The Harlem Club - politically incorrect or absolutely necessary?
 

just wanted to get folks opinions on this. personally, this is disturbing but not surprising. this takes the "Our Kind of People"/"BAP Handbook"-way of thinking to another level. what's next, the brown-paper bag test for those who missed it the first go-'round?

my people, my people
>The New York Sun
>January 7, 2004 Wednesday
>
>SECTION: NEW YORK; Pg. 2
>
>LENGTH: 602 words
>
>HEADLINE: Wanted: 'Eye Candy With a Brain'
>
>BYLINE: By DAVID ANDREATTA Staff Reporter of the Sun
>
>BODY:
>Promoters of a new club aimed at attracting young, affluent black and
>Latino
>professionals in the city has a requirement for women trying to get in:
>They
>must be pretty.
>
>
>An e-mail sent to 5,000 prospective members listed just two entry
>requirements - they must be professionals and must pay $2,500 to join.
>
>
>The requirements for women were more demanding: They must be
>college-educated, single and childless, under 35 years old, and they
>have
>to
>submit a "head to toe" photo.
>
>
>"Today's successful men want what they call eye candy with a brain," the
>email's author and the managing partner of the Harlem Club, Thomas
>Lopez-Pierre, explained of the disparate qualifications. "If we're going
>to
>
>let women in for free, our goal is to attract some of the most beautiful
>women in the city."
>
>
>Not surprisingly, the e-mail has provoked impassioned
>replies from women. They range from enthusiasm about a new singles scene
>to
>
>disgust with the inference that the homely need not apply.
>
>
>One woman wrote: "Why does this club sound like a brothel?"
>
>
>Another woman offered this assessment: "Did it ever occur to you that
>this
>club is politically incorrect and just plain sexist?"
>
>
>Scores of replies requested a formal application. But many more blasted
>the
>
>club for its perceived fraternity-party exclusivity. Ten men conceived
>the
>enterprise last month.
>
>
>Mr. Lopez-Pierre, 35, who with his wife publishes a magazine called
>Regine
>that caters to upper-crust people of color, dismisses the outcry as
>feminist
>theory overkill that is blind to the intricacies of the real world.
>
>
>He said it is difficult for educated and wealthy people of color to find
>forums in which to interact. Citing census statistics, Mr. Lopez-Pierre
>noted that only 12% of blacks in America have a college degree and that
>roughly two thirds of those who do are women.
>
>
>"They're saying this is sexist, that in this day and age black men need
>to
>learn to select a woman based on her character and her intellect, that
>her
>age and looks should play little or no role in their selection," Mr.
>Lopez-Pierre said.
>
>
>"We reject that. That's not how the real world works," he continued.
>"They
>are trying to live a fantasy of intellectual idealism they learned in
>college."
>
>
>Still, Mr. Lopez-Pierre said that after his wife received a barrage of
>complaints about the age requirements for women, he agreed yesterday to
>up
>the limit to 39 from 35. He stopped there, he said, because "you can't
>have
>
>children after 40."
>
>
>Supporters of the club say it makes sense to cater to a growing segment
>of
>the population that has plenty of disposable income and wants an
>exclusive
>place to rub elbows and exchange business cards.
>
>
>"There is no supply of private clubs that cater to this market," said
>Eric
>Yarbro, 40, a real estate broker from Queens who has been scouting
>locations
>for the club to open later this year.
>
>
>Many people with impressive resumes seem to agree.
>
>
>One woman who requested an application said she was a graduate student
>at
>Columbia University. She cited the lack of networking options for people
>of
>
>color and promised to spread the news within her sorority, Delta Sigma
>Theta.
>"When you're part of a small percentage of the overall population, it
>makes

>it increasingly difficult to socialize with people from similar
>backgrounds," said Leslie Talbot, a software company executive who
>supports
>the idea even though her age, 41, makes her too old to join.

