Androgyny In James Baldwin's Here Be Dragons

In “Here Be Dragons,” James Baldwin opens and closes his essay by considering androgyny. Androgyny is important to him because it undermines the way how sexual orientation is looked upon in America, along with race. According to Baldwin, “The American idea of sexuality appears to be rooted in the American Idea of masculinity” (1). If one does not fit the male standards, then he would be treated ruthlessly. America seems to have set standards for each gender. If one cannot fit the male standards, then they are more likely to be targeted by others for not being “fit.” However, Baldwin does not necessarily fit the standards of an American male. He describes that many males often targeted him because they knew that he was gay, and even offered sexual advances towards him to release their …show more content…
America “[commercialized] roles...Men became propagators, or perpetrators, of property, and women became the means by which that property was protected and handed down” (Baldwin 2). If a man did not fit the male standards in America, they would be ridiculed for being more feminine than the average man. Baldwin adds that “[His] father kept [him] in short pants longer than he should have, and [Baldwin] had been told, and [he] believed, that [he] was ugly” (3). Baldwin’s self-esteem lowered for being ridiculed by his father. Baldwin’s sexuality was not favored and he was mocked for it. It is relevant to the current world because many people consider themselves androgynous and do not often fit the standards of the gender that they were born with. Baldwin was “called a [homosexual]. This meant that [he] was despised” (5). It is difficult for androgynous people to live without the name-calling that is meant to harass them. Baldwin also states, “ It wasn’t only that I didn’t wish to seem or sound like a woman, for it was this detail that most harshly first struck my eye and