When it comes to the dominant culture within the United States, it usually has to do with masculinity. With masculinity in mind, it is important to address what is and is not considered to be masculine. For starters, in order to be considered masculine, one is typically male, must be heterosexual, and avoid the involvement in feminine activities. One thing that is seen as masculine is showboating one’s strength. A real life example would be thinking back to those elementary through high school days when boys would always compete with one another to basically prove that he is better than another boy when it comes to strength, athleticism, or anything else of that nature by fighting or racing on foot. However, these examples are not the only
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Typically, masculinity in the Hip Hop world means that a man is strong, tough, has money, is in control, dominant, and is surrounded by girls; so when a man does not have any of those attributes he is referred to as a pussy, chump, and faggot. In “Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes” (HHBBR) Byron Hurt digs deep into Manhood and masculinity within Hip Hop. He starts off by explaining where Hip Hop comes from, which is the ghetto. Hurt says that Hip Hop brought masculinity back after R&B because there were men, black men more specifically who were showing emotion and crying in their music videos. Crying is seen as a feminine trait for those in the Hip Hop and adolescent world. Hurt interviewed several people within the Hip Hop community from famous rappers to aspiring rappers, to those who just enjoy the music in its entirety. Throughout Hurt’s interviews people had made mention that “everybody wants to be hard. You have to prove that you ain’t soft” …show more content…
While Rios was studying the boys he made mention of how the boys would be harassed on the streets by police because they are more likely associated with the gangs in the area. The boys in the study often times made themselves come off as “hard” because they are from the streets. Something that they were taught that would give them more street credibility and therefore mean their masculinity is in check. That however relates back to the animosity mentality because when the boys were incarcerated they felt the need to overemphasize their
Typically, masculinity in the Hip Hop world means that a man is strong, tough, has money, is in control, dominant, and is surrounded by girls; so when a man does not have any of those attributes he is referred to as a pussy, chump, and faggot. In “Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes” (HHBBR) Byron Hurt digs deep into Manhood and masculinity within Hip Hop. He starts off by explaining where Hip Hop comes from, which is the ghetto. Hurt says that Hip Hop brought masculinity back after R&B because there were men, black men more specifically who were showing emotion and crying in their music videos. Crying is seen as a feminine trait for those in the Hip Hop and adolescent world. Hurt interviewed several people within the Hip Hop community from famous rappers to aspiring rappers, to those who just enjoy the music in its entirety. Throughout Hurt’s interviews people had made mention that “everybody wants to be hard. You have to prove that you ain’t soft” …show more content…
While Rios was studying the boys he made mention of how the boys would be harassed on the streets by police because they are more likely associated with the gangs in the area. The boys in the study often times made themselves come off as “hard” because they are from the streets. Something that they were taught that would give them more street credibility and therefore mean their masculinity is in check. That however relates back to the animosity mentality because when the boys were incarcerated they felt the need to overemphasize their