Conversations Of A Sistah

If you’ve ever tuned into VH1’s “Beverly Hills Fabulous” you’ll be greeted by the flamboyance of Elgin Charles. I love this show because this man is fierce. An older handsome African-American man, who sports purses, wears a shoulder length perfectly coiffed wrap at all times, switches his hips, turns his neck and whips his hair back and forth better than Willow Smith. And the man was married to actress Jackee Harry.

The reality show chronicles the daily and often trite happenings at the ambitious businessman’s upscale salon. Like most reality television programs, the show centers on the cast members’ and their personal flair.

Jackee Harry makes an appearance in one episode, where she meets Elgin for lunch and he assumed she lured him there for sex. Watching the former couple interact was more like catching a glimpse of two girlfriends having lunch, not lovers.

So what’s up with Jackee Harry hooking up with an effeminate black man? What makes an attractive woman decide to nest with a man who wants to paint hers and his own fingernails each day? Has the shortage of marriage-minded, eligible black men led women to make the ultimate compromise of sharing her man with another man?

According to statistics less than 50 percent of Black women are married. Additionally, almost 50 percent of marriages end in divorce and the primary culprits are money matters and infidelity. It’s obvious why Elgin is Jackee’s ex-husband, he comes across as having a little “sugar in his tank”.

Jackee and Elgin cohabit in the same home, where they co-parent their 17-year-old son. Ultimately, what makes a relationship work depends on the couple…and we know with these two it’s their business.

Still, when we look at women in the limelight who had effeminate mates (Terry McMillan, Star Jones and Valerie Ashford) we can’t help but question what went into their decision? Whether it was loneliness or love, a man shortage or just a good man, some men present themselves as straight when their on the down low all along.