BIAS IN PERCEPTION OF DIVORCE PAYOUTS PERPETUATES INEQUALITY BETWEEN GENDERS

According to celebritynetworth.com, Janet Jackson earned about $1.2B over the last 20 years. That’s an average of $60M per year. Most of us won’t see that in a lifetime. Yet in just a little over five years, she was able to secure an additional $40M per year—not by singing or performing, but by marring the “right” guy.

The terms of Jackson’s marriage to business magnate and billionaire Wissam Al Mana was that she would receive $100M after five years of marriage and an additional $100M if she were to have a child. Ironically, Jackson gave birth to their child Eissa, just three months before she filed for divorce. The total of $200M over five years gives you the aforementioned figure (http://www.wetpaint.com/janet-jackson-divorce-alimony-1582437/).

High-asset divorce settlements aren’t uncommon in today’s press. From Tiger Woods to Ringo Starr, men have paid a pretty penny for “love” gone awry. But emerging recently are a few high-earning female celebrities who have been or will be on the hook for spousal support. The Halle Berry/Eric Benet settlement comets to mind, but more recentlythe Martin “Kendu” Isaacs/Mary J. Blige split is making headway with Isaacs, also Mary’s former business manager, requesting $129K per month in spousal support.

The individuals involved in such a divorce usually claim “quality of life” and while I indeed think that Isaacs request is over-the-top (based on my lifestyle), I can’t help but realize the asymmetrical disdain among women, especially black American women, towards men, especially black American men, for requesting and/or receiving these huge payouts. Not only have I seen the disdain for the men, but the lauding of the women who do the exact same thing using the exact same systems. This type of behavior has negative implications for true gender equality and threatens to widen the chasm between male/female interactions.

One statistic that the “sistahood” likes to use comes from the Center for Education Statistics, that in summary, point out two things:

• Black American women are more educated than Black American men:

“According to the National Center for Education Statistics, between 2009 and 2010, black women earned 68 percent of all associate degrees awarded to black students, as well as 66 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 71 percent of master’s degrees and 65 percent of all doctorates awarded to black students.”

• Black American women, with respect to race and gender are the most educated in America since they have the highest enrollment rates in college than any other group with respect to race and gender:

“By both race and gender, a higher percentage of black women (9.7 percent) are enrolled in college than any other group, topping Asian women (8.7 percent), white women (7.1 percent) and white men (6.1 percent)”. (http://www.theroot.com/black-women-now-the-most-educated-group-in-us-1790855540)

 

If you combine these statistics with the study by Lawrence Katz, a labor economist from Harvard, that states that between 1979 and 2012, [the income differential between a two-college grad family and an uneducated family] grew by some $30,000, after inflation, then one can reasonably assume, if the statistics are true, that a single black female, should earn $15K more on average than a single black male. (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/business/economy/a-simple-equation-more-education-more-income.html?_r=0)

So if this is the case, that black women are likely to earn more and be more educated on average, then it also follows that they are more likely to be breadwinners and have the ability to pay should things fall to the wayside in their marriage—after all, sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

In the spirit of equality, those who earn more should pay more right? So since black women earn more on average, they should also have a more guided and compassionate approval to a man who needs spousal support right? Equality for the win right? Well if you can follow the link to a wetpaint article about the topic (http://www.wetpaint.com/janet-jackson-divorce-alimony-1582437/) and scroll down to the Facebook comments you’ll get the overall gist. Here are a few notable commenters giving us their take on  Janet making off with “beaucoup bucks”:

 

Joan Roberson: “Mind your beez wax”

The wetpaint.com article on the topic of Al Mana and Jackson’s divorce poses the following question: “Is Jackson taking advantage of Al Mana?” Straight out of the gate, the first commenter, Joan Roberson answers the question with “Mind your beez wax.”

While I can’t say for sure whether she supports or detracts from Janet, it seems to her that the article, pointing out the enormous payoff, is sticking it’s nose where it doesn’t belong—however ironically, or I daresay hypocritically, she stuck her “nose in” to comment, making her just as nosy about the situation as the article. Another Janet supporter, Wendy Bryant, says “Get what’s yours, thanks Janet”. Here’s our friend Wendy:

Kim Stafford writes “Get that money honey” in support of Janet:

