Its Color Was Its Size Analysis

Today, our society experiences the long-term impacts of racialization of the male penis. “Its Color was its Size” by Alex Tizon and “Last Taboo” by Wesley Morris are great articles that will be discussed throughout the paper that show us readers the perceptions of different racial perceptions when it comes to genital size, which also include personal experiences. Along with these two writers, Robert Mapplethorpe has played a big role in portraying the African American man and his unique body structures. Throughout this paper, you will read how the use of Mapplethorpe’s images have impacted society as a whole, as well as both the positive and negative criticism it received.

Its Color is Its Size:

A Commentary on the Black Man’s

Alex Tizon and Wesley Morris both take unique approaches in their articles to further our knowledge as readers, regarding this ongoing issue. I really enjoyed how these articles were cohesive with each other in the sense that they both discussed black male sexuality, as well as exemplifying the perceptions of the Asian race. In Alex Tizon’s’ Its Color was its Size, he refers back to his personal experiences, as an Asian born male, and how specific race will often provide the perception of the size of a male’s penis. For example, Tizon states, “This latter myth tells young blacks that they’re intellectually inferior. The former myth tells young Asian men that they’re sexually inadequate.” (Tizon) Analyzing this excerpt from Tizon’s article, he exemplifies how the perception that Asian men have smaller penises compared to other races, can cause insecurities within these men. These insecurities often lead to the idea that as a male they are sexually inadequate, due to the fact that their penis size is not large enough to pleasure women, or men, in the ways that they are expecting the male to. Tizon introduces us to James Baldwin, the author of the novel Just Above My Head. Tizon states in his article, “In his last novel, "Just Above My Head," James Baldwin writes, regarding the mystique of the black male penis, that “it was more a matter of its

By saying this, I feel that when an individual is looking for a partner, they have an idea of what kind of person they are looking for based on already existing perceptions of humanity. For example, a woman may not want to pursue an Asian man solely based on the perception that he will most likely have a smaller sized penis. This in the long term has impacted the Asian race, due to the fact that a majority of women would prefer an average sized penis, or above, when it comes to the man they choose to be with. Personally, in my experiences I base the partner I want to be with based off personalities and how they can help me grow as a person in life, but many women do not think that way, which is causing the continuation of racialization in