>"The 'eye candy' thing is a little disturbing," Ms. Talbot admitted.
>"But
>we
>have to be honest, men are attracted to women not because they were
>first
>in
>their class at Harvard Law."
:rolleyes::(:rolleyes::(

I'm very middle class
 

But I kind of snicker at this. Because one would think if you have any game, you wouldn't have to shell out $2,500K in caiche-foo :rolleyes: :p in order to get a woman.
I turn 40 in about nine months. Geez, it's nice to tell me that I don't have reproductive capability.:rolleyes:

"You cant have kids after 40"??!! "Feminist Theory overkill" ??!! :mad: :mad: :eek: :mad:

WTF is he smoking?

If you have to pay $2,500 to get into a club to MAYBE get a woman, then you get whatever is coming to you.. lol.

Re: I'm very middle class
 

Bingo! Gold-Star Props to Steeltrap for illuminating the big point of this article.


geez...never knew eye-candy had a shelf life of 35, or 39? :eek:

I have heard of networking groups in NYC for singles. Sometimes they are specific to a religion or race or for upwardly mobile professionals. I have never heard of paying $2,500 to meet eye candy. It seems a quite expensive.

The weird thing about NYC is there are 8 million people, but it is so difficult to meet a quality person with whom you can connect for romance. As a result I think that this type of 'club' might be somewhat successful especially if they eliminate the fee and age requirements.

whatever...
 

I say let 'em all have at it. If they need to spend that much $$$ to think they will get *quality* then more power to them. They sound foolish and somewhat depserate to me.

I say save the a couple hundred dollars and call a high-end escort service because it sounds like that is what they are looking for.

And they wonder why some women have a "complex."

Geesh :rolleyes:

Re: whatever...
 

I just wanted to make sure people read this, because it is soooo true!

Besides which, there are no male picture requirements! I would be HOT if I as a female paid 2500 bucks and found myself in the company of men with like...texturizers or colored contacts or something!:p

Re: Re: whatever...
 

I was thinking the same thing!! Do what you want, but have the same requirements for the men. It's ok for them to have children?? Not cool. But, I'm sure this club with be a success.


Also, if you are a professional black man in any city, you should not have a problem meeting women...that is as Soror ST stated you had ANY GAME AT ALL!!!

This is re-freakin-diculas:mad: !!! I cannot believe in this day and age that MEN think that they can get away with this! What exactly is the criteria for being "pretty"? The woman can be fine from the neck down but have a face like she has been beaten with a barbed wire fence or vice versa. If that same woman owned five businesses and was entreprenuer of the decade, I wonder if her apperance would matter at all since that is SUPPOSED to be the aim of the club.:rolleyes:

Re: Re: whatever...
 

QUOTED!! LOL LOL LOL
:D

Lemme tell you, most BUPPIE men are not up in the clubs picking up women... And if they are in a "bar" situation, they are there to get their drinks... Not really to pick up women or to meet the woman (or women) of their dreams...

Where these men go to find the ladies? I have no idea... Most smart African American men are dedicated to their jobs and work a hellava lot... They go to conferences/seminars in their fields, which causes them to travel a tremendous amount. Hardly if ever are these locations where there are an abundancy of African American intelligent women... For instance... Not to slam a place... But, like really--Del Mar, California... Hayle, my Soror Steeltrap can tell you all about it...

My husband is a goofy nerdy fellow. His head is stuck into a microscope. Half his buddies that work up here in the Pac Northwest who are unmarried are glued to the internet--or it's programming of it... And when work is over, they go to a little bar on the "Eastside" and get their drink on Friday nights...

They'll talk to the girls whenever, whatever... But, they ain't serious about a sistah...

Re: Re: Re: whatever...
 

She needed a handbasket for that comment.

Re: Re: Re: Re: whatever...
 

But NOTICE y'all are not saying I'm WRONG!

ETA: HEFFAS!:p

I say so what - its just like anything else, if you don't like it don't watch it, if its not your speed, don't go, if XYX won't accept your membership, do something else.

