Brunch is the new black

As I transition from being a college student to an adult, I've found a new guilty pleasure, one that many of us have fallen victim to-- BRUNCH. 

Although the concept of brunching has been around for years, dated back as early as the 1890s, its recently become the 'it thing' to do. What once started as a social status thing, intended for the wealthy, has become mainstream and has swept the country. So exactly what is brunch? The obvious combination of 'breakfast' and 'lunch', perfect for those who can't seem to get up early enough in time to make breakfast, especially after a long night of partying in some cases. Pretty genius if you ask me.

Before brunch became so popularized, it typically was only held on Sundays-- Easter Sunday and Mother's Day, are the two days out of the year most people are known to host a brunch on. However, brunch has slowly transitioned from a weekend window between breakfast and lunch to a two day weekend event filled with bottomless mimosas, endless laughter and good vibes all around. I'm sure I'm not the only person wondering what made brunch suddenly become everyone's favorite past time, or an even better question how? We went from spending our weekends from relaxing and binge watching Netflix to spending hours sipping mimosas and flicking it up (at least I did). The beauty behind brunch is just that, it's the weekend. I can't speak for all, but after working a full-time job in Corporate America Monday-Friday, I look forward to brunch on the weekends. After all, you get a break from the restricted work week and relax-- whether its formally or informally.   

As I scrolled through my Twitter timeline the other day I came across this huge debate about men brunching-- specifically Black men. According to Twitter Black men who brunch are gay. Who knew someone's love for french toast could ultimately determine their sexuality. It's really no surprise that Black Twitter had a say on the idea of Black men participating in brunch. Like at all, I wish I could say I was taken by surprise but I wasn't. As I'm sure none of you are either. It all started with a tweet that read "It's not gay for men to go to brunch, its gay if they go TOGETHER with no females." It's unfortunate that black men have to live up to someone else's idea of masculinity, who nine times out of 10 isn't comfortable with their own sexuality. What's even more unfortunate is that some black men allow these ridiculous expectations define them, i.e. black men showing emotions, but that's another story for a different day. 

Why aren't heterosexual men allowed to come together and have a casual outing with friends over champagne and french toast? Women do it all the time. And why is it that the only exception for a straight man to participate in brunch is if women are involved? First off, lets just say that anyone who agrees with that tweet is just as ignorant as the young lady behind it. As I scrolled through Twitter more just to see what other people had to say, I came across a few tweets defending the idea that men who brunch are gay, sadly more than I'd like to have saw. I'll never understand why the Black community instills these notions in our head at an early age that certain acts make men less of a man. The irony about the women, and even men who think it's gay for men to brunch and sip mimosas are the same ones who condone going to day parties in their GQ Suave outfit poppin' bottles of Belair and Moet.(OOPS) See what I did there? Personally, I don't see anything wrong with men who brunch. In fact, I think it's sexy. Have you ever seen a man get dressed up for brunch? Formal or informal, a man going to brunch is always dressed his best. Way better dressed than the scammers y'all love so much at the day parties, again oops. 

As of 2017, brunch has sort of taken over us millennials. It's certainly become everyone's favorite pastime. Whether you're out brunching after a long night of parting, an eventful church service or just to enjoy the company of friends celebrating brunching is definitely the way to spend your weekends and take a break from reality