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."
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