Pre Class 4/22 Hooks

When reading Bell Hook’s piece, “Reading the Other,” I was quickly reminded of some information I recently came across when doing my literature review for CMC 200. When exploring the various portrayals of black males in the media I found some information on how black males are commonly portrayed sexually that backs up a lot of what Hooks is trying to say. Hooks argues that ethnicity is often used in mainstream white culture to transform the experience of pleasure. A sense of sexual desire is often created by taboo and curiosity associated with the Other. I found that there are two common portrayals of black males in the media. The first being the hyper sexualized black male we often see reflected in rap lyrics and music videos. Hooks states, “Constructing the black male body as site of pleasure and power, rap and the dances associated with it suggest vibrancy, intensity, and an unsurpassed joy in living.” Lyrics in rap songs often are imbedded with misogynistic messages leaving viewers with the feeling that black males are sex hungry and extremely sexual. From my perspective this is the most common portrayal of black males in the media. The rap and hip-hop industries are huge and are dominated by black males. My guess is that besides sports, these industries probably give black males the most exposure to mainstream culture. The other common representation of black males in the media is the asexual black male. When I was first exposed to this idea I was surprised since it is the complete opposite of the other most common portrayal. The reasoning behind this makes sense though. Since there are so many images in the media of black males as misogynistic and hyper sexual people often times immediately associate these stereotypes with black males. Therefore, in order to avoid these stereotypes and have the black male play a different role sex must be completely removed from the picture. If the black male is represented as asexual hopefully viewers will not be as quick to come to conclusions based on stereotypes and ideologies. The desire of the Other common in rap and hip-hop not only enforces black male stereotypes but also makes it difficult for black males to take on other roles without losing their sexuality completely.