Confessions of a Social Potcake

Earlier, I addressed the media's role in shaping some positive and negative stereotypes on black masculinity, particulary through music. Don't get me wrong, music is a very powerful method of reaching people and getting a message across and more than anything else, music entertains and unifies those who listen to it. However, I must outline some of the negative notions that some artists have promoted through their music.

For instance, Buju Banton's song " Boom Bye Bye" (posted earlier), which talks about killing homosexuals. As I have reported earlier, homosexuality is indeed illegal in Jamaica for men and is punishable by imprisonment for up to a decade. Although I have a problem with this legislation, the focus is currently on Banton who would prefer to murder another individual because of his sexual preference. Further, it is Banton's assertion that a homosexual man is less of a man than his heterosexual counterparts.

Also, I had discussed the roles that women play in shaping the masculine identity of black males. Given that 1 in 3 homes are ran without a father present, I would say that women are highly influential in molding who men become in the future. However, could it be that the very women who are molding our sons into great men are also contributing to the survival of negative stereotypes? Songs like TLC's "No Scrubs" that bash men and highlight their shortcomings and lack of financial stability hold tremendous potential to drive those men that feel embarrassed or ostracized to resort to negative means to impress the women that initially shunned them. Do you agree or is it really a matter of self-motivation and positive aspirations on the part of men?

Masculinity is an issue that all men face. Whether they are defending their masculinity or defining it, masculinity determines how men are perceived and received by their families  peers and even strangers. But what exactly is it that makes a man, a man? Anatomically, a man is identifiable by the presence of a penis and testes. With the addition of clothing, we rely on characteristics such as a deepened voice, hairy face, broad shoulders and sturdy frame to categorize one as being a male. As previously stated, masculinity is a facet of the male identity that men of all races and ethnic backgrounds face in their respective societies. However, the struggle to be true with oneself while giving off a masculine air is particularly real for the black male. For black men, the media, social stereotypes and even history have made it increasingly difficult to be a black man who doesn't quite fit into the categories of thug, aspiring rapper, basketball enthusiast, aggressive jock, promiscuous womanizer, 'deadbeat daddy', church boy or gun-toting drug dealer. On the other hand, white men are often afforded the right to dress and act a little more flamboyantly, to speak a little more clearly and be a little more emotional than the average man, all while retaining his presumed heterosexual masculine identity (in most cases). What is it about black men that makes us cling to a hardened, almost unrefined image of masculinity? Is it what we really want or have we been conditioned to think that way? 

Staceyann Chin is a fellow Caribbean writer/poet, one of my favorite poets and an inspiration to many. In 2011 she agreed to hold a symposium and spoken word night at my college (C.O.B) However, it was never approved by administration. Maybe I'll try again..