Rethinking Black Masculinity and Sexuality
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC Room 271
Start Date
15-5-2014
End Date
15-5-2014
Keywords
Masculinity, Sexuality, Media
Abstract
The commodification and misrepresentation of Black masculinity and sexuality, specifically within American societies, has and continues to lead to a type of dehumanization that is unique to African American males. I contend that this occurs in part due to what I will call sexual alienation. Sexual alienation consists of someone being reduced to an object because their identity is projected into parts or qualities of their body. In order to combat this sexual alienation, patriarchal masculinity must be either become more flexible or be altogether abolished as it is now. In addition to this, the misrepresentation of Black masculinity and sexuality in the media must be combated with images of blackness that accurately reflect the diversity of different classes of Black males. This can be accomplished by synthesizing the efforts of several activists to articulate and demonstrate a less stringent view of what it means to be a Black male in America. In this era, technology is becoming evermore engrained in our lives and as a result it is time to stop merely giving lip service to the power that the media has in shaping our perspectives and our lives. By understanding how media has significantly shaped culture in the past as well as how it continues to do so today, humanity can take a step forward in terms of understanding how we come to have the perceptions that we do.
Recommended Citation
Millhouse, Camron, "Rethinking Black Masculinity and Sexuality" (2014). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 111.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2014/oralpresentations/111
Additional Mentoring Department
Philosophy and Religious Studies
Rethinking Black Masculinity and Sexuality
SURC Room 271
The commodification and misrepresentation of Black masculinity and sexuality, specifically within American societies, has and continues to lead to a type of dehumanization that is unique to African American males. I contend that this occurs in part due to what I will call sexual alienation. Sexual alienation consists of someone being reduced to an object because their identity is projected into parts or qualities of their body. In order to combat this sexual alienation, patriarchal masculinity must be either become more flexible or be altogether abolished as it is now. In addition to this, the misrepresentation of Black masculinity and sexuality in the media must be combated with images of blackness that accurately reflect the diversity of different classes of Black males. This can be accomplished by synthesizing the efforts of several activists to articulate and demonstrate a less stringent view of what it means to be a Black male in America. In this era, technology is becoming evermore engrained in our lives and as a result it is time to stop merely giving lip service to the power that the media has in shaping our perspectives and our lives. By understanding how media has significantly shaped culture in the past as well as how it continues to do so today, humanity can take a step forward in terms of understanding how we come to have the perceptions that we do.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Coe, Cynthia