Stick To Your Wings

Okay, many of you know that I’m a big Rihanna fan.  I think she has a great voice.  I think she has a lot of range and versatility.  I think she’s hot.  I think she’s one sexy babe.  Don’t care for all the tattoos, and I could do without seeing her dancing like she’s on somebody’s pole at Carnival, but hey she’s still young.  She’ll get over that….hopefully.  Or maybe she’ll be like Madonna and still publicly twerk in her 60’s.  We’ll see.

So the other day I saw the story about Alexis Carter, a Baltimore teen who wore a similar outfit like Rihanna’s to her prom.  Apparently the dress, well it was more of a costume, did not go over too well with audience, and she was mocked on social media including by Rihanna herself.

First Alexis said that everyone loved it, but after Rihanna “cyber bullied” her, she refused to show her face in public and was extremely hurt.  Now if Rihanna had praised the outfit, you know Miss Alexis would have gladly shown her face in the interview, gladly talked about her outfit and gladly accepted her 15 minutes of fame.

Alexis, you don’t need Rihanna or anybody else for that matter, telling you that you look good.  Personally, I didn’t care for it myself either, and she really looked like she was waiting for her batmobile.  But who cares!  You like Rihanna, well at this point, LIKED, so what if you don’t get her approval.  If you were bold enough to wear that outfit in public, then be bold enough to defend it, no matter what the entire world says.  You claimed that everyone loved it, but now you are crying in shame because Rihanna made fun of you, and a bunch of people joined her.

Are you telling me that you can’t find a thing or two to laugh at Rihanna about and move on with your life?  Come on!  You were bold enough to wear a batsuit to your high school prom.  Surely, you are bold enough to just mention Chris Brown or just show her a text or sing one of his songs to get her off your back.  And this is coming from one of Rihanna’s biggest fans.  Instead, you’d rather hide in shame than knock her down a notch or 40?  Come on, now!  Where is that brave Alexis?  Your life hasn’t ended; it just started, Girlfriend.

By the way, since when can’t we make fun of 16 year olds if they do something ridiculous, in our opinion?  Because that is exactly what it is – Rihanna’s opinion.  Okay, mine too.  She looked ridiculous in that contraption.  When 16 year olds get accepted to Ivy League colleges, we rightfully praise them; so why can’t we make fun of those who go to Hollywood themed proms dressed like bats?

Since I’m fired up, let me just say that I’m sick and tired of these wimpy terms that people are creating like cyber bullying.  And don’t get me wrong, I feel badly for people who take their own lives because they feel bullied.  But if someone was talking smack to me on the internet, there are so many other options I can chose besides suicide.  I can change my username, use an alias, delete my account, only use the internet for educational purposes.

A while back, some lady came to my door and said that my child was messing with her child on the bus and called her fat.  I succeeded in keeping a straight face, but I thought to myself, “Well, is she fat?”  If she is indeed on the fluffy side, and you and she don’t like it, then do something about it because whether or not he notices, that does not change the issue.  But the bigger point was this: Are you telling me that her child could not look at my child and find something to mock him about?  The boy literally had something against lotion for a while there.  It didn’t matter how much lotion, Aquaphor, body oil or gel was staring him in the face, he was just a wash-n-go kinda kid.  And ChapStick and Vaseline Lip Therapy were not his friends either.  Is her daughter blind?  He was such an easy target.

The amount of people who were pouring out heartfelt thoughts to this girl and saying that they won’t buy any more of Rihanna’s albums was crazy.  Don’t buy them, or buy them; who cares!  The bigger issue is that we are raising a generation of wusses.  Kids can’t play dodge ball anymore because it is too dangerous.  Kids can’t wear certain clothes or shoes to school anymore because outer kids might feel badly about being poor.  Kids can no longer get hardcover yearbooks because other kids might feel badly about only affording the softcover ones.  Kids can’t have recess anymore because, I don’t even know what the reason for this one is!

All I’m saying, Alexis, is when you saw Rihanna in the outfit, you were pleased.  When you decided to wear it to your prom, you were pleased.  When you created it yourself, you were pleased.  When all your friends complemented you, you were pleased.  Stick to your gun and keep loving it.  Don’t let other people’s opinions deter you from enjoying your batsuit, Child.  Years from now, you will look back on this time and laugh…hopefully.  But perspectively speaking, that is part of growing up, so welcome to your new reality, my Dear.