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Emmanuel D.

Pressley

Men & Masculinity

December 10th, 2014

Black Men & the Cult of Respectability: Sexual Politics

Whether it is empirical research or traditional sociological inquiry about men


and their behavior are ongoing contemporary topics that are being explored. Are all
men the same? What do men want? What makes a real man? These are questions
that many others and I have raised across social spaces of state, family life,
workplace and education. For example, there is no way to simplify black mens
complexities or understand the struggles black men encounters without asking
questions and performing sociological studies. Based on a review of literature, the
present paper examines an historical account of black men sexual politics and the
cult of respectability.
Beyond the backbreaking, soul-savaging labor that all enslaved people
performed, American slavery extracted from black women and men another work
that remains almost inarticuable in its horror: reproducing the slave workforce
through giving births and serving as forced sexual labor to countless of men. The
political economy of slavery systematically expropriated black women and men
sexuality, their love and reproductive capacity for white pleasure and profit
(Hancock, 2008). Herein lies the black man and cult of respectability in regards to
sexual politics in modern society. Understanding this origin allows an individual to
comprehend the struggle that black men face when trying to discern whether or not
to confirm to Western ideology regarding sexual politics or even the state of black
love. The political economy of race issues is integral to understanding racism.
Chattel slavery is the most obvious component of this, as it was crucial to founding

Emmanuel D. Pressley

Men & Masculinity

December 10th, 2014

United States capitalism and provided a template from which the racial and
economic oppression of African-Americans have continued to be subjected to
(Hancock, 2008). Beyond racial oppression, chattel slavery depended on gender
oppression. Black women and men were both expected to perform hard laborious
duties, but womens reproductive capacity meant that Black womens sexuality was
another form of sexual exploitation.
The commodification of a Black woman in slavery meant that every part of an
enslaved African woman were his (the owners) to do with as he pleased (Nedhari,
2009). In addition to the animalistic depictions of being capable of back-breaking
work, these included the image of the jezebel, breeder woman or sexually
malevolent Black woman. This redefined Black womens bodies as sites of wild,
unrestrained sexuality that could be tamed, but never completely subdued (Nedhari,
2009). Black womens bodies were a site for conquering and a site for a system of
profit. Economic and racial oppression for Black men was also gendered, in that
their bodies were constructed as big, strong, and stupid, and naturally violent
(Nedhari, 2009). They were framed as intellectually inferior, and this also reinforced
the political status of African men as chattel. The taming of black men was in this
logic necessary, as Black men supposedly had an inherent nature for violence, and
it could be channeled into productive manual labor. Black men were reduced to
their bodies and identified their muscles and penises as sites of power in need of
constraint.

Emmanuel D. Pressley

Men & Masculinity

December 10th, 2014

Within the cultural framework of America, the systemic structure is


characterized by White male patriarchy that allows for Black males to have the
ability to negotiate the way in which they have been socialized and institutionalized
to think, act, and behave because they are men (Hancock, 2008). Western society
prides itself on individualism. Our choices and thoughts are our own, free from
outside influence. Or are they really? Social norms or the cult of respectability
govern our daily lives more than we would like to believe. What is dangerous is not
the belonging to a group, or groups, but not understanding the social laws that
govern groups and govern us. Conformity is a powerful thing that rules lives on a
conscious and subconscious level. Especially when looking at Black men and sexual
politics. The cult of respectability in regards to what is and is not acceptable is often
a dynamic struggle of among Black men. The cult of respectability is the
understanding of what is or is not socially acceptable within a given society. Do I
love my partner outwardly or remain down low? Is my sexual prowess my social
demise or can I set the course? Do I shape shift the historical and generally
accepted? Why must there even be a cult of respectability?
According to Hooks, history tells how the political status of Black men and
women have been stigmatized as wild, unrestrained sexual beings whose blackness
deem them as inferior or unintelligent. But evolution combine with the status of the
black community has in some way take away black mens choice of the dynamics of
their sexuality. The pressure to conform to white male patriarchal standards of
manhood or sexuality as protector, heterosexual, disciplinarian, and provider are

Emmanuel D. Pressley

Men & Masculinity

December 10th, 2014

representative of such a dilemma for Black males. Despite the unconscious


internalization and acceptance of the white male patriarchal standards, there is a
struggle at hand (Cokley & Helm, 2007). For example, black men struggle with trying
to discern what to do when they are gay. Or shape shifting the historical perception
of black men being hypersexual. Even something as simple as loving a white
women. What happens when black men do not fit the Western hetero normal of our
society? To conformed to the social norm of obeying authority figures and
conformed to the idea of what is respectable can have significant effects.
Irrespective of class, status, income, or level of education, for many black
men sexuality remains the place where dysfunction behavior and often very
misunderstood. The history of the black male body begins in the United States with
projections, with the imposition onto that body of white racist sexist pornographic
sexual fantasies (Collins, 2005 & 2008). There has been little or no discussion about
the sexualities of African men prior to life in the United States. Yet, one fact is that
Black men were not coming into this new world obsessed with sexuality, especially if
they were coming from areas in which survival was more important that acting out
on sexual desires. The end of slavery and abject subjugation in the immediate postslavery years freed the black body from its containment within the scope of white
racialized sexual fantasy (Collins, 2005 & 2008). Therefore, black males entered the
twentieth century with very few changes in their public status. He had the freedom to
explore their sexuality, to reclaim and redefine it. The cult of respectability plays a
huge role in in the decisions black men make about their sexuality. This is influenced

Emmanuel D. Pressley

Men & Masculinity

December 10th, 2014

by the history of slavery and the understanding of what might be the consequences
of said decision. If Black men does not conform they suffer being socially ostracized,
having emotional and psychological pain and discomfort. Some even go on living a
lie. But not conforming or going against the cult of respectability can offer what some
adds as sexual healing. Such healing happens every time the culture of resistance
where black male bodies and being are no longer captive (Hooks, 2005). A free
black man, at home in his body, is able to feel his sexual desire and to act with lifeaffirming agency. When black men choose a healthy sexuality, he celebrate sexual
healing, self-expression and liberated sexual agency.

Emmanuel D. Pressley

Men & Masculinity

December 10th, 2014

References:
Hooks, Bell (2004).We Are Cool: Black Men and Masculinity. New York. Routledge.
Collins, Patricia. (2005). Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and
the New Racism. New York. Routledge.

Hooks, Bell. (2004). The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. New
York: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Cokley, K. & Helm, K. (2007). The Relationship Between African American


Enculturation and Racial Identity. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and
Development, 35, 142-153.

Nedhari, A. (2009). In Search of Manhood: The Black Male's Struggle for


Identity
and
Power.
Student
http://www.studentpulse.com/a?id=32

Pulse,1(11).

Retrieved

from

The Migration of Enslaved Women: 'Fancy Girls' and Sexual Exploitation in the
Domestic Slave Trade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrInk4Yt6d0

Dr. Joy DeGruy - Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7tpAK8APY

Collins, P. H. (2008). Reply to Commentaries: Black Sexual Politics Revisited.


Studies In Gender & Sexuality, 9(1), 68-85. doi:10.1080/15240650701759292

Hancock, A. (2008). Intersectionality, Multiple Messages, and Complex


Causality: Commentary on Black Sexual Politics by Patricia Hill Collins.
Studies In Gender & Sexuality, 9(1), 14-31. doi:10.1080/15240650701759359

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