Stigmatization Of Black Queer Men Essay

Throughout the matriculation of a black boy 's’ life, there are many, (labeled natural, yet are culturally, socially and institutionally based) factors, that govern the holistic views and beliefs entailed to the child. From that moment on, challenging the social structures that these norms entail suggest a sense of sensitivity, homosexuality or weakness, ultimately emasculating the highly regarded social stigmas attached with being a man. Despite being indoctrinated into the minds of black boys from an early age, there are many long lasting effects of masculinity that are in turn reciprocated in the role of black fathers, husbands, brothers and friends. Black masculinity is the self-deteriorating idealisms that attack the identity and social positions black men ascribe to.

Case Study 14.1: David’s coming Out Process 1. What are the developmental challenges for sexual minority youth, as articulated in David’s story? David’s story points out the complicated lives that LGBTQ youth experience, youth who identify as transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide, and studies show that that higher risk stems from their experiences of discrimination and victimization. David’s journey as a gay teen reveals the challenges some young people face just for being who they are.

“Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space “ Brent Staples talks about the trouble black men have to go through only because of their innate back ground, In his article Just Walk on By; A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space. Brent explains that to this day racial, ethnical, and sex stereotypical backgrounds intervene with communication with one another. As well as having to learn and deal with false accusations that has been bestowed unwillingly upon birth. Trying to acknowledge that just one man’s presence can affect the energy in a room and not knowing how a person will react is a time consuming and emotional way to live a life knowing people expect something wrong from you.

In 1929, Nella Larsen made the term ‘passing’ a tangible phenomenon through her seminal novel Passing. Larsen, an African American woman living in Harlem, details the societal pressure and perhaps even necessity for minorities to ‘pass’ as a member of the majority. The genesis of this social pressure is rooted in the history of the lighter-skinned African American population, but it is a force that almost all minorities have encountered in some form. Passing, while tempting, is ultimately detrimental to the culture and general consciousness of minority communities. The net effect is an easier individual existence in the short-run, but a longer term rejection and subjugation of the culture of that minority group. It wasn’t until 2006, long after the racially segregated world of Larsen, that the term was resurrected. Kenji Yoshino, a human rights lawyer and gay advocate, reimagined ‘passing’ to fit a more modern context. In an homage to Larsen’s formative novel, he published Covering, a text that details the modern transfiguration of the passing impulse. Covering is a new iteration of passing and is one with almost equally as hazardous stakes. Yoshino observes the societal pressure for gay men to cover their homosexuality in an attempt to be accepted by their communities. Covering diverges from passing in this key regard; covering is not a total concealing of one’s own identity but rather a muting of it. Therefore, covering is something that occurs even when a person is

People like to believe their thoughts are their own, not subject to outside bias or prejudice, but this is rarely true. In the essay “Just Walk On By,” Brent Staples explores this topic of people unjustly applying broad stereotypes to individual people; he incorporates pathos and ethos in his writing to convey the message that labels culturally prescribed specifically to black men change others’ perception of them, therefore, affecting the way they must carry themselves.

Recently, the media has caused many stereotypes due to portraying African American males playing feminine roles. This perspective depicts men of color wearing attire outside of the stereotypical sagging pants and oversized t-shirts. It depicts an educated man with social class and sophistication. To date, society holds African American men to rigid stereotypes and a high standard of masculinity. However, once a man of color steps outside societal stereotypes and into the perspective reflected by this new lens, far too often his own race rejects him on the grounds of not molding into the same rigid stereotypes that prevents his growth. Stripping the young man who adopts this new perspective of his ability to identify with his own race,

“Passing - Profiling the Lives of Young Transmen of Color” is a documentary that reveals the negativity that three transgender men of color encounter with the cisnormative society as they were transitioning. These men unfortunately experienced both the mistreatment when they were women as well as the social expectations they feel the need to fulfill as men. Although they were able to recognize the toxic masculinity and misogyny that they experienced as women, they also faced an entirely different and new reality when they transitioned. After transitioning, one individual mentioned that as a man, he felt that he was unable to voice his opinion when he disagrees about something, because unlike women, it was not socially acceptable for a man to

In the 1960s, Black masculinity was reshaped by the newly acquired political power of the Civil Rights era. Notions of the ‘good negro’ (or obedient/deferential negro) were purposefully destroyed and replaced with a more defiant/revolutionary representation. The 1960s-70s played a pivotal role in the creation of this aggressive male identity. Specifically, the combination of the media’s portrayal of the antagonistic Black Power Movement, and record crime rates in African American neighborhoods, created feared images of African American men (Milton).”

