Source: AP

A little over a week ago, everybody but Serena Williams had something to say about Caroline Wozniacki. She’s the Danish tennis player who stuffed her bra and her skirt with towels during a tennis match against Maria Sharapova in what everybody who wasn’t black thought was a hilarious impersonation of Serena Williams.

I, personally, didn’t see what was necessary about her mockery — let alone funny — but according to Serena, no one should be taking the stunt so seriously. In an email to USA Today yesterday, she finally responded to the issue, writing:

“I know Caro and I would call her my friend and I don’t think she (meant) anything racist by it.”

Adding that she didn’t bother to watch the viral video, Serena insisted there’s nothing unique or malicious about what Wozniacki did.

“(Roddick) and (Djokovic) do it all the time and Caro does (it) and now it’s racist.??”

“At the end of the day I spend my time focused on things to become better and not bring me down.”

I actually perceived Wozniacki’s imitation as more sexist than anything, although there was obviously more concern from my end because Serena is a black woman. Still, I didn’t understand why any woman who knows — or maybe she doesn’t — what it’s like to be taunted for your body would choose to perpetuate that type of behavior during a tennis match of all times. At the very least, if the act wasn’t racist, it was still inappropriate.

Perhaps the best line in Serena’s email was when she added, “if people feel this way, [Wozniacki] should take reason and do something different next time.”

Listen to your friend, girl. Listen to your friend.

What do you think about Serena’s reaction to being mocked?

For singles in America, if you like it you don’t necessarily have to put a ring on it anymore. Results of Match.com’s second annual Singles in America survey show nearly two-thirds of singles are unsure about getting married in the future.

A decent portion of Americans over the age of 21 still want to jump the broom some day—about 34.5%—but another 27% say no thanks to exchanging vows, and the remaining 38.5% say they’re uncertain about the whole thing. Of the 5,541 single adults included in the survey, 90.5% are heterosexual; 56.5%  have never married, 30.9% are divorced, 10.2% are widowed, and 2.4% separated.

Marriage has been on the decline for several decades now, so the finding isn’t totally surprising. About 21.3% said they don’t have time to be with someone or they prefer to be alone, and only 12.7% are actively seeking a relationship. Nearly half (46.8%) say they are not actively looking for a relationship but if they met the right person they would consider it; 16.9% are dating someone; and another 2.2% like to keep their options open.

Bella DePaulo, a visiting professor of psychology at the University of California-Santa Barbara, who wasn’t involved with the study but researches singles, says the findings show staying single is actually an option that many embrace—despite the “woe is the single woman” banter that’s constantly thrown around.

“It smashes probably the most pervasive myth about single people is that what they want most is to escape being single,” she says. “These numbers are in the context of a society that still greatly glorifies marriage.”

What would be great is if when people saw these results they would realize they apply to black women too and they’ll stop trying to figure out how to get us married. As the findings show, we’re not all drying to cross the threshold like yesterday.

Are you in the uncertain/don’t want to get married category or are you still hoping to walk down the aisle?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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The title of an article published on USA Today today says, “‘Natural hair’ is making waves among black women.” Well, of course. If you look around you these days, so many more women are coming out of their homes with large eclectic afros, locks of all colors, TWAs that they proudly boast, braids, twists and pressed hair that have reached new and exciting links. The proof is in the pudding, and now it seems to be in statistical form.

The hair-care company, Design Essentials, started a study in 2010 to measure the popularity of natural hair. While the number of women who ditched relaxed hair was 26 percent in 2010, it has jumped up big time with a 10 percent increase hitting 36 percent for 2011. According to USA Today and Mintel, a consumer spending and market research firm, relaxer kit sales have also dropped by nearly 17 percent since 2006.  “Natural hair has been a movement for several years. What we’re seeing now is a confirmation that this is a lifestyle that is very important to a lot of women,” says Cyntelia Abrams, a marketing coordinator for Design Essentials.

There definitely seems to be an appeal in going natural these days. This might have to do with the money and time some women are saving by decreasing their salon visits, and from the comfort of knowing that whatever amazing or crazy things their hair may be doing everyday, there’s something fab about knowing that it’s all from their own scalp. And let’s not even get started on the rain benefits…I think all hair is beautiful (no pressure, do your thing), and I realize that natural hair isn’t the way most women are necessarily trying to go (yet), but it’s nice to hear that women are embracing their own strands one day at a time. I can only imagine that numbers are going to continue to increase as the years go by. I see 50 percent for 2012 easily!

Do you feel like you’re seeing a huge increase in natural-haired women as you move around? 

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According to new USA Today/Gallup Poll results released today, 35 percent of Americans surveyed believe that race relations under President Obama have improved. While it’s nice to see the hope in those results, the findings are actually down from a similar survey taken in 2009, which had 41 percent of Americans saying race relations had been better than in the past. A decline in the number of people that think we’re all mixing and mingling well is not a good look, especially since 23 percent (not TOO far off from that 35 percent) of Americans polled at the beginning of this month actually feel race relations have gotten worse.

With Martin Luther King Jr.’s memorial being dedicated on the 28 of this month, it’s pretty disappointing to hear that more and more people aren’t seeing or feeling an improvement in the way we coexist based on our color. According to Gallup, it was predicted the day after President Obama’s election by a whopping 70 percent of people that race relations would get better. But with folks in the public eye calling President Obama “boy” and using the word “hizzouse” to describe the White House based on the guests he invites (which is his damn business), it’s clear that tact and race relations aren’t really on the up and up. But there’s good news! An optimistic 52 percent of Americans believe that President Obama’s election will help to improve race relations in the future. Well, we’ll wait and see about that…

Do you think race relations have gotten better, worse or stayed the same?