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• 1 2017-04-25T17:46:44-07:00 How Toxic Masculinity Affects Different Communities 26 plain 429005 2017-05-13T15:11:14-07:00

  It is important to remember that there is no one form of toxic masculinity, and that toxic masculinities affect different communities differently. Not only that, it important to remember that toxic masculinity harms some groups more than others. Here, I will discuss how toxic masculinity impacts both the cisgender and queer black community.
   

  Misogyny is the root of toxic masculinity in that it equates femininity to weakness. This masculinity seeps into hip-hop, sports, as well as everyday dynamics between men and boys. The biggest flaw one could have is doing something "like a girl." Black men feel a particular pressure to adhere to hypermasculine norms, as they have time and time again been victims of emasculation by white racism. Society has forced black men into a box where they must stifle their feelings and fall within a rigid structure of what they "should" be, and what they "should" be is never, ever weak. This internalized misogyny carries over into interactions within their community and as a result, young black men and boys who are already suffering are robbed of opportunities to heal and get in touch with their true selves. Black men are limited by the white patriarchal structures of society that, in turn, create the stereotypes and standards that exist within their own community.

   

  “The prevalence of toxic masculinity harms gay Black men by failing to recognize their manhood and humanity. It harms Black teen boys by robbing them of healthy outlets for their pain, goading them into dangerous “manly” flexing over urban territories they don’t own. It harms Black women and girls who are too-frequent victims of men taught to define manliness as power over women’s bodies. (Black women are more likely to experience intimate partner violence and 60 percent of us experience sexual assault before age 18.) It harms Black families by encouraging men to be dominating and emotionally inaccessible partners and fathers.”

  
  
   

  I was excited to hear about the 2016-released The Tenth, a magazine by and for queer black men. Started by  Khary Septh and Kyle Banks, the magazine's name was inspired by "W.E.B. DuBois' early 20th-century concept of the Talented Tenth, a vanguard group of exceptionally gifted black people who would elevate the community as a whole, and the voguing practice of "getting your tens" — earning a perfect score from the judges at a ballroom competition." The magazine's purpose to to show off "queer black greatness" in all of its forms. Hopefully, we will continue to see publications like this appearing.
  
  This magazines exists among cultural works like the film Moonlight, which depict experiences that have for too long been silenced.