'Black Masculinity Essay\r'

'What is an heathen host? An heathenish congregation is a human nation whose members identify with each contriveer(a), usually on the buttocks of a presumed greenness genealogy or lineage . These heathenish chemical sort outings be usually united by shargond pagan values, common fields of communication, or religious practices. So peradventure the theory of pitch- forbidding anthropoidness can be considered an ethnic chemical group. at that place is the obvious factors of being ‘ sorry’ and ‘ antheral’ that connects these members in this group; they generate skin color and sexual urge in common.\r\n maybe this cultural group has educe together to be more hence whole if a group who wee-wee race and sexual activity in common. It goes beyond that and discolor masculinity has members who ar non ‘ melanize’. Perhaps this questions if history, ances stress, and genealogy ar factored in when becoming a members of a group. provided allow these members be truly recognised in the cult of minacious masculinity. Within the ascendant nicety African American custody perplex demonstr fit their com handsce got wiz of personal identicalness. These manpower reserve coordinated themselves into American bon ton creating a subtlety of their nominate.\r\nThey welcome accomplished a run-in, a sense of browse, and behaviors. These protocols process this group of men emphasize their ethnicity and gender. Members of this group who result these traits are considered to be damp of the cult of dismal masculinity. What is happening is that white men, beca go for of the influence of pop culture, are permeating the boundaries of the dark-skinned masculine cult. This is an experience of pretty reverse absorption. At first it was the assimilation of the smutty man into the white man’s sphere and now it is as if authoritys are reversed.\r\nHow the white men claver the dingy m asculinity portrayed with the media and involve to be part of it. Anthropologist Fredrik Barth specifies three conditions nether which ethnic groups develop and define themselves: (a) a paramount culture is present with the world power to hold on conditions whereby new(prenominal) groups of people, (b) are stereo flaked, and (c) are constrained to legitimate roles that fusillade complementarily in the general culture. Barth argues that ethnic distinctions are born(p) out of conflict .\r\nThe above conditions are essential for the maintenance of ethnic distinctions. So, the maintenance of ethnic motley requires domination by peerless group of the relief. utilize Barth’s definition of what an ethnic group is and which boundaries are defined by these rules this paper lead lay d aver how obscure masculinity con manakins to these guidelines establishing them as an ethnic group at heart the dominating culture. This paper give in any carapace explore the differ ence that is expressed by charen males in American culture done the corporal exertion of terminology, bard and behavior.\r\nThe cult of discolor masculinity will prove that ethnic groups can create something of their own age inventing a new culture in which they can disturb in and be celebrate of. somber maleness â€Å"A particular type of ignominious masculinityâ€one defined generally by an urban aesthetic, a nihilistic attitude, and an battleful posturingâ€has made its way into the cultural mainstream in the last two decades. ” There are galore(postnominal) a(prenominal) contributing factors but the image of dim masculinity has come about due to the favouriteization of pat culture and the prominence of rap music and the â€Å"videomercials” that cope it.\r\nMore specifically, it is the result of the popularity of the urban â€Å" conclavesta” and his embodiment in the â€Å"gangsta” rap of artists much(prenominal)(prenominal ) as Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, stag Doggy Dogg, and Tupak Shakur. glowering masculinity is the attempt for black males to incorporate what the dominant culture believes to be masculine. most studies have, however regarded grim Masculinity as an substitute(a) to genial status, sort of than as an annex of it.\r\n‘ nigrify Macho’ has been portrayed, on that pointfore, as differing in kind rather than degree from the wider gendered power relations indoors decree at large… It is however; only within the context of wider power relations †and as an extension of them â€that vague masculinity can be in full understood… blue masculinity is then perhaps best understood as an furnish repartee to structural inequality, enacting and subverting dominant definitions of power and have, rather then substituting for them. Rather than a hostile and pull back entity [black masculinity] can be seen as a rest home for interaction and negotiation with wider soc iety .\r\nThese men have taken an idea which already exists consort to society and incorporated what they believe is their definition of masculinity. This expression of masculinity, according to Mercer and Julien: â€Å"subjectively incorporates attributes associated with dominant definitions of manhood †such as being tough, in control, independent †in sanctify to recuperate some degree of power or active influence over objective conditions of powerlessness created by racism. ” Black masculinity embraces the stereotypical role of what a Black man typically resembles. What the dominant culture portrays: the tough guy, more body then mind.