Now to be balanced, there were a few women who thought Janet’s payoff and actions were questionable, and they did comment. Janice Jones-Weaver calls Janet a snake, Wanda Vantapool points out that Janet doesn’t need all that money, and Karen Stambaugh points out that the age at which Janet got pregnant (50) and the fact that she split just three months after the five year mark and the birth of their baby is questionable. I’m not going to comment on Kristin Attaway’s comment about keeping the baby in the Middle East, since customs, laws, etc dictate custody, and the whole “I’m entitled to have what I want because I’m American” is another issue separate to the one I’m pointing out. But for the most part most of the detractors to Janet have been non-black women. One notable woman, Laquisha Edwards, attacks these women who disagree with Janet’s actions:

Not sure if the guy in the pic is Laquisha’s boyfriend or male relative, or if “she” was a “he” in the past, lol, they have a similar facial structure. But I digress. Here’s Laquisha in all her glory:

Edwards attacks Vantapool’s assessment of Janet’s greed by commenting that “…celebrity p***y is VERY expensive…[Al Mana] should have checked the price tag…”

Then Edwards goes after Stambaugh calling her a hater, jealous, and that Janet is an intelligent strong, black black (don’t know why she put “black” twice, it’s not like Janet’s dark-skinned, lol) female and she calls other women who don’t agree with her “small-minded”. There were about 19 comments in support of Janet and 3 against Janet’s actions that’s 86% in favor.

Now let’s look at those who either detracted from or supported Kendu Isaacs (http://www.eonline.com/news/815685/mary-j-blige-doesn-t-want-to-pay-her-ex-and-former-manager-martin-kendu-isaacs-spousal-support)

First up, our good friend, Maria-Anne Teresa:

Now while Keenan Stanley, who’s probably a dude points out the double standards, Jennie Grado parries, explaining why the comment about Isaacs is just. I’ll probably do a detailed analysis about “deservingness” later.

Clarissa Graham states a legal prenup should be honored, which, in the case of Isaacs request of Blige, could seem in support, but it’s ambiguous. Dolores Borges agrees with Mary J, but doesn’t detract from Kendu Isaacs, so I won’t count her against him, but rather for Blige. But our friend Evette Elliott basically calls Isaacs a thief, in that he “stole” money:

The most asinine comment comes from an “Uzima Chuba”:

And in the comments below, Uzima calls Issaacs a “wilderbeast” I guess like attracts like eh?

That’s 8 against Isaacs 1 for Isaacs (a guy) and I won’t count him. There’s 1 that could be in support of Isaacs if it’s in the legal contract, so to be conservative, I’ll count it. So that would be 13% “for” Issaacs, under conditions, and 87% against Isaacs. A inverse “mirror” image of the Janet results in the fact that the bulk detract Isaacs versus support Janet Jackson.

Issacs is 49 years old, and the life expectancy of black males is 72 years old. If Blige has to pay the worst case scenario in their home state of New Jersey, alimony for life (they have since changed that remedy), she can expect to pay out a total of approximately $36M:

Keep in mind that Blige and Isaacs stayed married for about 13 years. Janet, it has already determined that she will get $200M for just 5 years of marriage. The average is $2.8M per year of marriage for Isaacs and $40M per year for Jackson.

Now let’s look at how each spouse affected the other by looking at the accomplishments over the tenure of their marriage. Here’s what Janet accomplished over the 5 years she was married to Al Mana (2012 to 2017) EASY READ:

• In 2012, Jackson endorsed Nutrisystem, With the program, she donated ten million dollars in meals to the hungry.^[187]  She also participated in a public service announcement for UNICEF to help starving children.^[189]
• On May 16, 2015, Jackson announced plans to release a new album and to embark on a world concert tour.^[191][192] She outlined her intention to release her new album in the fall of 2015 under her own record label, Rhythm Nation, distributed by BMG Rights Management.^[193]
• On June 15, 2015, Jackson announced the first set of dates for the North American leg of her Unbreakable World Tour.^[195] On June 22, the lead single “No Sleeep” was released from the album.^[196]
• On August 20,[2015] she released a preview of a new song “The Great Forever,” while also confirming the title of her eleventh studio album as Unbreakable.^[203][204]  The album’s title track “Unbreakable” was released on September 3, 2015, debuting on Apple Music‘s Beats 1 radio station, hosted by Ebro Darden.  “Burnitup!” featuring Missy Elliott debuted on BBC Radio 1 on September 24, 2015.Now you can just scroll down through all of what Mary J accomplished over the 13 years of marriage to her business manager Kendu Isaacs (2004 to 2017):

Now you can just scroll down through all of what Mary J accomplished over the 13 years of marriage to her business manager Kendu Isaacs (2004 to 2017) TOO LONG DON’T READ, JUST SCROLL:

