Enigma

Rapper 50 Cent:

I feel like a very attractive woman. A man becomes like an attractive woman when he's successful.

Thank you Mr. Cent you have just turned my wanton preconception of mankind's valuation of womankind on its head, not to mention my valuation of the machismo leanings of rap.

A very attractive woman knows her power. On a bad day she sends ripples of emotion, from reverence to envy, through the crowd. At her best, her face will launch a thousand ships. The twist for me is 50's choice of words. Beautiful praises attributes a woman's born with. Attractiveness is deeper. A woman captures my attention when she is in league with her creative spirit, with or without the accouterments of glamour. The very attractive woman (50 Cent may disagree) could be Mother Teresa emptying the bed pan, Judith Resnik in her jumpsuit, Whoopi Goldberg playing the skid row queen.

I'm not surprised the poet found this metaphor. I picture it sliding out of his subconscious in the heat of a press op. Women have more cultural license to lavish their attention on the so-called softer virtues -- spirituality, aesthetics, sensuality -- than do the stolid males. I wonder if the successful rapper, feeling like a very attractive human, knows this: it's the she wolf who personifies his freedom.