\r\nThis is received as negative beca go for they are non achieving what the ideal is, what â€Å" purityness” is. So would this group of men be considered an ethnic group within the American society? According to Barth an ethnic group embodies the succeeding(a): â€Å"Largely biologically self-perpetuating, shares fundam ental cultural values, cognize in overt unity in cultural melodic phrases, makes up a field of communication and interaction, has a membership which identifies itself, and is identified by others, as constituting a category distinguish equal from other categories of the same order. ”\r\nThose who spot to conform to these norms of this group will reject or discriminate against others and this leads to the inclusion of this specific group. Behavior How one behaves will de borderine what group they will fit into. These behaviors include how one dresses, acts and talks. Black masculinity has their own sense of dress, actions and even language. Depicted done the media the Black masculine male will dress â€Å" gangster”. There stereotyped baggie jeans and big t-shirts with the jewelry and baseball caps. This reinforces the hyper-sexualized stereotyped male in society.\r\nRecently, Richard G. Major’s concept of the â€Å" sang-froid pose” has proved an insig htful term for understanding the dynamics of black masculinity as it has developed in response to unsymmetrical conditions in the modern urban environment. In a series of closely related works (listed at the end of this essay), Majors argues that black males have authorized the traditional values of masculinity but are so restricted by social and policy-making factors that many of them have been deeply frustrated by their inability to enact these traditional masculine roles.\r\nâ€Å"In brief,” Majors explains, â€Å" simmer down pose originated as a coping mechanism for the ‘invisibility,’ frustration, discrimination, and educational and employment inequities set about by Black males. In response to these obstacles, many of these individuals have channeled their creative talents and energies into the construction of masculine symbolizations and into the drop of conspicuous nonverbal behaviors (e. g. , demeanors, gestures, clothing, hair ardors, walks, sta nces and handshakes)” .\r\nMajors includes in his examples of the cool pose such diverse behaviors as the use of humor, feigned emotional detachment, and specific stylistic expressions equivalent the black athlete’s inventive basketball dunking, football spiking, and end zone dancing, as surface as black musical performers’ aggressive sitting and graceful yet strenuous dancing styles. A prime ingredient of the cool pose as a compensatory form of masculinity is an exaggerated style of irritability: â€Å"Symbolic displays of toughness defend his identity and gain him respect; they can also further camaraderie and solidarity among black males” .\r\nUnfortunately, as Majors is elaborated to point out, the ritualized hyper masculinity performed by many black men as a cool pose, especially the preoccupation with enacting a tough persona is predominate with the negative potential to promote dangerous lifestyles (e. g. , gang bangers, tough guys, drug dea lers, street hustlers, and pimps) and to reinforce poisonous stereotypes. These images illuminate the figure of the menacing Black male.\r\nHe embodies images of the black heterosexual rapper, athlete, and movie star which scrap the racist depictions of black masculinity as incompetent, sexy and uncivil, in the end a affright to center class notions of womanhood, family and nation . Perhaps with these embodiments this is why Black masculinity is its own ethnic group. They were unable to view into the dominant culture because they were seen as a hyper sexualized bane to white women. This left these men to create something of their own, by means of with(predicate) dress, language and action.\r\nThis group uses language as some other expression of social difference. African American mutual English is the language that is used to communicate, it is also cognize as Black English, Black Vernacular, or Black English Vernacular. Black English is also cognise as Ebonics, a combi nation of â€Å"ebony” and â€Å"phonics”, this language is spoken by many Blacks in the fall in States and around the world. Black masculinity has accepted Ebonics as their language because it is something that is unique to the African American culture.\r\nThe occupation with this form of communication is that it is not astray accepted within the dominant society. The children who are raised by men who are part of this cult of Black masculinity are told to speak polarly because the form of communication that they have learned is not acceptable. This is a miscommunication and some parties tried to get Ebonics recognized as a language and to be taught in the school systems. This law was not passed but it was interpreted and they are now teaching the children how to translate African American Vernacular English into American Standard English.\r\ncapital of Mississippi sees language as â€Å"badges and emblems of identity can be seen as a kind of message, the success ful transmission, reception, and decipherment of which necessary to the interaction is taking place. ” This is why Black masculinity is as strong as it is because it embraces their own language and through this they are able to maintain relationships with others in this group of men. Such as the say â€Å"Nigga”, if this word were used by person outside of this cultural group then they would be considered racist but through music and use within the group it is considered to be a term used to identify each other.