Black Masculinity

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In history, black slaves are sold by their masters, especially white slave masters, through auctions. The auction implies the worth of each black slave. However, after reaching 200 years, the auction of black slaves has shifted to the trade of athletes in sports competitions where the athletes are going to be bought by the highest bidder.

The body of the black race is considered to be producing values and also as a property. Black men are deemed to take the blue-collar job, especially where physical tasks as their main duty. They are exploited as mere labor by their bosses while their status remains in a puzzle. Furthermore, this has led to a lower salary than white men as black men are considered more capable of doing "boys" jobs[1].

The stereotype was established that black men are taught not to show their emotional feeling despite their struggle. The taught was possible as the masters during the slavery era took the black slaves' total freedom and valued them as only property. For that reason, black masculinity has existed, and several black men still hesitant to show their sadness, anger, heartbreak and any other emotional feelings.

Black Masculinity in Movies

In several scenes, black masculinity is portrayed by Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) in Get Out, where he is supposed not to show any emotional affection. For example, when Chris is in the racially charged rally, Rose aspires Chris not to leave the gathering despite feeling angry and offended. In here, Chris strengthens his heart and decides to accompany Rose in the gathering as an expression of his love towards Rose[2].

Black masculinity is also depicted by Chiron in Moonlight during his school life. Many of his youth colleagues see Chiron as gay based on his clothes selection. Thus, to fit into his black colleagues, Chiron shows his masculinity with a straight standard[3].

Little Chiron in Moonlight[4].

Black Sport and Media

Many black athletes are praised and showed as role models for many young black teenagers. The portrayal indicates black athletes as the portrayal of successful black men as they seem to be far more superior than the white athletes. Yet, to some extent, this portrayal can be seen as a defame of black athletes as they are assumed to be individual technical players. Loy and Elvogue (1970) found patterns and data that black athletes in baseball and American football were assigned to a less teamwork position while the white athletes dominated the team's controlling structural and leadership role[5]. The assignment has created a belief where white athletes are more suitable in the think and lead roles while black athletes are more proper in carrying the team as a technical star player. Moreover, there is proof that black athletes are dismissed from the most influential position on the most awaited matches, especially in the sports where black athletes participate more than white athletes.

Black masculinity does not only exist in America. It also exists in Australia. Israel Folau, an Australian rugby league player, was signed by one of the Australian Football League (AFL) teams. Although Folau has not played AFL professionally, the group decided that it was the right time to buy him as their player. Folau images' portrayal emphasized strength and masculinity by focussing on arms, legs, and larger body. The marketing method provided the AFL team with the highest ads seen by the Australian citizen by 2017.

Media plays a big role in portraying blackness as an example of masculinity. The negative stereotypes of black men have been amplified by the traditional American media. The media should change their approach and provide unique opinions of how black men see the world. One example, The Washington Post, has shown a series of 19 stories with the title of 'Being a Black Man: At the Corner of Progress or Peril', which was published from June 2006 to December 2006[6]. They have provided new aspirations with more positive personal roles such as leaders and devoted fathers, also more personal stories of black men. For instance, in the story entitled unblack Black man, an abandoned black kid becomes a professional with a Ph.D. degree. After the success, he still faces strain in dating and correlating with his black culture. Yet, his grandmother and families are proud of him and supporting him despite the struggle. Counteracting black masculinity is possible as long as they put an interest in doing so. One example that can be done like The Washington Post did was by letting black journalists and their communities share their point of view and take part in telling their own stories.

References

  1. Matlon, Jordanna.Black Masculinity Under Racial Capitalism. July 16, 2019. bostonreview.net. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  2. Randolph, Ashlin.‘Get Out’ is Challenging Perceptions of Black Masculinity. March 03, 2017. ebony.com. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  3. Ventour, Tré.Boys to Men: 5 Films Exploring Black Masculinity. July 25, 2020. medium.com. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  4. Ventour, Tré.Little Chiron. July 25, 2020. medium.com. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  5. Parry, K. D., Cleland, J. and Kavanagh, E. J. Racial folklore, black masculinities and the reproduction of dominant racial ideologies: The case of Israel Folau. 2020. Bournemouth University. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  6. Tyree, Tia & Byerly, Carolyn & Hamilton, Kerry-Ann.Representations of (new) Black masculinity: A news-making case study. 2012. researachgate.net'. Retrieved March 26, 2021.