Wisdom/Perspectives

Views about the world, life lessons, and mother wit. Things grandmother’s wish they had known when they were younger or things they have figured out because of where they are in the life course. Also includes views on politics, America, other countries, and various regions of the country. “Hindsight is 20/20.” “Youth is wasted on the young!” “You don’t get to be old bein no fool!” Includes discussions of aging, beauty, gender/sexuality, and race. Aging—references to age (e.g., youth, old age). What it means to get older. What it means to be young. What needs to be done for and by people of different ages. Being “Wet behind the ears.” “Still kickin, just not high!” Beauty—perspectives on what it means to be beautiful, pretty, handsome, unattractive. Colorism (you pretty to be….., red boned, high yellow). Good and bad hair. Beauty possessed and beauty wished for. Being given a complex about one’s looks. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” “Beautiful inside and out.” “Light bright and damn near white.” Gender/Sexuality—notions about what it means to be a woman, man, lady, and so forth. Gender norms. Staying in one’s place as a woman or man. Ideas about “womanly duties” or the meaning of “just being a man.” Also discussions about sexual orientation, including heterosexuality and homosexuality. Views can be liberating or damning. Race—ideas about different racial/ethnic groups. Experiences that highlight race, racial pride, prejudice, discrimination, harmony, and tension, expressed in such sayings as, “Get yo black…”; “white folks, they…”; “them…”