MGF Battle Royale: Overrated vs. Underrated, Part II

Welcome to Part Deux of our MGF Battle Royale! This is where the overrated get judged and the underrated finally get their due!

Before moving on to the next set of battles – thanks to the few of you that wrote in. There were some great suggestions – which I’m going to save for a rainy day! In the meantime, here’s the next round of Overrate vs. Underrated! I’m a little longwinded on this one – but cut me some slack! I had a lot to say.

DING! DING! DING! Let’s get it on!

Overrated – Men “in touch” with their “feminine side”
Underrated – Guys
Ladies, this battle is kind of our fault. Since there was Adam and Eve, we’ve confused men with some of our demands. For centuries and eras of time, we’ve said that men have to be more sensitive to our feelings and needs. We wanted them to take better care of their looks. We wanted them to make a few decisions with us. So, a good number of them did. WHAT WERE WE THINKING!?

While it’s nice to have someone who’ll go to a chick flick with you without bitching or cater to your every need, it gets old…really fast. Men in touch with their feminine side become so concerned with how you’re feeling every minute you’re together that it becomes claustrophobic! And they’re so high maintenance! Many of my single friends have dumped a clinger or two simply because they found they had to be “the man” in the relationship.

What we really should be celebrating are GUYS. These are the fellows who don’t pretend to know everything about women and how they tick. And while they’re willing to walk the line for a chick, they’re not going to change themselves completely for a woman. They’re okay with a woman making own bread at work because they know a woman that secure will share that bread with them! But Guys are also the type who will take care of you when you’re sick and be patient enough to answer your 500th question during the 4th Quarter of an NFL Playoff Game. They’re quirky, they’re funny, they’re sweetly insecure at times – Modern Guys are the perfect answer to Modern Girls.

Overrated – VH1
Underrated – MTV
Okay, hear me out before you shoot me on this one! While MTV has been accused in the past for being shallow and kicking out the “M” in MTV, it’s VH1 that is now guilty of being as deep as a soup spoon. I am guilty of turning on VH1 for some mindless fun – but I can’t watch it all day long like I used to because that’s all it is, mindless fun.

Where it used to be home of some pretty great music based series like “Behind the Music,” it’s devolved into a gluttony of pop culture epilepsy! I loved the 80’s too, people…but you’re on your third version of the decade review series and you’ve burned through the 90’s twice already! And some one needs to answer for two seasons of “The Flavor of Love.” OMG…I DID NOT need to see Flava Flav make out with all those skanks! And then you went out and made the spin-off “I Love New York?” I WANT NAMES. I WANT HEADS ON A PLATTER. What happened to my smart and spunky VH1? Why not make more “Rap School” instead of “The White Rapper Show?” “Breaking Bonaduce” was enough, but do we really need to start “Shooting Sizemore?” How many more music countdowns do we really need?

Meanwhile, over on MTV – their shows have taken on a decidedly more “real” feel to them. There are still clunkers of melodrama (“The Hills” and “My Super Sweet Sixteen” are admittedly guilty pleasures – but I just like seeing rich bitch boys and girls cry), but when you pair them up with MTV’s stellar documentary shows like “True Life” and “Made,” you see that MTV has finally come of age. They found the balance between sugary pop fun and relevance in this world. They’ve decided to show how the world is today; and more importantly, they take their time doing it. The breakout series of the fall on MTV for me was their examination of the religion of high school football with “Two a Days.” As someone who deals with teenagers in an activity as time consuming and all encompassing as football, it was great to see how these kids deal with the pressure and deal with themselves. Kudos to MTV for giving us something to watch!

Overrated – Skimpy Clothing
Underrated – Clothing That Leaves Something to the Imagination
When Elusive Orchid and I get together on Yahoo Messenger late at night, we’re usually perusing clothing websites for clothes. One of her favorite places to shop is Victoria’s Secret. And that’s cool because she totally has the bod for VS! But whenever we look on there, I always wonder where the “secrets” went. Victoria has the worst kept secrets of all time!

Skirts that also double as headbands, tops that show as much chest as they do belly, and pants so tight your gender is apparent from 20 miles away are not sexy for public consumption IMHO. And listen up hooch bags: GUYS DON’T FIND IT ATTRACTIVE EITHER. While the lingerie from Victoria’s Secret is great for a little striptease for your spouse or significant other, it’s best in the bedroom. In public, men like their women like presents on Christmas: A little mystery to unwrap in their own time.

I have a good friend who says a woman looks her sexiest in the winter when she wears a comfy pair of jeans, boots, a shapely sweater, and a scarf. One of my male guest bloggers loves a girl in a sundress, especially if it’s a little long. “Lily, you have noooooo idea,” he said to me once. For him, its wondering what’s under there that drives him crazy. A former co-worker professed a weakness for women in their yoga workout gear. Another says trousers and heels are a dangerous combination. Yet another goes ga-ga over knee length skirts and knee-high boots (“She’s a demure dominatrix!”). I was on a business trip with a boss when I learned that he fell in love with his girlfriend-turned-wife’s body when he saw her bundled up in a pea coat. Who says less is more?

Overrated – Cynics
Underrated – Optimists
Glass-Half-Empty people, Negative Nellies, and Doomsdayers…get outta my way before I smack you!

Cynics, I’m through with you. There’s a lot of shit happening in the world today. A lot of it bad and it doesn’t seem to be getting better. That does not mean as a human you should roll over and just let it happen and spread a woeful message to everyone who’ll listen. YOU are part of the problem, not me! Would it kill you to be just a little bit happy? Everyone seems to listen to you because you’re willing to say ANYTHING to get attention and put down people who want to say “It’s gonna be alright.”

Well guess what? If I want to go around seeing the best in people and situations, it doesn’t make me naïve and ignorant. Optimists know just as much as you do about the news and issues – sometimes they are better informed – we just choose to put our head down and work it out. If everyone just concentrated on their little part of their world, things would be a lot easier. If we put more optimism in our media, maybe half of us wouldn’t be living in fear. Get happy or get out!