1. Boys Love Beyoncé:
UNCOVERING AND ENGAGING DIALOGUE ON BLACK MALE MASCULINITY
Multicultural Student Leadership Conference
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Harold E. Brown, Rashad H. Davis, Erika R. Holland, Michael J. Seaberry
Higher Education Administration
Louisiana State University
2. Learning Outcomes
● An understanding of black masculinity as it is
explained from a societal standpoint
● An understanding of how to encourage exploration
and development of black masculinity
● A framework for moving closed-door conversations
around black masculinity to more public spaces that
promote advocacy and enlightenment
5. “Ain’t Nothing Wrong With A Little…”
Traditionally, hypersexuality is characterized
through media’s portrayal of black men of high
socioeconomic status (pimps, players, and
athletes) with a “player of women” and “tough
guy” demeanor (Harper, 2004).
6. Nothing is New Under the Sun
● At the doorstep…
● Traditionally, the vast majority of black males are hypersexual due to presence
of media socialization tools
● Those who are not have already been deemed hypersexual by society
● The Ultimatum of Sexuality
● It’s either [To Be Or Not To Be]
● PMS-ing
● Peers, Media, and Society perpetuate the ideas of what Black masculinity should be.
7. “And If I Ever Fall In Love…”
We identify emotional isolation as one of
the components that plagues black
masculinity.
Jackson (2012) frames masculinity as
“emotional inexpressiveness”
and independence” (p. 62).
8. “Reinventing the Wheel”
● The Reframe of Masculinity
● As cited by Wingfield (2010), “When men act in ways that are contrary to dominant views
of masculinity, some groups of men may seek to reframe what it means to be masculine.
For instance, black male nurses may view care work, which is often identified as work
performed by white women, as something very masculine that only real men could
perform” (Jackson, 2012, p. 63).
● Mythopoetic Movement
● “…traits previously regarded as feminine [are seen] ….as mature or deep masculinity
when performed by men” (Jackson, 2012, p.63).
● “The Cloak of Brotherhood”
● “….using the notion of brotherhood to showcase closeness and emotional
expressiveness serves to reframe such stereotypically feminine acts as something
that is authentically masculine” (Jackson, 2012, p. 63).
9. “Like I’m ‘Posed to Be…”
According to Edwards and Jones (2009),
expectations of masculinity are not always
denoting what men should be, but can also
outline what men should not be.
