How many books do you have in your house?

Don't judge a book by its cover. Chances are, you've heard that statement before. But I've got one you've never heard. During my "Black Experience through Film" class at Laney College, our professor quipped:

Ladies, if you are at a man's house and you're on your way to his bed, and if you don't see 10 books before you get to his bedroom, leave.

It was another one of my professors hilarious and outrageous statements. But the idea had merit: Don't f*ck with a dumb f*ck. It was a relief from society's usual patriarchal suggestions that women trade sexual favors for a man's money. More often, men are judged by their paper and not their paper backs.

I jokingly asked: What if a man has a whole bookcase?

"A whole bookcase?" she asked. "Shoot, if he has a whole bookcase, you can spend the week there." The class laughed. "In fact, you should call a few of your girlfriends to come over." Comedy.

Now of course, with the bookcase picture above resting in my bedroom, that sounded like a great offer to me. A week-long literary orgy. Bring it on.

Although that idea may come off as crude, or comical, it contradicts with the values of American society. If we were to choose our partners based off knowledge -- assuming that having books equals actually reading books - many problems of our society could be eliminated. Knowledge is beyond just algebra, history or science, but applied knowledge. Information about having better relationships with people. Knowledge about respecting life. Knowledge about co-existing and living harmoniously with the physical environment while living a spiritually rich life.

So, you can judge a man by the rims on his scraper, or you can judge a man by the number (and quality) of books bound with paper.

Then again, just because a man is smart does not mean he is good for you. And it certainly doesn't mean you should be in his bed.

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