Kevin Samuels: The Good and the Bad

Mr Kevin Samuels! If you have not heard of him you must be living under a rock. I first heard of him last year after a video clip went viral where he told a woman that "she was average at best". My first impression of him was that he is extremely rude. Months later, I saw that he had a youtube channel and I decided to watch a few of his videos. His main audience tends to be African-Americans, though people worldwide and of different races do watch him too. I am going to discuss what I like and dislike about his videos.

A lot of women (predominantly black American) that call into his show say that they want a high value man (HVM). My understanding of  this is a man that is very wealthy. One thing Kevin always does is ask women what they're height, weight and dress size is. I noticed that many of these women that call in to the show tend to be overweight (e.g. a woman who is about 5'5 weighing 200lbs+). He gets onto them about this and stresses the importance of losing weight and becoming fit if they want to attract a HVM and I completely agree with him on this. He says HVM want fit, fine and feminine women. Let's be honest, men are visual creatures. I have never seen a very wealthy man with a fat/obese wife or girlfriend, they always go for slimmer women. According to the US department of health , 4 out of 5 African American women are overweight or obese. This is a health epidemic. Black people in both USA and UK  are more likely to be overweight/obese and are more likely to develop high blood pressure, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes than any other race. These are all illnesses developed due to lifestyle and diet. Some people are too lazy to take care of their health and want to blame other factors. People need to learn to take responsibility for their own bodies and make better decisions in regards to their health. That's why I support Kevin Samuels pushing health and fitness (especially because I'm into fitness myself) .

Another thing Kevin Samuels talks about is the importance of marriage, especially when having children, which I also agree with. If you look at wealthy communities the foundation of it is a strong family unit. Wealthy men get married because they know the importance of creating legacy and generational wealth. I remember having a discussion with an Asian work colleague. He said that strong family units are fundamental in his community, and that is how they pass on wealth. He said he notices that in the black community there are people who have many children with different people and he doesn't understand it because you cannot create generational wealth that way. I told him I completely agree. A few years ago Obama said that over 70% of African Americans are born outside of wedlock and he called out the black community on this, some of them got mad at him. The whole "baby mother/father" culture has become too normalised. Broken families lead to higher rates of poverty, crime, lower educational attainment plus much more. Many studies have been done on this. Kevin always asks mothers that call into the show whether they married the father of their child/ren, which most of them reply "no". He always asks them why they had a child with a man who did not marry them. He also holds men accountable for not being able to discipline themselves sexually and not being able to provide. He really pushes the traditional nuclear family which I agree with.

I do like that Kevin Samuels holds people accountable for their decisions and actions (he does this to both men and women).  I find that many grown adults make bad choices that lead to negative consequences but they will blame everyone else but themselves. They struggle with taking accountability for their own actions. I noticed that when Kevin questions people about their choices they come up with excuses. He also talks about having realistic expectations when looking for a partner. People  call in and say that they want a high standard man/woman meanwhile they themselves aren't of a high standard or don't bring anything to the table. However these high standard men/women they want would also have their own requirements of what they want in a partner. The question is would they meet those requirements?

There are views that Kevin Samuels has that I do find problematic. I do not like the rating system he uses. He asks women  “what would you rate yourself (facially) out of 10 but you can’t use 7”. Who is he to decide how attractive a woman is to others? Beauty is subjective and is influenced by media and culture, there is no universal beauty standard. There is so much pressure placed on woman to look a certain way, that’s why the majority of woman have insecurities.

Another view of his I disagree with is that he says women need to be married by their early to mid 20's and he speaks negatively about women who choose a career and/or are single over the age of 25 .  Women that are in their late twenties onwards are classed as being in the "Danger Zone".  I believe that a woman's worth and value should not be based on her relationship status, further our existence should not revolve around men (this should be a choice). Women should have autonomy to make their own decisions about their life and do what's best for them. He criticizes women that have professional careers, their own businesses or a masters/PHD. He says women can't have it all (career and family) but there are plenty of women that do. You can still be a feminine women with a career. As a career woman myself, when I do marry and have children, I am willing to take  a step back in my career to raise my children while they are young and do most of the domestic work while my husband provides financially. I can always go back to my career after, many women do this. Also I think Kevin's delivery can be too harsh at times, but I understand this is what gets him views. Though I do not agree with Kevin on everything he says, he does speak the truth at times and I do learn key points, plus his videos are very entertaining!