Masculinity: African American Men Essay

Submitted By slgarner42
Words: 1579
Pages: 7
Open Document
Shemia Garner
Robert E. Randolph
AFS 305-01 Black Masculinity
28 May 2010
Mimicry of Black Masculinity The performance of African American males in the 21st century has been greatly influenced by the forefathers of Black History. With many Black men continuing to search for an identity in “White America,” society becomes presumably aware that the struggle and strife of the African American man is still prevalent. Leaders like Frederick Douglass, Bruce Nugent, and W. E. B. Du Bois each had an impact on improving the present day Black man, despite the continuous suppression of not only Black men, but African American people as a whole. Gender performance requires a set of beliefs, rituals, rhetoric and theatricality which assumes an audience or culture of a gender. This means that Black men are going to act the way the community views them and the way they have viewed others in their own community, hencing the term mimicry. Violence, education, sexuality and prosperity all contribute to molding the identity of the African American man and in the 21st century we see the mimicry of earlier historical figures. In class we discussed four stereotypical classifications of Black men, with the Buck being one of the most common stereotypes by White Americans. Most Black men are viewed as strong, hot-tempered, violent, dumb and hypersexual. In the prologue of Traps we are introduced to a character named John who is a product of African American folklore. John is trying to escape the traps that society has tried to use to keep him bound. John is also portrayed as a “Buck” through his character. In modern day we see “Bucks” all the time. They are depicted in movies, books and also on the local news everyday. Violence seems to be the most emphasized characteristic, but John’s character was only violent if provoked or in times of self defense. Most criminal activity that occurs in our society is most often associated with a Black male, but where is the emphasis on the successful Black C.E.O. or the one that has custody and raises his small children alone? Traps encourages Black men to elude from the social expectance of committing crime. Hurston also places an emphasis on laughter which was interesting to me while reading the passage. John uses laughter as a way to cope in my opinion. It’s almost like it is his substitution for humiliation, crying and possibly anger. This seems to be a very common trait in a Black man. Laughter seems to be a response to hide hurt, humiliate, or to keep anger from escalating. Hurston also states that John brought hope and encouraged others around him. The ambition of many of our Black men today exemplifies John. From drug dealers to rappers and athletes to gangsters, when a Black man aspires to do something then the odds are it will be done. Not everyone can be the famous or rich, but regardless of this reality, it seems like there is never an impossible task to a Black man whether it be positive or negative. Sexuality is another issue that is heavily elaborated in Traps and we also see it appear in Douglass’ narrative. Homophobia is common amongst Black men. Being openly gay has been seen as taboo, but there are more and more homosexual brothers expressing their sexuality, which is what John would consider part of evolving into a real man. In Douglass’ narrative we are made aware of the humiliation of male slaves by undressing them before whipping them and the molestation that occurred. Sexual molestation seems to be a silent issue in society today. Many young Black men have been molested by someone quite familiar to them, but they are silenced for fear of being judged as less than a man. I think maybe sleeping with as many women as possible could be part of proving manhood for some men and allowing them from being judged as being gay. Could this be why many are viewed as hyper-sexual? Freedom for Frederick Douglass came through literacy. Despite the threats of the White man and the
Show More

Related Documents: Masculinity: African American Men Essay

Extended Definiton: Athletics Essays

Don’t Believe Everything You See On TV – Black Masculinity As of late, Mass media outlets focus has been moving towards portraying a particular image rather than a meaningful message as it was done in the past. Media’s progression can be put in better terms by evaluating television shows like Love & Hip Hop the Reunion episode or most recently the over televised exposer of Ray’s violence act towards his now wife. The visional portrayal being shown publicly is based on the likes of the public, in…

Words 712 - Pages 3

How Does African Americans Change Their Identity

Black men are experiencing an identity crisis. Unfortunately, in a world where there has been enormous progress, society has not changed their views on certain demographics and their contributions to the country or community. Black and white demographics are in a constant cycle of hate and love, especially in the United States. Throughout its history, white Americans had treated black Americans with prejudice and discrimination for so long, it changed the global identity and self-identity of black…

