BWS 351 - Black Masculine Images and Identity

1.00

This course examines factors that contribute to the construction of black American masculine and male identity. It examines phenomena ranging from every day “cool”, “hardness”, and “swag” to various queer dispositions as products resulting from unique black masculine identity formations. These identities are approached from the belief that it is not solely an individualistic occurrence, but constructs deeply shaped by historical and contemporary conscious and unconscious political and social dynamics. As such, this course will primarily focus on media and popular culture Presentation and its effects on the black body. Drawling largely on movies as a vehicle of analysis, but also TV, music, and literature, this course will examine how socio-political factors such as
scientific racism, social movements (i.e., New Negro, Civil Rights, Black Power, Black Lives Matter, etc), mass incarceration, and the election of Barack Obama, among others, have scripted the black body and the implication those inscriptions have on black identity formation, gender performance, and politics.