Perceptions is what we as individuals understand from the information we are given, what we think we see and know vs what another sees towards the same object or person. But something we must always keep in mind is the stigmas we have aren’t always true.

Minority and sexual minorities understand the oppressive nature of majority groups. However, double minorities like Black gay men often suffer under virulent conditions such as the politics of Blackness, religious conservatism, homophobia, financial hardship, homelessness, lack of support systems, and isolation. Due to this Black gay men seek out comfort in spaces where other Black gay men frequent such as nightclubs. Sometimes nightclubs are the only spaces available where Black gay men feel safe. Often, stigma, racism, and homophobia force men into these spaces, but also these issues lead to negative health outcomes. These issues can prevent gay men from meeting up in healthier spaces and sharing their stories. And, because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the community lost a number of men who could have passed on a rich history.

Society has outlined supposedly what it means to be a black man for us, causing several inner conflicts. Suggesting that Black men are hypersexual, violent and incapable of healthily expressing anything other than rage and anger. Showing anything other than these societal norms, are seen as “feminine” and critiques the idea of manhood. Black masculinity is an internal bondage device that destroys the self-expression and self-worth of Black men, ultimately altering how they interact with others.

Most people in the United States are aware of many stereotypes and images surrounding black men. These negative portrayals of black male are noticeable and expressed in the public through the news, film, and other forms of media. With the media access into people's' home helps to spread these

Until quite recently, the traditional view of family that has predominated society has been comprised of gender roles. The “ideal” family in the past has consisted of a white, middle-class, heterosexual couple with about 2.5 children. In this heteronormative nuclear family, the father is the head of the household and the breadwinner of the family, while the mother is the one who cares for the children and completes household duties. Of course, most families do not fit into this mould and those who do not fit have been repeatedly marginalized due to their differences. It is no question that race, class, sexuality, ability, and many other identity markers intersect in how forms of family may vary. As explained by the concept of intersectionality, gender must be analyzed through a lens that includes various identity markers which contribute to how an individual experiences oppression. It is through the use of intersectionality, the discussion of patriarchy, and the deconstruction of “family” that bell hooks (1990) and Michelle K. Owen (2001) paint family as a site of belonging and contestation.

Every day in the United States, a young person, under the age of eighteen faces homelessness, and most often it’s because of others. In a report by The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, it was noted that 26% of LGBTQ youth were kicked out of their homes when they came out (Ray, 2006). The Urban Justice League reports numbers as high as 78% of LGBTQ youth that “were removed from or left their foster care placements because they were un-welcoming or hostile towards their sexual orientation and/or gender identity ” (Feinstein, Greenblatt, Hass, Kohn, & Rana, 2001). The United States is an independent, individualistic country; we prize the freedom of expression, but do we really? One of the most significant, if not the most important, social structures is the family. Gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals who are aware of their sexuality, must create an alternative self to present to family and friends, especially if there is an understanding, verbalized or implicit, that homosexuality is not tolerated, or simply wrong. Many gay, lesbian and bisexual men and women would rather go with the flow, assimilate, not make waves, rather than to express their own gay identity, and risk ostracism.

As being developed by poststructuralism, feminism, lesbian & gay studies and even American pragmatist theory (Parker,2001; Seidman,1997), queer theory has become one of the most important theories, which contributes to the research of sociology, arts and organizations. On the one hand, queer theory has been used to study the relations between the sexuality, gender and workplace. On the other hand, by utilizing denaturalized, deconstructive and performative methods to queer the presumptions of the taken-for-granted norms, queer theorists question and disprove the traditions which people cherish (Seidman,1995).