Tyler Perry & Madea

         This may be one of the most painful books I have ever had to read. I am not a Tyler Perry fan, and I

 purposely have not engaged with any of his 'Madea' content before. Since this book was published in

 2006, we can see how much popular culture has progressed. My choice to avoid his films was affirmed

 within the foreword of Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings. Perry puts an interesting

 distance between himself and Madea, not acknowledging that she is a character that he makes up and

 gives voice to. Instead of taking accountability for the random things she says, he says it is typical

 'Madea' behavior. He writes, "She's not politically correct. She doesn't care about anything but what is

 honest and true," (viii) in the foreword as if the whole book is not just "Madea's" opinions. There is a

 difference between truth and opinion, and I think you can be politically correct while caring about the

 truth. 

        Perry's Madea is a misogynistic, racist, fatphobic caricature of Black women and I am appalled at the

 fact that this used to be considered funny. Perry writes, "After the baby and all that other stuff, things

 aren't tight and firm no more," (13). He continues in another section, "If you're looking for a good man, he

 don't want to know that all his friends and everybody in the neighborhood done had a chance. You're like

 the old mattress that is being thrown out," (28). Madea has all of these scalding critiques of women, yet

 has very little to say about the way men act. My eye was twitching as I read this. Perry/Madea continue to

 use an extended metaphor comparing women's vaginas to frisbees and men to dogs that "chase after" said

 frisbees. At this point, I am disregarding any 'good' advice Perry/Madea have because I cannot move past

 the racism, misogyny, and fatphobia. 

        Perry's treatment of Black people in the book is horrendous as well. His use of vernacular is

 inconsistent, and it appears as though he is appealing to a white audience. He spends multiple sections

 talking about respectability politics and the problems with Black youths-- specifically young Black

 women-- today. None of this is comical. He writes, "These children-- especially the ones that I see--

 pardon me, if you're not black and you're reading this-- I'm talking about the people I see in my

 neighborhood-- cussing and screaming and yelling, talking louder than the boys, wanting to fight. I'd

 never in my life seen little girls act like this," (86). Again, my eye is twitching. Perry hides behind the veil

 of a Black woman to make his critiques, but he is just as culpable in this as 'Madea.' He talks a lot about

 identities which he does not belong to, and does not have the authority to make judgements about.