Don’t Believe Everything You See On TV – Black Masculinity
As of late, Mass media outlets focus has been moving towards portraying a particular image rather than a meaningful message as it was done in the past. Media’s progression can be put in better terms by evaluating television shows like Love & Hip Hop the Reunion episode or most recently the over televised exposer of Ray’s violence act towards his now wife. The visional portrayal being shown publicly is based on the likes of the public, in other words how entertaining it is. In today’s society, media is a misrepresentation of the world, where everything is surrounded by violence and sex, particularly in the black community. It goes wherever the dominant culture seems to hail.
When I think of the theory of Black masculinity, the easy answer is not always the right answer. I think of an ethnic group partially separated from African Americans in general. Not because they do not fit the description, but because there is something different about being “Black” and being a “male”. With a combination of the two, I believe there is much more to prove to the rest of society. Standards are set and it is up to the Black male to figure out how he will achieve such heights. Otherwise, he will be faced with negative criticism from those around him. It is easy to blame black men for their circumstance without critiquing the system design to fail them, designed to make them fail. Racism, homophobia and poverty are real everyday issues that impact the performance possibility of black masculinity. Our shewed-up depiction of black masculinity limits the possibilities of black love, love that is and can be revolutionary and unreasonable.
Media is merely an imitation of an imaginary life that almost all males in the black community want to have, thus making media such as, black reality TV, the defining factor of black masculinity. These representations of black men in general are only helping de-mythicized the stereotypical images of African Americans; meaning that the way that black masculinity is seen only makes African Americans represent a terrible image . Double consciousness describes this as feeling as though you have more than one social identity, which makes it difficult to develop a sense of self. Du Bois believed that African Americans lived in a society that was oppressive and devalued them as equals. At the same time, the African-American culture encouraged equality and dignity. This type of double consciousness forced the race to view themselves from the perspective of both cultures, making it difficult for them to unify their African-American subculture with their overall American identity.
Consequently, throughout the popular culture, black masculinity is normally portrayed negatively. The media is responsible for depicting black men as being