I know many AA men that want a wife that is equally as successful and as educated. Seemingly, this club caters to men and women that are looking for "certain types." The issue being questioned is why sisters must meet more criteria - i don't know but I guess because there are more successful sisters than brothers. To that end, this could very well end up being a club of intelligent career minded successful women with a still a hand full of
AA men to choose.

Just plain wrong
 

So let me get this straight. What there saying is that a pretty woman under 35 with a college degree can join for free. So when she turns 36 do they get her out or do they get her out when she start sagging.

:mad:

Re: I'm very middle class
 

Soror Steeltrap,
I totally agree.

Generally, I would be a little leery of joining this sort of club (if I was interested, which I am not) b/c of the type of man that I would meet. I don't want a man who thinks that he has to pay $2500 to meet a woman AND does not have a problem with taking part in an organization that uses such superficial characteristics to determine membership.

SC

But Professor,
What I don't understand is, if women are supposed to outnumber men so extensively when it comes to numbers graduating college, etc. why can't these men who are looking for college-educated, pretty women just step outside their door - for free? We are all over the place.
SC

Its shallow but..
 

I agree with Lovelyivy.

I would PO'd if I paid $2,500 to meet a group of men who all looked like Busta Rhymes or like some other booga-wooga! :mad: There are HANDSOME successful AA males out there too, so why shouldn't the men be held to the same requirement?

That does make it sound like a high-end escort service.

Re: The Harlem Club - politically incorrect or absolutely necessary?
 

:rolleyes: As I dismiss any "professional" publication with typos and other errors. From the Lopez-Pierre magazine, http://www.reginemagazine.com/
"Find out the many subscriber benefits. Take advantge of our introductory offer, which is 50% off the regular annual subscription.
.
.
.
"REGINE Magazine is looking for a female swimsuit model of color in great shape (African-American, Hispanic) for the Sexy Summer Swimwuit Section of the magazine."

…and so on, and so forth. :rolleyes:

On another board I'm on,
 

A poster noticed that under the requirements for "men" who want to join this club, professional or a degree weren't part of them. So she questioned whether a drug dealer or a character like THIS could join:
http://lifewise.canoe.ca/Lifewise2Lo...1_pimpin-1.jpg

Re: On another board I'm on,
 

Well at the end of the day this venture does sound like an escort service. Pimps could met plenty of prospective hoes there, of course they'd have to beat up their owners for their cut first!

Re: On another board I'm on,
 

First, I see that Bootsey still aint got his glasses back

Second, I would DEMAND a refund if this man came walking in :mad:

Re: Re: whatever...
 

Whoyoutalkinboutwillis? (I mean LI84) :p

(wow, hot, mature, intelligent sistas, count me in!!)

*Rain Man goes in the coffee can and pulls out his cash. $100, $200, $300, $400......*

Not really - many women have a undergrad, grad and so on . . . degrees, many are like me and still don't make any money. My point being that some men want AA women with intelligence, money, and beauty. Its like this, when men go to clubs that are 5 women to each man. Women are often subject to take what she can from what I have seen (not that this is a good thing). In contact, men can be more selective because there is greater number to choose from.

Re: Just plain wrong
 

When she turns 36, they tell her, "Take off the bra-zeer.....'YER OUT!! YOU BEEN IMPLANTING YOU TI**IES!!

No I havent!

YEZ YOU HAVE. YOU BEEN PERKING YOU TI**TIES!!

(j/k yall j/k)

Thanks to Donal Logue and his Menudo commentary that inspired this post.

LOL at some of these post.

Now a male has to pay $2500 to see some female eye candy. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, that sounds a little cheapish because this fine sista sitting here typing this reply has one degree under her belt and another one almost finished is worth more than $2500.

LOL - just think that these women and maybe you have some high priced *&^%$:o

I'm only going to pay up to a $100.00 meal for a sistah

:o

But Professor, intelligence, money and beauty do not often go hand in hand with some men's selection criteria...

The issue is that some men want the women to be their momma's... Clean up behind them, do all the house chores and then bring home the bacon too!!!

That is extremely difficult to do in this climate...

