A Woman’s Worth Is Not Determined by Her Proximity to a Man
Women like Vanessa Bryant and Lauren London are deserving of respect, regardless of their connections to beloved men
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Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
Over the weekend, Vanessa Bryant logged onto Instagram to once again address a grievance on behalf of her family. This time it was about an ill-considered punchline from Meek Mill on a recent song: “If I ever lack, I’m goin’ out with my chopper, it be another Kobe.”
Bryant’s response was short and to the point. “I find this line to be extremely insensitive and disrespectful. Period,” she wrote. “I am not familiar with any of your music, but I believe you can do better than this. If you are a fan, fine, there’s a better way to show your admiration for my husband. This lacks respect and tact.”
It’s another in a long list of times Bryant has had to speak out publicly to defend her and her family’s peace. It seems like every month she’s either dispelling rumors, asking the media to respect her family, or checking someone for the way they address her husband and his legacy. It’s all so sad, honestly, that this grieving widow and mother has to keep doing this. And it’s even more infuriating how people react to her when she does.
Much of social media focused on the idea that Bryant was being disingenuous about her lack of familiarity with Mill, and rather was simply throwing shade. I don’t know if she knows his music or not or if she was trying to insult Mill; it really doesn’t matter. What matters is the way we keep treating these women who are left behind when the men we worship are no longer here.
Just last month, an erroneous rumor spread that Lauren London was pregnant. She was trending on Twitter for an entire day while people trashed her for having the audacity to find love… two years after Nipsey Hussle was murdered. The rumor wasn’t even true, yet she, like Bryant, had to take to social media to defend herself while she healed.
Imagine us treating these women better because of who they are individually and the care they…
