The Harlem Club - politically incorrect or absolutely necessary?

[WenD08]

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."

[Steeltrap]

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 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.

[nikki1920]

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

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.

[TonyB06]

Originally posted by Steeltrap
Because one would think if you have any game, you wouldn't have to shell out $2,500K in caiche-foo in order to get a woman.

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?

[Peaches-n-Cream]

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.

[pointNclick]

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

[lovelyivy84]

Originally posted by pointNclick


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.

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!

[abaici]

Originally posted by lovelyivy84
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!

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!!!

[DIVA1177]

This is re-freakin-diculas !!! 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.

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally posted by lovelyivy84
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!

QUOTED!! LOL LOL LOL

[AKA_Monet]

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...

[toocute]

Originally posted by CrimsonTide4
QUOTED!! LOL LOL LOL

She needed a handbasket for that comment.

[lovelyivy84]

Originally posted by toocute
She needed a handbasket for that comment.

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

ETA: HEFFAS!

[Professor]

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.

[Strive]

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.