It is interesting that IMHO, a woman cannot have it all as they progress up the ladder of success...

Either they MUST be childless

Or no relationship whatsoever

To even begin be on a "level" playing ground as a man in the same financial income bracket...

What do folks think it is like for a sistah, then?

The sad part is that "scores" of women are responding to this mess. :rolleyes: I agree with most of the posts from the ladies. I don't think that it is fair that women have to meet these extreme criteria all for the sake of being "eye candy." It doesn't matter that you have all the education in the world. The women are basically reduced to being trophies. If that's not the case, what's the purpose of the "head-to-toe" photograph? If I'm not "pretty" or fit certain size requirements, does that make me any less educated or profession? Eligible and desirable?

The men are not required to meet any criteria. All the ad says is that they should be "professional." Professional what? Professional janitors? Carpenters? Animal trainers? Yet, women are asked to be college educated and CHILDLESS. WTF? So, I have to be childless, while Pookie the "professional" plumber can have 6 kids and 4 baby mommas.

Any woman that participates in this is getting the short end of the stick....

What is even worse is the "Vocational Prostitutes" they are requesting to submit photographs to the "Pimps Up Hoes Down" playaz balls have silicone parts to begin with...

Ain't no way "Lassie's" hair is real... And the Avery Company makes all kinds of business cards... And one can have a pay as you go plan with no name mobile phone company...

If these bruhs were smart, they'd be asking for proof of residence and mortgage financing... Like who financed your home? FANNIE MAE or Section 8? :rolleyes:

But that just goes to show you the lack of pedigree of the fellas...

For those LaLalandians, one knows which side is "the correct side
to be from in Baldwin Hills... Other than that, most powerhouse Black folks come from the Altadena area--and I am talkin' about Old Money Stylee like Pio Pico...

Or for those DC'ites, what is the "historical" location for the "powerhouse Black family residences"? PG county? I could be wrong...

For old San Diego, it use to be parts of Oak Park up thru Emerald Hills, thru parts of Fuerte Drive in La Mesa where all the Boule members reside...

And let's not even begin to ask these negroes for an HIV test...

TTT
 

I got this from another board I frequent. Sorry, the club's creator is a freakin' pig. As simple as that.
http://www.diamondsuite.net/archive/harlem.html


Interviewer/reporter: Chris Brown

visit his site at: http://www.diamondsuite.net (Member of Kappa Alpha Psi)
Here's a snippet of his article:

"A woman who subjects herself to this must not think too highly of herself."

Aside from size, there are no specific standards female applicants must meet in order to be considered attractive. "The women will be all shades of colour and physically fit," Lopez-Pierre said. "If they aren't slim, they won't be selected." Asked to be more specific, Lopez-Pierre said, "If they don't have a Halle Berry body, they won't be selected." Full-figured young adults are prone to obesity as they become older, especially after they bare children, Lopez-Pierre said.

Discussing the group's organizational structure, Lopez-Pierre said, "This is a lot like the Baptist church." As associate members of The Harlem Club, women will not enjoy the same privileges as male members, such as voting. They will be expected to chair various committees and organize events, such as the 'Annual Pool Party Fundraiser For Charity,' in the Hamptons. "At my church, hell will probably freeze over before a woman is elected pastor," Lopez-Pierre, who is a member of New York's famous Abyssinian Baptist Church, said. "Men are in charge and the women do all of the work, but we also expect the women to be the power of the club." Tempering his statement, Lopez-Pierre also said, "The Harlem Club will be nothing without the women and their endorsement of the club, just like the Baptist church."


"Our members reject the notion that there is some sort of black blueblood."

Lopez-Pierre's claim that The Harlem Club is not a dating service is contradicted by much of what he says about its benefits. Nonetheless, some men said that the club is a sorely needed and long overdue means by which to weed out women who are considered less appealing. "I don't know about [the $2,500 membership fee], but it might be worth it to know that I'm going to meet a group of sisters who are bringing something to the table," Derrick Morton, a pharmaceutical sales representative in St. Louis said. "Women will dog a brother out for not being this or not being that, but they expect us to overlook the fact that they have kids or they're overweight. I paid my dues and I work out, so [women] need to do the same thing."

