In a recent interview with Montreality, rising music artist and self-proclaimed hoochie mama Sexyy Red opened up about her style. Not her flaming red hair, the plethora of tattoos, or risquĂ© fashion, but her prescription glasses. This was prompted by a question on whether glasses are overrated or underrated. She responded enthusiastically, “People be scared to wear they glasses, but me, baby I’m blind and I need my glasses. So, I’mma wear them and I’mma rock these thangs.”
She continued by discussing how positively people have responded to her decision to wear glasses. This seems like a mundane thing for Red to get excited about, or for me to point out. However, those who’ve never worn glasses, or critically engaged with the pressures to go without them, don’t understand! People really see wearing glasses as indicative of things outside of affording vision care and not having perfect vision.
As someone who has worn glasses since middle school and lived through the era where removing glasses was key to any Hollywood makeover scene, I love to see Red stand her ground. Seriously, this trope was so common in movies that Not Another Teen Movie hilariously parodied it. There was a flash-in-the-pan moment where fake clunky glasses (often repurposed 3D glasses) were ironically stylish. Otherwise, women wearing glasses remained a sign of frumpyness and, sometimes, a prop in exotic nerdy-themed fantasies. Red teased that she likes to lean into those fantasies sometimes.
Many people have opted for now-affordable contacts and (now not so promoted) corrective eye surgery. Of course, folks should decide what’s best for them and their eyeballs. This is your obligatory, “like what you like!” reminder. However, what we find beautiful, smart, sexy, etc. remains influenced by the culture at large. Red added,
“People be writing me saying I’m make them comfortable to where they prescription glasses now. And people be straight saying ‘Why ain’t you get no contact?’ Cause I don’t want no contacts. I want to wear my glasses. I like the look.”
In previous interviews, Red has talked about not always feeling comfortable in her glasses. She felt like she was too “too cute and hip” to see. As silly as that sounds, that attitude persists for many people. Eventually Red grew out of it and now has incorporated it into her jewelry. The rapper even drafted a sketch of what she wanted her Hello Kitty necklace to look like, including the Sanrio character with a pair of frames just like her. In the face of countless pressures put on women to bend to the wills of desirability politics, Red refuses to change for anyone. And we applaud it.
(via Montreality, feature image: screencap/Montreality)
