White Supremacy’s Effects on Masculinity & the Implications for Black Coupling
In Joy Bennet Kinnon’s assessment of black marriage, she consults sociologist Dr. Frank Harold Wilson on black relationships, yielding a thought-provoking phenomenon about the behavior of today’s couples. Dr. Wilson blames society’s “consumption culture” for the deteriorating quality of relationships – relationships have developed into situations that are like games and “being on stage” (194). Instead of investing time and energy into a loving, authentic bond, men and women put their time and energy towards the “show”, following society’s scripts of behavior, and creating unnecessary drama (193). As a young person, my best speculation as to why we do this is that …show more content…
By performing domination on other groups of people (often by aggression or sexual means), black men attempt to prove their manhood. The violence that exists in urban communities is often cited as a classic example of this black hyper-masculinity. Unusually high levels of aggression that many young men experience as a result of the issues that plague low-socioeconomic communities provoke a feeling of powerlessness. Thus, the community becomes a place where black men can exercise dominance. Another noteworthy case of black hyper-masculinity occurred during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. Male activists appeared to be at the forefront of the undertaking, though a tremendous number of women played an absolutely essential role in the movement. The program of speakers at the 1963 March on Washington had only one female speaker, Josephine Baker. The erasure of black women’s efforts in the movement was a product of male activist’s fragile masculinity. In effort to feel powerful during that uncertain time of racial unrest, black men aggressively held onto the public image of the Civil Rights Movement. This dynamic between black men, black women, and public spaces relates back to the idea of black hyper-masculine performances in heterosexual relationships. Moreover, hyper-masculinity has become the social norm and stereotype for black men – black men are socialized …show more content…
In regards to black women, white supremacy has led to a decline in the number of marriageable black men. One consequence of this decline has been an increase in interracial marriages among black women, a matter explored by economist Darrick Hamilton, Arthur Goldsmith, and William Darity in their article “Shedding “light” on marriage: The Influence of skin shade on marriage for Black females”. According to these gentlemen, the decline in availability of marriageable black men is “due to lower employment opportunities, and high rates of incarceration, drug use, and mortality” that have developed over the last ten years (4). These various phenomena affecting black communities are symptoms of racism acting in the various institutions mentioned previously. With few options for marriage to men of the same race, an increasing number of black women have found themselves in interracial relationships, have opted out of the social pressures to marry, have settled for unhappy marriages, or have ended up marrying men black that are unable to fully participate in the marriage and the raising of a family. In this way, black coupling suffers major
In Joy Bennet Kinnon’s assessment of black marriage, she consults sociologist Dr. Frank Harold Wilson on black relationships, yielding a thought-provoking phenomenon about the behavior of today’s couples. Dr. Wilson blames society’s “consumption culture” for the deteriorating quality of relationships – relationships have developed into situations that are like games and “being on stage” (194). Instead of investing time and energy into a loving, authentic bond, men and women put their time and energy towards the “show”, following society’s scripts of behavior, and creating unnecessary drama (193). As a young person, my best speculation as to why we do this is that …show more content…
By performing domination on other groups of people (often by aggression or sexual means), black men attempt to prove their manhood. The violence that exists in urban communities is often cited as a classic example of this black hyper-masculinity. Unusually high levels of aggression that many young men experience as a result of the issues that plague low-socioeconomic communities provoke a feeling of powerlessness. Thus, the community becomes a place where black men can exercise dominance. Another noteworthy case of black hyper-masculinity occurred during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. Male activists appeared to be at the forefront of the undertaking, though a tremendous number of women played an absolutely essential role in the movement. The program of speakers at the 1963 March on Washington had only one female speaker, Josephine Baker. The erasure of black women’s efforts in the movement was a product of male activist’s fragile masculinity. In effort to feel powerful during that uncertain time of racial unrest, black men aggressively held onto the public image of the Civil Rights Movement. This dynamic between black men, black women, and public spaces relates back to the idea of black hyper-masculine performances in heterosexual relationships. Moreover, hyper-masculinity has become the social norm and stereotype for black men – black men are socialized …show more content…
In regards to black women, white supremacy has led to a decline in the number of marriageable black men. One consequence of this decline has been an increase in interracial marriages among black women, a matter explored by economist Darrick Hamilton, Arthur Goldsmith, and William Darity in their article “Shedding “light” on marriage: The Influence of skin shade on marriage for Black females”. According to these gentlemen, the decline in availability of marriageable black men is “due to lower employment opportunities, and high rates of incarceration, drug use, and mortality” that have developed over the last ten years (4). These various phenomena affecting black communities are symptoms of racism acting in the various institutions mentioned previously. With few options for marriage to men of the same race, an increasing number of black women have found themselves in interracial relationships, have opted out of the social pressures to marry, have settled for unhappy marriages, or have ended up marrying men black that are unable to fully participate in the marriage and the raising of a family. In this way, black coupling suffers major