"Where do I send my check?" Sean Bonaire, a dentistry student in Michigan asked. "I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I've earned the right to be picky. There's nothing wrong with a woman who has kids, but she's not for me. But no degree? As long as I've been in school? A woman may be fine, but that doesn't mean anything unless she's got the total package. That's what I'm looking for." When asked if The Harlem Club's membership requirements for women were unrealistically high, Bonaire said, "Men have to pay to join. They can be."

"We're doing this for sisters who did what they were supposed to do," Lopez-Pierre said. "They had no business having children if they weren't married. If my members say they want women with kids, then I will suggest to the board that we amend our rules so that we admit them, but we're hearing, 'We want women who are gorgeous, with no kids.'"

(I did what I was supposed to do. I don't have kids and I'm unmarried. But bleep this guy's demands for skinny women. No offense to the slim Sorors, Sister-Greeks and SFs out there. ;) )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't even have the energy to be mad at these people. I say, if that's what you want, beautiful. I just hope they find happiness.


ETA: I just don't know. I know plenty of successful men and they have no problem meeting good women. Actually, they have a large pool to choose from. AGAIN, IF YOU NEED TO PAY $2,500 TO BELONG TO THIS CLUB YOU HAVE NO GAME!!! Actually, women need this club. After WE reach a certain level it's diffcult for US to find quality men.

ummm..."bare children"? uh... can we say "spell check"?
plus doing the work but not being allowed to vote within your own club? i want to know who these women are that are paying to join this club:rolleyes:

Its confirmed
 

...this "club" :rolleyes: is an high priced escort service.

I'm still tripping that women must meet all these "standards", but the men can come as busted as they wanna be.

Re: Its confirmed
 

That was my thought when the original article was presented.

Okay, I will be Yurugu's Advocate...
 

I read what Lopez-Pierre was saying from the website...

The men this person describes have "recruitment issues". I can only think of a few reasons why some men would continually date foul women...

1) The panties are easy to get into...

2) She was ready and willing to give up the panties

3) She was on my tip...

If such men as decribed in the article pay $2500 to meet perceived "high end women" (read as "call girls"), then they deserve to marry luser women with BayBay's kids...

And as Outkast says, "Big girls need lovin' too"...

IMO, it seems that in New York, there are a variety of women that skrait perp out fairly decent men. Moreover, many of us barely interact with such women. We are too hard working at our careers. In so many words, what do we need a man for? But for luvin?

But if I was single and looking and my biological clock is exploding and I had no options in site, I probably would submit my picture just to see if I get accepted.

But knowing my luck, there would be too many questions I have about the men. Such as do they have preferences for women to begin with. So why did they pay for that? Because some men will pay for brides too... They need to put up the "accompaniment"--a trophy wife, if you will--but meanwhile they prefer another--that might be a brutha...

That is the only way I can see brotha's paying that kind of money to meet beautiful women with brains for future wives...

The sad part is no relationship can work based on fantasy...

TTT/NY Times on Harlem Club
 

Since we don't post copyright material anymore, here's a link to the Harlem Club's newest article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/21/ny.../21harlem.html

And a picture of Mr. Lopez-Pierre. :rolleyes:


http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/...ion/21harl.jpg

Re: The Harlem Club - politically incorrect or absolutely necessary?
 

a head to toe photo??? so what does this mean???

butt ugly men can join with no problem?

this sounds like one of those "eyes wide shut" joints.

i can imagine all the desperate women out there that will respond to this mess.

then again...if a man is willing to pay $2500 to be in an educated woman's presence...desperate times call for desperate measures.

Re: TTT/NY Times on Harlem Club
 

Hmmm. He's seems a little "hmm" to me.

Re: Re: TTT/NY Times on Harlem Club
 

He ain't hardly cute. . . .:o