With growth comes controversy and with controversy comes exposure! Urban fiction has been breaking down walls in the literary world. It has out sold many popular mainstream titles and has also created more millionaires in its short bout in the lime light. Though modern urban fiction is only a new age twist on an old school revolution it’s still relevant. Just like clock work urban fiction has been stirring up both good and bad press with its legs rooted in the ever controversial hip hop culture. However, it may come as a shock to many of its fans that the world has been calling it literary poison that has corrupted black homes and provokes bad parenting.
Now before all of you urban fiction book lovers get all riled up I wanted to share a post written by a fellow blogger. I ran across a blog post entitled “Hated” which is written by a fellow blogger. In her post she shares a very unpleasant and undeniably disrespectful encounter with a group of young black men in a gas station. As she relays her story she mentions black mothers yelling at their children in the streets, She states that these women sound frustrated as if they don’t want their children. She also states the behavior is directly related to these women reading Urban Fiction Novels that promote women being whores and bad mothers. Urban Fiction is a poison that should be banned (paraphrasing on the banned)
I being both a writer of fiction and urban fiction thought I should speak up and my comment along with my fellow blogger’s post will be at the bottom of my page. Before I ask my audience their opinion I would like to post my own first. Urban fiction is not the creator of its environment merely a product of it. Long before there was the first urban fiction tale was the real life experience these tales were born from. I have always thought it interesting to see African-American expressions of art, music, theater and sports degraded and belittled because of its raw, direct and in your face approach. I also have always found it interesting how other more ‘mainstream’ genres are not judged with the same level of harshness. Mainstream genres and expressions of art are rooted more in fantasy and clouds realism by providing its readers with a sense of detached wonderment. Even the so-called “American Dream” is a mirage designed to keep individuals ever reaching but seldom obtaining.
Urban fiction just like its mainstream counterparts is a form of entertainment allowing its readers to live vicariously through their stories. It is very similar to the popular stories that have been gracing television for year and years “Guiding Light, All my Children” to name a few. People love drama in every form so hearing that urban fiction is contributing to black women not being good mothers is absurd. Urban fiction is not responsible for how women treat their children no more than the stories are responsible for people committing adultery or killing or is it? If we are going to compare we must be fair in our judgment and place it all on the examining block which means you must appropriately and fairly credit all the wrong in the world to every form of entertainment or literary genre.
What Do You Think?
Please comment and share, what are your thoughts on urban fiction creating bad mothers. Is the world right in its judgments and perceptions of the genre? Let us know!
Here is the link to my fellow bloggers post and my comment. Sure you will find it both interesting and down right sad
Urban Fiction News 