I heart Oprah

Alright. I admit it. I like Oprah. Yes, I know. I can hear the gasps of outrage from friends and readers out there in the cyberspace. Oprah? She likes Oprah? But Oprah is so ... so ... suburban!

News flash, folks. I am suburban! But that's not why I like her. Although from what I've been reading, I seem to be in a shrinking demographic these days. I sensed the tide beginning to turn against Oprah about the same time that Martha went into the big house. You see, Martha fit the niche of the rich, powerful, strong woman - read bitch - that we all love to hate. Especially women. Why is it that we cannibalize our own gender with such relish, greedily noshing down on every dirty detail in the pages of tabloid newspapers or on talk radio? We - meaning us women - built the Martha Inc. empire up and we happily watched as it tumbled down. But Martha came back with an unexpected right hook, didn't she? We all expected her to be dragged into prison, screaming like the shrew she must be, ripping at her cashmere pashmina and renting holes in her Donna Karan suit. But she didn't. She stepped forward, waived any appeal for extra time and walked right into Camp Cupcake. When she came out six months later, she was thinner, fitter, and altogether a happier person. Leave it to Martha to find a good thing in the jailhouse.

You had to have a grudging respect for her. But if that meant Martha Stewart was no longer the spoiled bitch we loved to hate, then who was? Let's see - who else in America is a rich, powerful woman, who, like Martha, has the ability to reach a large percentage of the population?

I know. The answer is obvious. The big O. It was only a matter of time. The anti-Oprah movement really seemed to hit its stride this past spring with the "Hermes incident". The part of the story that seems to be agreed upon by both sides is that Oprah attempted to enter the Hermes store in Paris a few minutes after closing time. She was refused entry even though there were other customers still inside the store. Hermes insists that the store was closed and no exception was going to be made for Ms. Winfrey. Oprah's people seem to be saying that the issue is not that she was refused entry, but that she was rebuffed because she was a black woman - apparently she was sans makeup - and they did not realize who she was. It has been rumored that comments were made about "problems with North Africans at this store."

Who knows which version is correct? What I find sad is the glee with which people leapt on this story. See, I knew she must be a bitch! Hah! Told you so! Donald Trump is on his third marriage and umpteenth financial turnaround, and yet you never hear anyone shouting as he swans his way from the Trump tower to the Trump helicopter: Wow, look at him! What a bastard!

The old double standard. And sadly, we women are doing it to ourselves. I googled the term "Oprah sucks". There were 120,000 hits.

Yeah, I like Oprah. I respect the fact that she is a powerful, self-made, black woman. She makes thoughtful, sometimes insightful, television, and as a writer and author I have to respect the attention she has brought to reading quality literature. She may be rich as Croseus, but she doesn't spend her days reclining on a velvet sofa, eating grapes and being fanned by nubile, naked young men.

If you were in her position, could you say the same thing?