"Single Ladies": Art Imitating Life?

By: Ebony L. McCline


Despite the age, for many African-American women living the "single life" is very much a reality. While the reasons may vary, this is especially true for those women who are professionals. You know, the women who appear to have it all when it comes to their careers. For most of these women, having it "all" comes at a price, then the age old question comes to mind: is it going to be a successful career or a happy family? Of course, this is 2011, but let's be real, just as much as we see teen pregnancies, we also see single, successful women of all ages without any children. To this very day, I still wreck my brain trying to figure out if you can truly have both. Most of the time, it comes down to sacrifice, which one is most important at a particular time in your life?


It's not as if single women can escape this reality that is harsh for some, because there are constant reminders everywhere. It's the topic of phone conversations, talk show discussions, it's all the rage on social networking sites, and it's played out in movies and now on VH1's new series, "Single Ladies." Just two weeks ago, the telling series premiered, stirring up quite a bit of conversation. 


The first thing I thought was that the series is definitely an example of art imitating life. With a star-studded cast of beautiful actors/actresses, "Single Ladies" is one show that has the ability to have some promise. As much as the story lines can be a bit far-fetched, at the core, it all makes sense. Unfortunately, I'm sure viewers can actually relate. The point is made that women, especially African-American women, are single for their own individual reasons. 


Logically, you would assume that the older you get, the easier a lot of things would be, but that seems to be so far from the truth, especially when it comes to relationships. One thing is for sure, as much energy that is put into talking about being single and trying to analyze your "status," that same energy could be channeled towards being productive in that same area. Maybe the issue is that most women would rather "talk" about it opposed to being about it.