Words 2258 - Pages 10

Essay about Gender and Crime Article Review final2

available statistics men commit most crime - why should this be the case? Traditionally the criminological discourse has been dominated by male academics and has focused on the explanation of male criminality, as being both victims and perpetrators of crime (Hall and Winlow, 2008). Across all regions of the world, men commit more crime than women (Evans and Jamieson, 2008). Our prison population is dominated by males (The Howard League for Penal Reform, 2014). Because not all men commit crime, early…

Words 1620 - Pages 7

A Soldier's Story Film Analysis

a murder mystery story that allows us to see the way African Americans soldiers were treated during World War two. The murder of Sgt. Waters, an African American sergeant in the United States army who would push his men in order to prove to the other white officers he could lead men just like them. Even if Sgt. Waters believed that by pushing him men he was helping prove themselves to the white soldiers, the racism and the ideals of masculinity in the United States army would lead to the death of…

Words 1240 - Pages 5

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats Of Rhymes: Film Analysis

talks about how Hip Hop has brought up terms such as “gangsters”, “bitches” and “hoes.” Byron Hurt, the producer of this film, brings up the subject about masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia throughout the film. Hurt is a big hip-hop fan, he listens to all rappers and enjoys the music but what Hurt tries to confront is the fact that men in the music industry try to depict their definition of manhood through hip-hop commercialized form of music. Hurt mentions how women are often portrayed…

Words 454 - Pages 2

Doing Business in South Africa Essay

Doing Business in South Africa Introduction The South African culture compromise of: black Afrikaans , white Afrikaans, mixed-race Afrikaans, Asian-Indian, White Chinese-Taiwanese (Koopman & van Muijen 1994). The black Afrikaans are the majority race in South Africa. The Zulu nation makes up the majority in the black Afrikaans, The white Afrikaans are the minority race and have the majority of the power. The white Afrikaans are predominately from the English origin. The mixed-race Afrikaans…

Words 1238 - Pages 5

Mainstream Criminological Theory

Critical Criminology includes a variety of criminological theories, such as Penology, Bio Criminology, and Feminist Criminology. Mainstream criminology is sometimes referred to by critical criminologists as the establishment, administrative, managerial, correctional, or positivistic criminology. The theory also studies the reasons to commit crimes through analyzing individual behaviors such as society, psychological problems, politics, racism, oppression, poverty, and violence. The focal point of…

Words 261 - Pages 2

Doing Gender: Bodies in the Media Essay

University The social media, print media and people all have their own conceptions of beauty, masculinity, and sexuality. The media is big part of most people’s lives, so it is no surprise that it has a huge influence on our own beliefs of what these should mean to us, and what they really mean. Media gives masculinity/femininity, beauty images to stand up to, and sexualizes images, along with objectifying women and men. As a result, I picked five pictures to discuss and analyze from the print media. The…

Words 1188 - Pages 5

Gerlad Horne Gender Roles

historian who primarily focuses on the lives and pasts of African Americans. During the Horne Interview, the audience is able to learn a lot about how race and sports have interacted in the past, more specifically with black boxers. During the 19th century, Black men were forced to fight with other men as a form of entertainment for white slaveowners. But in addition to that, we see how gender has interacted with sports since the start. Masculinity was predominantly discussed in this as women at the time…

Words 478 - Pages 2

Gender Stereotypes

way to market products, however the concept of advertising encompasses many problematic issues. These issues highlight the need for consumers to critically think about images in advertising, in order to limit the negative effects of using hyper-masculinity and ideal body types as a way to sell products, and the problems facing the LGBT (lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender) community and minority ethnic groups regarding their representation. Gender roles are consistently shown throughout advertisements…

Words 1536 - Pages 7