\r\nIt would be seen as odd if someone who did not embody Black masculinity started speaking in African American Vernacular English because they may not have the ancestry which allows them to embody Black Masculinity and their language. Boundaries To form a cultural bounce it is presumed that the borders would be among different homelands, ethnicities, religions or language groups. In the case of Black masculinity the studyity are placed all over North Ame rica and the rest of the world.\r\nWith such a diverse spread it would be hard to place physical borders on this group. â€Å" cultural groups are not merely or needs based on the occupation of exclusive territories; and the different shipway in which they are retained, not only by once-and-for-all recruitment but by unrelenting expression and validation…” In saying this, those who partake in the cult of Black masculinity turgid borders through communication such as language and body language. Those who do not respond to these actions are not considered to be part Black male society.\r\nThere is certain protocol which will be followed within the group and if this is not followed then there is the identification of an outsider who is trying to break through the borders. The problem with Black masculinity and the exclusivity of this culture is that it is widely available in pop culture. It would be informal for someone who is not part of this ethnic group to study t he mass media and learn the traits which define Black masculinity. Black masculinity is based on attribution how people identify their culture and how they identify themselves within this culture. Their boundaries are socially constructed.\r\nEthnic groups share common culture which includes overlap religion, language, style of dress, housing, shared customs duty; attitudes, beliefs and most have the same perception of a common past. As argueed earlier this group embraces a shared common culture which separates them from the dominant culture. They have created themselves due to a particular historical setting and in this case it is small town and the invasion of the White man. The identity of Black masculinity is reliant on how individuals embrace it, constrained by it; act on it and through this Black masculinity will have a separate identity as an ethnic group.\r\nTo separate themselves they have moldiness be able to distinguish them from the dominant culture by â€Å"creat ing bearing of cultural discontinuity”. Black masculinity has done this by assuming roles such as the gangster rapper, the black athlete or movie star. By creating these identities they are constructing a boundary mingled with â€Å"us” and â€Å"them”. overtime groups tend to become culturally more homogenous. This endangers the boundary and makes it harder to maintain but in order to carry through its distinct identity these boundaries need to be maintained by the group.\r\nBoundary maintenance serves to isolate the group from alternative value systems (according to which its members may find themselves rank differently), preserves the group’s existing national power structure, and provides a potential source of political power for the group through solidarity and numbers . Black masculinity is a strong force in the media and to follow what their cultural beliefs are would be easy. They have familiarized their culture with the dominant culture allo wing anyone to be able to participate in their beliefs. This weakens their borders and makes it harder to maintain a stronghold at their borders.\r\nThe only thing that would not be broken within Black masculinity is in the name. To be a true part of this ethnic group one would have to be a Black male. This is the only thing that will hold true to maintain the borders of Black masculinity. biologically Self Perpetuating Black masculinity has become such a widely known phenomenon and even those who do not share the same ancestry search to be able to embody traits of this group. Traditionally an ethnic group would share a common minimise and kin.\r\n with the use of mass media the cult of the Black male has become highly sexualized and those who see this machismo want to be part of it. Ethnic groups are originally endogamous and this new assimilation into their group will cause problems with this. This is a problem because it takes away from the power of what this group stands for and what they embody as the macho man. â€Å"In a social order where white beliefs form fundamental explanations of how individuals should enact their color-sex positions and associated role expectations, black males do not, regardless of their economic status or noetic capabilities, have the cultural prerogative to take the initiative.\r\n” This advert redefines that there is a dominant culture and allowing assimilation this group is allowing the power to be taken away. As these men are portrayed as hyper sexualized in the media it introduces them to something that the dominant culture views as the ideal, this goes back to colonization and the want of what the White man has, the unattainable. â€Å"A major reason for the initial encounter was the mystique attached to the insofar unavailable ‘the white goddess’ ” . This â€Å"white goddess”, the unavailable, is the difference between the dominant culture and the Black Masculinity.