More handpicked essays just for you.
A companion to We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity review discussion
A companion to We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity review discussion
Hegemonic masculinity in black men
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In white scripts and black supermen: Black Masculinities in Comic Books was about the early representation of black male superheroes and how the structural obstacles and systemic racism effect comic in the 1960 to 1976. They discussion about characters such as Black Panther, Tyroc, john Stewart, Black Lightning and Luke Cage. The spoke analysis each characters about where they come from and what they meant to children and adult who grow up with them. It also providing primarily black youth with the opportunity to see themselves in the world of superheroes.
Will society ever view African-Americans as people and not as less than? In “Chokehold” Paul Butler will discuss this very idea depth. Butler provides history on why and how society sees African-American men as violent thugs. Butler goes on to explain in detail how the chokehold plays a part in oppressing African-American men and how to avoid the ramifications of the Chokehold, if possible.
Stereotypes have the power to label someone and rob them of all their hard work or strike fear into others. One such stereotype is that of black men being more dangerous;yet, one black writer voices his opinion on such a stereotype. In the essay “Just Walk On By” by Brent Staples, Staples describes his experience of being a large black man and how it affects the people around him. From people locking their doors to pedestrians crossing the street to avoid a confrontation, people seem to be afraid of Staples just from a glance. Yet Staples does nothing to cause this fear, rather his stereotype is to blame.
The analysis of Empire through the perspective of Black Masculinity revealed several conclusions. One, Hyper-masculine and affinity for violent signifiers are only displayed by Andre and Lucious. Lucious killing Bunkie and Andre sending men to rob Jamal showed a disregard for the law, a disregard for the wellbeing of other and lack of consciousness. Two, all four men are complete visible to social.
The “Rock Pile” by James Baldwin and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston are two stories that examined black male resistance to emasculation. The men in these stories lived in patriarchal societies, and they reaped the benefits of a structure that favored men. In both of these stories, the male characters are dominant figures in their households, and when they felt like their manhood was being attacked, they retaliate viciously. In “Their eyes were watching god”
“Black Men and Public Spaces” Diagnostic Essay Brent Staples in “Black Men and Public Spaces,” illustrates the inescapable prejudices and stereotyping that African-American men face in America. He does this by relating to his audience through his personal experiences with stereotyping, and sharing his malcontent on how these events have made him alter his way of living. From “victimizing” woman, watching people lock themselves away, and having to whistle classical music to calm the nerves of people around him; Staples builds a picture to help people better sympathize and understand his frustration. Although Staples describes himself as a college graduate, a journalist, and a softy in the face of violence, he details that the overall public deems him a dangerous criminal.
Rather than a single standard of masculinity to which all men and boys are taught to aspire to, studies have documented a variety of masculinity that define manhood differently across racial , ethnic, class, sexual , and regional boundaries.(Kathleen Blee) In this quote the author states that due to intersectional differences, different racial groups of men might have different definitions on what it means to be masculine and what it means to perform masculinity. Gender roles are also modified by life experiences over time across racial groups. In the next images I presented are all images of my guy friends and cousins. More specifically they are all images of African American males in my life choosing to participate in gender and masculinity.
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, depicts the internal and external struggles of masculinity of each character in the novel. Ironically, Brett, the only woman in the book, displays masculinity throughout all of her actions. Each man in the book gravitates towards Brett as they search for their own masculine identity. For example, Mike Campbell, Brett’s main lover, uses Brett to channel his masculinity. Mike has no real masculine traits without Brett, so instead he covers up these shortcomings with alcohol.
Despite these possible explanations about whether rap and hip hop artists use homophobic language as an attack against white men, homosexuality or as a way to affirm their masculinity, it does not change the fact that the use of this homophobic language is wrong and not a viable solution. However, there are artists who currently resist the masculine gender representation of rap, hip hop and even alternative R&B. In Frederik Dhaenens’ “Resistant masculinities in alternative R&B? Understanding Frank Ocean and The Weeknd’s representations of gender” he writes, “Hegemonic R&B and hip hop masculinity is grafted onto a history of racism and systematic oppression by White Americans of African-American men… the manhood of Black men has been constantly scrutinized, questioned and defied” (285). When black manhood is threatened oftentimes
Context Why do men feel the need to conform with toxic masculinity in American society? In American society, people tend to notice that there is a stigma surrounding the fact that men thrive off another man’s approval, being aggressive towards women, men concealing their emotions, and marginalizing certain groups. Toxic masculinity is an ever growing problem in America and can affect others around them. For example, fights and excessive drinking that are usually presented by males. Even the American Psychological Association (APA) has deemed traditional masculinity as dominant, aggressive, competitive and stoic.
Masculinity becomes excessive only when is portrayed by the black male or female body, Latinos/a, and working class, Insufficient masculinity is featured in Asian bodies or upper class. “Cultural and political power, it still makes a difference when masculinity coincides with biological maleness” (Female Masculinity page 16), the domination of masculinity is expected to lack when you are a minority because it is seem too much for society to handle; masculinity domination is only applaud when white men of the upper class perform
Additionally, masculinity intersects with other factors including sexuality, race, and class, which leads to multiple forms of masculinity. The dominant form of masculinity is hegemonic masculinity through which privileged males have dominated women and other men. Accomplishing this form of masculinity is near impossible for minority men, which leads them to engage in compensatory masculinities. Street life-oriented young men are likely to engage in less superior forms of masculinity consisting of working-class masculinity, hypermasculinity, and street masculinity.
“Too many boys are trapped in the same suffocating, outdated model of masculinity, where manhood is measured in strength, where there is no way to be vulnerable without being emasculated, where manliness is about having power over others.” (Black, 2018) Society has created boxes that men and women must fit into. Inside their distinct boxes, women are expected to be mild-mannered and look pretty; on the other hand, men are prompted with masculinity. The strict box suffocating men has prompted the eruption of aggressive behavior. The walls sealing in these erratic men with explosive tendencies are composed of societal expectations, past experiences, and the examples set by popular men.
Skin lightening amongst the black African community has always been a major and controversial issue in the sense that those who have been bleaching their skin, especially with women have been accused of displaying characteristics of anti-blackness, along with colourism - which is known as intraracial discrimination within one single race. Amongst black Africans this discrimination is based on the Eurocentric standards of beauty and in some cases can go as far as to how some black people are willing to participate in white assimilation so as to acquire social, political and economic power. Normally, the conventional notions of skin amongst black people focus on women, but in this instance I will focus on men. This is because there is a notion
Masculinity (also called boyhood, manliness or manhood) is a set of attributes, behaviors and roles generally associated with boys and men. But the culture doesn’t end at the definition, it starts from there. The first thing to come to mind when the word masculinity is heard is usually a man flexing his gigantic muscles, as the word might sound to suggest, and that right there is the current culture of masculinity because sadly, in the world we live in, not everyone has a “muscular body”. So far we know the concept of masculinity, but the culture is what is truly hampering.