• Geffen Records released Blige’s seventh studio album, The Breakthrough on December 20, 2005.  Selling 727,000 copies in its first week, it became the biggest first-week sales for an R&B solo female artist in SoundScan history,^[44][45] the fifth largest first-week sales for a female artist, and the fourth largest debut of 2005. Since its release, The Breakthrough has sold over three million copies in the U.S and over seven million copies worldwide, becoming one of the five best-selling albums of 2006.
• Blige’s duet with U2 on the cover of their 1992 hit, “One” gave Blige her biggest hit to date in the UK, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart eventually being certified one of the forty highest-selling singles of 2006;
• The success of The Breakthrough won Blige nine Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, two BET Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, and a Soul Train Award. She received eight Grammy Award nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards, the most of any artist that year. “Be Without You” was nominated for both “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year“.
• Blige won three: “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance”, “Best R&B Song” (both for “Be Without You”), and “Best R&B Album” for The Breakthrough.^[47]
• Blige  won two American Music Awards in November 2006^[48] and nine Billboard Music Awards in December 2006.^[49]
• December 2006, a compilation called Reflections (A Retrospective) was released. It contained many of Blige’s greatest hits and four new songs, including the worldwide lead single “We Ride (I See the Future)“.
• In the UK, however, “MJB da MVP” (which appeared in a different, shorter form on The Breakthrough) was released as the lead single from the collection. The album peaked at number nine in the U.S, selling over 170,000 copies in its first week, while reaching number forty in the UK. It has sold more than 1.6 million copies.
• In 2006, Blige recorded a duet with rapper Ludacris, “Runaway Love“, which is the third single on his fifth album, Release Therapy. It reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B chart.
• Blige was featured with Aretha Franklin and The Harlem Boys Choir on the soundtrack to the 2006 motion picture Bobby, on the lead track “Never Gonna Break My Faith” written by Bryan Adams.
• The song was nominated for a Golden Globe and won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
• Blige’s eighth studio album, Growing Pains, was released on December 18, 2007, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It sold 629,000 copies in its first week, marking the third time since Nielsen SoundScan began collecting data in 1991 that two albums sold more than 600,000 copies in a week in the United States. In its second week, the album climbed to number one, making it Blige’s fourth number-one album. The lead single, “Just Fine“, peaked at number twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Just Fine” was nominated for the Grammy Award for “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance“, and Blige won “Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals” for the Chaka Khan duet “Disrespectful” (featured on Khan’s album Funk This) which Blige wrote.
• Growing Pains was not released in the UK until February 2008, where it became Blige’s fifth top ten and third-highest charting album. The Breakthrough and Reflections (A Retrospective) were released in the Christmas rush and therefore settled for lower peaks, although both selling more than her top five album Mary.^{[citation needed]} “
• Blige was featured on 50 Cent‘s 2007 album, Curtis, in the song “All of Me”.
• In March 2008, she toured with Jay-Z in the Heart of the City Tour. They released a song called “You’re Welcome”.
• In the same period, cable network BET aired a special on Blige entitled The Evolution of Mary J. Blige, which showcased her career.
• Blige is featured on singles by Big Boi, and Musiq Soulchild. Growing Pains was nominated for and won the Grammy Award for “Best Contemporary R&B Album“, at the 51st Grammy Awards held on February 8, 2009, earning Blige her 27th Grammy nomination, in a mere decade.
• On August 7, 2008, it was revealed Blige faced a US$2 million federal suit claiming Neff-U wrote the music for the song “Work That“, but was owned by Dream Family Entertainment. The filing claimed that Dream Family never gave rights to use the song to Blige, Feemster or Geffen Records. Rights to the lyrics of the song used in an iPod commercial are not in question.^[52]
• Blige returned to performing in January 2009 by performing the song “Lean on Me” at the Presidential Inauguration Committee’s, “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial“.
• Blige also performed her hit 2007 single, “Just Fine“, with a new intro at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball after Barack Obama was sworn in on January 20, 2009. Blige appeared as a marquee performer on the annual Christmas in Washington television special.
• Stronger with Each Tear, was released on December 21, 2009, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling 332,000 units in its first week of release. The lead single, “The One“, which features Canadian rapper Drake,^[53] was released for airplay in June 2009, and was officially and digitally released in July 2009, peaking at number sixty-three on the Hot 100.
