model than thugs and convicts? When you flip through the latest rap songs, magazine covers and movies, there really is only one defined image of the black man: Tough, ghetto and street smart.
Whereas in the white media, there are a variety of images of white men. White men could be smart (Ben Stein, Bill Nye), could be gangster even (Johnny Depp), be the philosophical guy with questions, a problem solver, a trustworthy person, a villian, etc. Just about anything that Hollywood can concoct in the imagination of what a masculine white male ought to be. There is even room for gay men to contribute to the meaning of what a white man is.
Black masculinity on the other hand is limited by the urban image of a ghetto black man. This ghetto black man has lived through the streets and able to see what it takes to survive. Only from this experience can a black man could claim to be genuinely black. Culturally this is the accepted framework for acceptance and it continues to perpetuate itself in black youth culture. What do young black males listen to? What do you think they are exposed to everyday by what the media and their peers tell them? Black masculinitiy is defined as a thug rapper who's battled the gangs in the streets or a jailed convict who was shot 9 times and came out alive.
Whereas in the white media, there are a variety of images of white men. White men could be smart (Ben Stein, Bill Nye), could be gangster even (Johnny Depp), be the philosophical guy with questions, a problem solver, a trustworthy person, a villian, etc. Just about anything that Hollywood can concoct in the imagination of what a masculine white male ought to be. There is even room for gay men to contribute to the meaning of what a white man is.
Black masculinity on the other hand is limited by the urban image of a ghetto black man. This ghetto black man has lived through the streets and able to see what it takes to survive. Only from this experience can a black man could claim to be genuinely black. Culturally this is the accepted framework for acceptance and it continues to perpetuate itself in black youth culture. What do young black males listen to? What do you think they are exposed to everyday by what the media and their peers tell them? Black masculinitiy is defined as a thug rapper who's battled the gangs in the streets or a jailed convict who was shot 9 times and came out alive.