"FIRM...but fair" with Jeffery A. Faulkerson  

On Tuesday, October 9th, during an episode of the Tom Joyner Morning Show, comedian J. Anthony Brown made reference to a moniker that Karrine Steffans used during her days as a scantily-clad dancer in some of the most popular hip-hop and R & B music videos. After Brown called her “superhead,” Steffans abruptly ended her call to the show, presumably because she was offended by his remark. She probably also sensed that the interview was beginning to take a turn for the worse.

But as I replayed the exchange in my mind, I couldn’t shake the fact that, by hanging up, Steffans missed a golden opportunity to speak to the young women who continue to let themselves be objectified in music videos, even allowing high-powered men to take advantage of them sexually just so they can be in the company of Hollywood’s elite. Her first book, "Confessions of a Video Vixen", reportedly was written to shed light on her carnal and superficial relationships with music moguls, rap artists, actors and television personalities. However, confessions are only good if they come from truly repentant hearts.

Because Steffans followed up her confessions with the recently released "Vixen Diaries", it’s obvious she discovered a niche market that will make her richer, her high-powered suitors shameful. But how will she explain the life that she once led to her now nine-year-old son when he starts asking the hard questions. Will the information that she shares inspire him to objectify women or treat them with the respect deserving of queens?

You would hope that Steffan's son would grow up wanting to cultivate healthy and meaningful relationships with members of the opposite sex. You would also hope that one of these relationships would result in a marriage that withstands the test of time. But if his mother continues to share her sins with the rest of the world, he will undoubtedly be confused when it comes to relating to females. And Karrine Steffan's, like the rest of us, will come to know what it means to reap what you sow.

I would have a much deeper appreciation for Karrine Steffans if she had used her two books to talk about her acceptance of Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. But because she has never attributed her transformed thoughts, feelings and actions to this acceptance, it’s obvious her motives are driven by selfish ambition. Steffans knows how to play the game, and she’s doing everything she can to get what she can while the getting is good. In short, she is beating a paternalistic entertainment industry at its own game, that of dogs eating other dogs to eat more dogs another day.

But like King Solomon writes in the book of Ecclesiastes, everything under the sun is meaningless. Yes. Karrine Steffans will sell a boatload of books, but when all is said and done, and she's buried six feet under, she will be remembered as “superhead”, not for leaving behind a legacy of Christian faith, obedience and service. For this reason, I pray that she writes a third and final book, one titled “From Video Vixen to Wonderfully and Fearfully Made”.

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Copyright 2007 Jeffery A. Faulkerson.  All rights reserved.