• On March 2010, Blige released Stronger with Each Tear in the United Kingdom, as well as in the European markets. The album performed modestly in the United Kingdom, debuting at number thirty-three on the UK Albums Chart and at number four on the UK R&B Chart. It reached the top 100 in other countries.
• Blige was honored at the 2009 BET Honors Ceremony and was paid tribute by Anita Baker and Monica. On November 4, 2009, Blige sang The Star-Spangled Banner at Yankee Stadium before the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies played the last game (game 6) of the World Series.
• Blige performed two songs from her ninth album as well as her previous hits, “No More Drama” and “Be Without You” along with the song “Color”, which was featured on the Precious soundtrack. Blige appeared as a guest judge on the ninth season of American Idol on January 13, 2010.
• On January 23, 2010, Blige released a track “Hard Times Come Again No More” with The Roots as well as performing it at the Hope for Haiti Now telethon.
• At the 2010 Grammy Awards, Blige and Andrea Bocelli performed” Bridge over Troubled Water“. Blige also performed on BET’s SOS Help For Haiti, singing “Gonna Make It” with Jazmine Sullivan and “One.”
• Blige also took part in February 2010’s We Are the World 25 for Haiti,
• At the 41st NAACP Image Awards Blige won Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Album for Stronger with Each Tear.^[56]
• On November 18, 2010, Billboard revealed Mary J. Blige as the most successful female R&B/Hip Hop Artist on the Top 50 R&B/Hip Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years list. Mary came in at number 2 overall.^[57
• In January 2011, Hot 97 premiered Blige’s teaster track “Someone to Love Me (Naked)” featuring vocals by Lil Wayne.^[58]
• In July 2011, Blige released the song “The Living Proof” as the lead single to the soundtrack of the film The Help.^[59] On July 24, VH1 premiered their third Behind the Music that profiled her personal and career life.
• In August 2011, Blige released her first single off the album, “25/8“. Blige’s tenth studio album, My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1), was released in November 2011.^[60] The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, selling 156,000 copies first week; it was eventually certified Gold in 2012 and has sold 763,000 in the US.^[62]
• On February 28, 2012, Blige performed “Star Spangled Banner” at the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.
• Blige appeared as guest mentor on American Idol on March 7, 2012, and performed “Why” on the results show the following night.^[63]
• On September 23, 2012, Blige was a performer at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Blige was featured on the song “Now or Never” from Kendrick Lamar‘s album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, released on October 22, 2012.
• A Mary Christmas was released on October 15, 2013 through Matriarch and Verve Records, her first release with the latter. The album includes collaborations with Barbra Streisand, The Clark Sisters, Marc Anthony and Jessie J. In early December, A Mary Christmas became Blige’s 12th top ten album after it rose to #10 in its eight week.^[64]
• On October 23, 2013, Blige sang the national anthem before Game 1 of the 2013 World Series.^[65]
• On February 5, 2014 a remix of Disclosure‘s “F for You” featuring guest vocals from Mary was released.^[66]
• It was announced May 30, 2014 that Think Like a Man Too (Music from and Inspired by the Film), released June 17 on Epic Records, would introduce new songs by Mary J. Blige, including the single “Suitcase”.^[67] Blige recorded a collection of music from and inspired by the film. In the United States, Think Like a Man Too debuted at number 30 on the Billboard 200, with 8,688 copies sold in its first week, becoming the lowest sales debut of any of her studio albums.^[68] On Billboard‘s R&B/Hip-Hop chart, the soundtrack album charted at number six, marking Blige’s 16th top ten entry on the chart, tying her with Mariah Carey for the second-most top tens by a female artist.^[68]
• June 2, 2014 saw Blige pairing up with another English musician with the release of a re-worked version of Sam Smith‘s “Stay with Me“. A live visual to the song was released on the same day.^[69]
• In August 2016, Blige was recruited to perform the new theme song for the ABC Daytime talk show The View for its twentieth season titled “World’s Gone Crazy” written by Diane Warren. A music video was also shot for the new theme song. Blige also appeared on The View alongside Maxwell during its premiere week on September 9, 2016 to discuss their joint tour and theme song.
• On September 30, 2016 Blige premiered a new show The 411 on Apple Music. For its debut episode, Blige interviewed Hillary Clinton. A trailer was released online with Blige singing a cover of Bruce Springsteen‘s “American Skin” to a bewildered Clinton. The exchange received mixed and negative reaction from social media. Two weeks later, a studio version, this time featuring a verse from American rapper Kendrick Lamar was released online. It too is set to appear on Strength of a Woman.

It is obvious that Blige derived significantly more value with regard to her personal accomplishments than Janet during the duration of their marriages–the only difference was that Al Mana’s level of wealth compensated Janet for just being married. But if you read through the opinions of women, especially black women in the comments of the articles about their divorces, you can see the lens of inequality by which Isaacs is viewed.