's gotten, and this week, I think we got a little more information to back up my case. Bellamy Young's fantastic performance gave Mellie an emotional depth that I'm so glad we're finally getting to explore. 

Firstly, Mellie still loves Fitz. There is no question about that. It is fact, and it becomes even more obvious as the weeks roll by. For whatever reason, Mellie loves her abusive asshole of a husband, and she wants things to work out between them. To me this episode, specifically her drunk speech in the dining room, shows that Mellie is finally beginning to realize that there is nothing left for her to do. There is nothing she can do that will ever make Fitz love her the way that he loves Olivia, and it's making her bitter and hard. 

Glambition [Episode #3]: The Business of Fashion

I'm two weeks late on this review so I'll try to make it short and sweet. It helps that most of the focus this week on was the professional pursuits of the women, rather than on interpersonal drama. Thank God for small mercies. Let's get down to business.

Isoke is still trying to position herself as a worthy successor to her father's business, and it seems as though she's getting considerable pushback from father's girlfriend. I appreciate that she's trying to step up. I don't know the history of her familial relations or the business' history, so I can't comment on whether or not she makes a good fit as a business leader, but she seems very determined to elevate the company from local parlour to international brand. That's exactly the kind of vision and forethought that you need in business, and it certainly tilts the scales in her favour. Isoke seems determined and driven, and that alone bodes well for her.

Work B*tch: Compliment Or Command?

This post is painfully overdue! It's been about a week and a half now since Britney's video for her new single "Work Bitch" dropped, and I have some thoughts! Many thoughts. Critical commentary thoughts! Let's get cracking.

This song is terrible. There's no getting around that. But I actually really like the video; it's fun and energetic, and it at least makes a show of trying to return Britney to her former glory, but it never quite manages to get to "peak Britney."

Firstly, the dancing. Oh good lord the dancing.... Britney's always been a bit of a one trick pony when it comes to choreography. She's lots of arms, torso and face. That's fine, but she's been doing that since 1999, and her repertoire needs a little updating. But all of that could be overlooked if she still had the same intensity of Toxic era Britney. I know that she has a knee injury a few years back and hasn't really been as physically capable since, but there's a fire in her eyes that's been missing since her breakdown. 

Don't get me wrong, Britney looks better here than she has in a really long time. Physically she's back in fighting shape, but she looks like she'd rather be anywhere but where she is. She's no longer the Britney who enjoyed entertaining us. Which brings me to the main point of this post:                                   

Although Britney has co-opted drag culture slang for her new single, she's completely flipped the context of the epithet. In drag, "work bitch!" is a compliment akin to "You know you look good! Get on with your bad self!" It's encouragement; it's praise.

With Britney's new single, she presents "Work Bitch!" as a command, especially in the context of the lyrics of the song. Here, "Work bitch" serves as a command; a warning. You want a hot body? You want a Bugatti? You better work bitch. In a way it speaks to her work ethic. She knows that if you want the finer things, you have to be prepared to work for them. On the same token however, it reads like a reprimand and a reminder. Britney is her family's cash cow. This club anthem is actually a call to arms for herself; a blaring reminder that she has no choice but to keep the monkey dancing if want to maintain her lifestyle. Britney has publicly expressed that she's no longer comfortable with her sexy image and that she'd rather just be at home with her boys, but for whatever reason, she's unable to do that.

So is this song an empowering anthem, or a metaphorical cattle prod reminding her to keep going? What do you think?