Black Mens Studies. Serie McDougal III
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manner as their eventual European colonizers (Hoppe, 2002). Some general themes can be identified among African constructions of gender, but there is also a great deal of cultural diversity among them.
Black Males’ Experiences with Patriarchy and Gender Role Strain
The experience and expression of patriarchal hegemony are not the same across race and ethnicity. White patriarchal oppression is not completely different to or completely synonymous with Black patriarchal oppression, although the differences are rarely noted (Lemelle, 2010). If patriarchy benefited men in society the same across race, society might reflect both Black and White men as having similar advantages in the areas of income, education, and wealth (Lemelle, 2010). To the contrary, social indicators reveal that Black men are at lower levels on almost every social indicator. Indeed, earning power is associated with patriarchal masculinity, and Black males generally lack it relative to their White male counterparts, significantly and systematically (Lemelle, 2010). Hegemonic masculinity or patriarchy is a deployment of power which is largely in the hands of White males. Majors and Billson (1992) make the more extreme assertion that Black men have been psychologically castrated in the sense they have been rendered impotent in political, economic, and social arenas. However, Black males have never been rendered politically, economically, and socially impotent in any collective sense. Hammond, Mathews, Cooper, Johnson, and Caldwell (2014) explain that Black men, in general, tend to face myriad threats to their attempts to acquire power. Because of this, they argue that Black males experience a heightened sense of powerlessness, resulting in more risk behavior. Although Black men’s manhood is defined in similar terms as White males, they have been systematically denied the same consistent access to means of fulfilling their manhood ideals.
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According to Majors and Billson (1992), the resulting anger and frustration is a result of gender role strain (stress due to failure to live up to manhood ideals) between desired masculine goals and frustrated means to achieve them. According to Wade and Rochlen (2013), Black men experience more gender role strain than White men due to additional obstacles they face created by (1) gendered racism, and; (2) competing definitions of manhood from Black culture and mainstream American culture. For example, being a provider is a significant aspect of conceptualizations of manhood (Adams, 2014). If men do not feel accomplished due to being unemployed or underemployed, this condition can create tension in their roles as men and fathers. The strain can impact family relationships. According to Adams (2014), men who are able to strike a balance between these roles are in a better position to provide empathy to their children and maintain stable relationships with their partners.
Black Males can be Victims or Victimizers in Regard to Patriarchy
Dancy (2012) explains that African American men can be both victims and victimizers in regard to patriarchal oppression—capable of being sexist to Black women yet also subordinated by White males. According to Hammond, Agyemang, et al. (2014), anti-Black male racism inspires some Black males to engage in risk behaviors. For example, in some employment industries, Black males face greater discrimination than Black females (Mutua, 2006b). It is also important to note that work represents more than income for African American males. Work can enhance self-esteem by fostering skill development and recognition. For many males, work is closely tied to masculinity in the sense that it is difficult to fulfill the role of family provider without a job that pays a living wage (White & Cones, 1999). Moreover, Black males are stereotyped as lazy or having a poor work ethic.
Some Black feminists challenge these generalizations about Black men. According to Phillips (2006), correcting the tendency to overstate Black male privilege in broad society will be a pre-condition for furthering Black feminist thought. Additionally, Mutua (2006b) describes Black men as subordinate masculinities, subjugated by systems of domination that understand them not only as Black but as Black males. Black men and women have both common and unique experiences of gendered racism. Mutua (2006b, p. 23) describes an alternative approach, multidimensional theory, which is based on three insights. First, it recognizes that individuals have many dimensions, physical and behavioral traits and general ways of being. Second, society constructs systems of privilege and meanings based on some of these dimensions and traits. Third, systems of domination interact with one another and are mutually reinforcing.
Costs of Patriarchal Oppression, Sexism and White Notions of Manhood to Black Men and the Black Community
Some Black males have sought manhood and masculinity in the forms that White males have constructed, but at great costs to the Black community. At points in time (such as the end of slavery), some Black males sought not only franchise or citizenship but mainstream patriarchal relationships. According to Lemelle (2010), for Black males to accept patriarchal hegemony and sexism is a kind of Black political suicide, given that it requires them to deny the anti-Black nature of the state, their own subjugation in society, and their shared destinies with Black women. From this perspective, Black male and female liberation are tied together such that one cannot truly be achieved without the other (T’Shaka, 1995). Thus, Black male sexism undermines Black collective liberation. Sexism is ultimately an obstacle to Black solidarity.
Mainstream White Male Notions of Manhood and Masculinity
Euro-American traditional manhood (also referred to as traditional masculine norms) is associated with a range of values including homophobia, competitiveness, aggressiveness, toughness, and power (Belgrave & Brevard, 2015; Cazenave, 1979; Franklin, 1985; Good & Wood, 1995; Thomas, Hammond, ←72 | 73→Kohn-Wood, & Lee, 2015). Euro-American manhood and masculinity can be reduced to five key factors (Doyle & Paludi, 1995). The self-reliant factor emphasizes control, calm, and decisiveness under pressure. The success factor emphasizes competing and winning against other men to prove masculinity. The aggressive factor encourages men to go after and fight for what they want and believe in, and defend themselves through physical or verbal violence. The anti-feminine factor encourages men not to act soft, gentle or like females. Lastly, the sexual factor says men should initiate and control heterosexual interaction. According to this factor, women are seen as sexual objects and symbols of conquest. According to White and Cones (1999), the Euro-American masculine ideal does not reflect the range of human experiences and feelings because it leaves out empathy, nurturance, compassion, harmonious relationships, and being in touch with one’s feelings. Moreover, Euro-American traditional manhood values are associated with outcomes such as limited emotionality, restricted affectionate behavior, sexual violence, anxiety, low self-esteem, increased likelihood of engaging in risk behavior, and depression (Belgrave & Brevard, 2015; Cazenave, 1979; Franklin, 1985; Good & Wood, 1995; Griffith, Gunter, & Watkins, 2012; Thomas, Hammond, et al., 2015).
However, it must also be noted that the authors of studies investigating traditional masculinity do not state it causes depression and anxiety, per se. Because studies are primarily based on correlational data, the possibility exists that depression and anxiety may be caused by restricted emotionality or other outcomes associated with traditional masculinity. Another limitation of scholarship on traditional masculinity, Euro-American masculinity, hypermasculinity, and other concepts is how broadly and abstractly these terms are defined. The purpose of this ideology is to maintain power and privilege while Black males face state domination under the logic of gender and race hierarchy. These reductive images of Black males are also appropriated and profited from in the entertainment industry (White, 2011). From the mean mugging image of Run-DMC in Rolling Stone, and the shirtless images of LL Cool J, to the grimacing image of LeBron James on the cover of Vogue, hypermasculine images of the Black brute are continuously reinvented (White, 2011). In addition, they continue to satisfy the fantasies of those who have internalized stereotypical notions of Black males, while turning a great deal of profit in the process. Concepts like aggression, competition, physicality, toughness, and independence are frequently found in definitions of hypermasculinity. However, these are values that manifest in many ways both prosocial and antisocial, and people endorse them at various different levels. Defining concepts of problematic forms of Black masculinity is counterproductive because it functions as a way to pathologize vast numbers of the Black male population, increasing their stigmatization.
Reactionary Masculinity
Some argue that Black male endorsement of patriarchal hegemony is in part due to their adoption of White