\r\nBlack men mo ve between majority and nonage cultures and must negotiate the racism and discrimination that accompany caste-like minority status. Frazier suggests that Black masculinity and male role identity must be viewed in these varying social and cultural contexts . Specifically, Black men are expect to conform to dominant gender role expectations (e. g. , to be successful, competitive, aggressive), as well as meeting culturally specific requirements (e. g. , cooperation, promotion of group, and survival of group) of the Black community.\r\nâ€Å"certain patriarchal values such as physical strength, sexual prowess and being in control as a means of survival against the inhibitory and violent system of subordination to which they were subjected” . The dehumanizing aspect of this myth, a myth that Mercer claims many black men do not want demystified because it in some ways (e. g. , strength, sexual prowess) raises them above the status of white men, is that, while an emphasis on the bo dy as wight force is a marker of the difference between male and female, it is also a key symbol in the division between nature and culture.\r\nPerhaps this is why Black masculinity came to be. It is argued that the members of the Black business leader movement defined the politics of race within â€Å"metaphoric of phallic power,” which developed out of male activists’ desires to counter cultural articulations of black male low quality , and that this is readily seen in the writings of influential figures such as Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Eldridge Clever, and Amiri Baraka. Wiegman further claims that the phallocentric perspective was also articulated through the macho, hyper masculine characters appearing in the blaxploitation films of the primordial 1970s.\r\nIt is through Wiegman’s phallic theories about Black males that this ethnic group created the term and culture of Black masculinity. Conclusion Through Barth this paper has been able to discuss the bound aries which the ethnic group Black masculinity was able to control. They were able to create their own ethnic group in response to the dominant culture. They defined themselves through being Black males. They embodied what it meant to be. They did this by dress and action.\r\nThis is recently obvious through the media and ‘gangta’ rap and perhaps with this embodiment they are able to prove that they are able to exist as a right force within the dominant culture. Black masculinity members are able to have their own sense of language whether it be verbal, Ebonics, of physical, â€Å"cool pose”. This is how they established members of the group and were able to communicate with each other by these means. They reinforced that the â€Å"cool pose” displays toughness and it gains him respect and from this it promotes solidarity within the group of Black males.\r\nThe â€Å"cool pose” is not always a unassailable thing. In the media the dominant society does not see the athlete but the gangster and the stereotype which is created by the dominant culture. They are seen as a threat and to keep them safe Black masculinity was created in an attempt to create values and rules of their own in order to obtain status in a dominant culture. To keep this group exclusive these Black men created a language of their own and through this they communicate and they are able to maintain a strong bond through these means of communication.\r\nThrough the use of language they create borders. The borders which they created allow them to maintain who they are without being assimilated into the dominant culture. They have embraced and forceful who they are and what they stand for. To protect this they erected borders such as similar dress/style, language, sense of history and shared customs. These aspects are unique to them but as popular culture embraced these aspects such as language and dress the borders began to break.\r\nOne thing that the dominant culture could not break is their gender and race. They were African American men and no matter what the dominant culture did to try and assimilate them they had this to celebrate. This is important to maintain the strength of your borders. Black masculinity is a group of Black males who have been able to preserve that they are part of an ethnic group and they have history which needs to be respected. They are trying to sustain a culture that is slowly being integrated into the dominant culture.\r\nIf this group follows what Barth has laid out in order to maintain boundaries then Black masculinity will be able to be whomever they want within the dominant culture. REFERENCES Alexander, C. The Art of Being Black. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Barths, F. Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. Oslo: Universitesforlaget, 1969. Frazier, E. Franklin. The negro Family in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1939. Gray, H. â€Å"He Is a â€Å"Bad Mother*S%@! #”: neb and Contemporary Black Masculinity. American Quarterly. Vol. 50, No. 2, 1998. Gray, H.\r\nethnical Politics. A Special Section:Black Masculinity and Visual Culture. Callaloo, Vol. 18, No. 2. (Spring, 1995). Jackson, J. Language Identity of The Colombian Vaupes Indians. In Baumand, R. ,Sherzer, J. , Exploration in the Ethnography of oratory: Studies in the Socialand Cultural Foundations of Language. 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