In Search of Progressive Black Masculinities (original) (raw)
Related papers
2019
Black masculinity is a highly convoluted social concept. It is nearly impossible to define Black masculinity without referring to its antithesis, White hegemonic masculinity. White hegemonic masculinity, according to Josef Benson’s text, Hypermasculinities in the Contemporary Novel: Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, and James Baldwin, derives from the basic social characteristics of White, rural men. Benson argues that these men are often personified in literature and film as saviors rescuing the White race from “savage Native Americans” (xii). These basic characteristics of White, hegemonic masculinity are still prevalent in 21st century America and have been adopted by the collective White social structure. Most White men are groomed to lead and protect their homes/families from the outside infiltrations of Black, brown, and indigenous people men. White men are often characterized as triumphant heroes, whereas Black men are characterized as aggressors. Prolific literary figures of the African American literary canon have long sought to resolve the racial and gender discrepancy. In the late 19th Century, W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington codifies the concept of a Black hegemonic masculinity that limits black male performance. In other words, Washington believes that the masculinity of black men is dependent upon their ability to assimilate into the larger white society. Dubois believes that the masculinity of black men is dependent upon their intellectual prowess. From those two Victorian thinkers our present day ideals of Black masculinity are not culturally relevant. As a result, African American literary figures challenged (and continue to challenge) DuBois and Washington’s notion of black manhood. Readers can draw inferences of Black masculinity through the short stories of renowned African American authors such as Zora Neal Hurston (1891-1960), Richard Wright (1908-1960), James Baldwin (1924-1987), and Alice Walker (1944).
Toward an Anti-Sexist Black American Male Identity
In this article, the author presents an analysis of the socialization experience of an individual Black American man. He deconstructs critical childhood experiences that reinforced patriarchal norms, followed by experiences with family and in places of scholarship where he began to grapple with his role as an oppressor. Sexism in general is addressed, and the author expresses a need for men to acknowledge and confront their internalized and externalized sexism. This issue becomes particularly complex with Black American men who may feel systemically powerless. To eradicate sexism in the Black American community, Black American men must redefine their ideas about male identity. The author concludes by recommending that Black American men and all men of color discuss the impact of racism in their lives while still accepting responsibility for their sexist attitudes, behavior, and socialization.
2016
During the last several decades, research concerning the developmental trajectories, experiences, and behaviors of college men as ‘‘gendered’’ persons has emerged. In this article, we first critically review literature on Black men’s gender development and expressions within college contexts to highlight certain knowledge gaps. We then conceptualize and discuss progressive Black masculinities by relying on Mutua’s germinal work on the subject. Further, we engage Black feminist scholarship, both to firmly situate our more pressing argument for conceptual innovation and to address knowledge gaps in the literature on Black men’s gender experiences. It is our belief that scholars who study gender development and expressions of masculinities among Black undergraduate men could benefit from employing autocritography, and its built-in assumptions, to inform several aspects of their research designs. 1 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA 2 University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI,...
Educational Studies, 2023
This article focuses on the college experiences of 19 Black men who attended historically white institutions (HWIs). Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, we explore how these students articulate, make sense of, and are confronted by antiblackness during their college years. We find and detail three specific forms of anti-Black racism that challenge their higher education endeavors, which include dislocating Black men as outsiders on campus, dismissing Black men’s intellect and abilities, and manufacturing Black men’s invisibilities. Additionally, given the barrage of anti-Black racial logics that confront Black men at HWIs, we also discuss internalizing antiblackness as a fourth finding that illuminates Black men’s struggles and dilemmas within these white educational contexts. These four frames reveal how collegiate Black men can be rendered as insignificant at HWIs, which not only negatively impacts their college experiences but also can contribute to their nonbelonging and produce additional academic and personal stressors.
During the last several decades, research concerning the developmental trajectories, experiences, and behaviors of college men as ''gendered'' persons has emerged. In this article, we first critically review literature on Black men's gender development and expressions within college contexts to highlight certain knowledge gaps. We then conceptualize and discuss progressive Black masculinities by relying on Mutua's germinal work on the subject. Further, we engage Black feminist scholarship, both to firmly situate our more pressing argument for conceptual innovation and to address knowledge gaps in the literature on Black men's gender experiences. It is our belief that scholars who study gender development and expressions of masculinities among Black undergraduate men could benefit from employing autocritography, and its built-in assumptions, to inform several aspects of their research designs.
DBKC JOURNAL of BLACK MASCULINITY
Journal of Black Masculinity , 2012
This article examined the social framework of black males with respect to engaging in behaviors that affirmed masculinity in the eyes of their peers, while simultaneously attempting to negotiate a successful mating game that unfortunately has very little to do with being in a monogamous relationship and even less to do with fatherhood. Dr. Wilson is the co-author and wrote the research field note concerning middle-school females’ role as not being passive and clueless about the sexual promiscuity of the boys they choose to interact and engage in some form of relationship (Cureton and Wilson 2012: 16-17). Fundamentally, the research attempted to disentangle the social issues relative to masculinity in socially disorganized communities. Moreover, Cureton’s Deceptive Black Knight Campaign (DBKC) a framework that integrated Anderson’s code of the street and mating game and Sykes and Matza’s neutralization theory was introduced. The prevailing narrative is that clique loyalties dominate black males’ social construction of reality, which includes criminogenic participation and subscribing to objectification and sexual exploitation of young females. The impact of this article is that it contributes to Anderson’s perspective on the dating and mating game. The Deceptive Black Knight Campaign explores male cohort loyalties and relationship pursuits. A very surface level speculation on feminism, reveals that cultural proscriptions coupled with dysfunctional and irresponsible black masculinity combined to victimize black females at a young age by either forcing them to identify with negative stereotypes and exposing them to males who pursue these young females more out of competition than out of an interest in functional fatherhood in cases where a baby is born.
The Construction of Black Masculinity
Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 2007
How can a White supremacist nation, which subjects Black men to ongoing racism and demonization, at the same time admire and worship Black men as athletes? The author argues that key elements of White supremacy and the new racism are reinforced by popular representations of Black male athletes. In viewing far-Right White supremacist and sports cultures, two sites representing seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum of contemporary racism, the author examines the continuing significance of the historical image of the buck and the obsession with controlling and "taming" Black male bodies. The author examines four common themes that permeate the contemporary construction of Black masculinity and work to justify color-blind racism and inequality: a continued emphasis on Black bodies as inherently aggressive, hypersexual, and violent; concern with taming and controlling Black males; inequality depicted as a product of a deficient Black culture; and the naturalization of White supremacy and White male superiority.