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WHAT'S UP WITH THE BROTHERS?
Essays and Studies on African American Masculinities
Edited by Whitney Stewart Harris and Ronald T. Ferguson
ISBN-13: 978-1-931342-22-3 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-931342-23-0 (cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-1-931342-24-7 (e-book)
What Up with the Brothers? is an examination of African-American masculinities in our times as seen through the scholarly efforts of African-American thinkers. This book goes beyond old paths and shifts the paradigm to ask questions that challenge the conventional wisdom about the African-American male experience. Few stones are left unturned as the book covers topics ranging from family, art, employment, sexuality and masculinity as they relate to contemporary African-American males. |
| Advance Praise |
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Harris and Ferguson’s collection of essays … explores the construction of black masculinity historically and in situ. Within these pages, we see black men as they perform masculinities in contexts ranging from adult theater to basketball, and as rigid masculinity is performed upon them in century-old lynchings and in the modern-day workplace. In their interrogation of black masculinity, authors de- essentialize the concept of hegemonic masculinity and turn “hypermasculinity” inside-out. This book would be an asset for courses on gender and masculinity and racial identity.
— Roberta L. Coles
Associate Professor of Sociology, Marquette University
Author, Race and Family: A Structural Approach
Whitney Harris and Ronald Ferguson’s What’s Up with the Brothers? provides a comprehensive picture of Black masculinities and the challenges that face and confront African-American men today. This book will be an invaluable addition to students and academics in gender and cultural studies, social policy, education, sociology, psychology, media, and other similar disciplines.
— Richard G. Majors
Director, The Applied Centre of Emotional Literacy Leadership and Research (ACELLR)
Co-author, Cool Pose and The American Black Male: His Present Status and Future
What’s Up with the Brothers? addresses the fact that the majority of scholarship on African-American men is focused on their short-comings and absences as African-American men. This book turns that corner and fills a significant gap in the literature on African-American men by focusing on their positive contributions as African-American men.
— Earl Smith
Professor of Sociology and the holder of the Rubin Distinguished Professorship in American Ethnic Studies, Wake Forest University
Author, Race, Sport & the American Dream and African American Families
The collection of essays in What’s Up with the Brothers? reaches across the vast terrain of concerns for African-American men, including employment, sports and recreation, and public representation, to illuminate the pitfalls and possibilities associated with improving their situation. Work like this is essential for informing the public not simply about the crisis of African-American males, but about ideas that can lead to resolving that crisis.
— Alford A. Young Jr.
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Sociology and Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, University of Michigan
Author, The Minds of Marginalized Black Men |
| Contents |
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Acknowledgement / 5
Introduction / 7
Chapter One. Hegemonic Masculinities and Black Male Sex at All-Male Adult Theaters: The Relational Perspective—Anthony Lemelle Jr. / 13
Chapter Two. Revisiting Hypermasculinity: Shorthand for Marginalized Masculinities?—Richard N. Pitt and George Sanders / 33
Chapter Three. The Declining Significance of Black Male Employment: Gendered Racism of Black Men in Corporate America—Ron Stewart / 53
Chapter Four. A Father’s Performance of Masculinity as Seen Through the Eyes of Two Sons: A Postmortem Exploration—Whitney Stewart Harris and James Harris / 73
Chapter Five. Young Black Males, the Hoop Game, and Masculine Identities—Reuben A. Buford May / 87
Chapter Six. Body and Soul: History, Memory, and Representations of Black Masculinity—Pellom McDaniels III / 105
Chapter Seven. Becoming a Black Man—Ronald T. Ferguson / 127
Chapter Eight. Psychological Distress Among Black Men—Christina Jackson-Bailey / 139
Conclusion—Whitney Stewart Harris and Ronald T. Ferguson / 155
Contributors / 161
Index / 165 |
| About the Editors |
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Ronald T. Ferguson is a sociology professor at Ridgewater College, Willmar, Minnesota. Ferguson has been involved in the development of several state and local programs that enhance enrollment of diverse students in higher education. Among his recent works, Ferguson has co-authored a paper on the evaluation of the college experience by Native American freshman as well as presented at regional conferences in the area of biracial identity development. Ferguson has his Ph.D. from the University of North Dakota in Educational Research. Current interests include Race and Ethnicity, Males in Education, and Multicultural Education.
Whitney G. Harris, Ph.D., is executive director of the Diversity and Multiculturalism office for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Prior to assuming his current appointment, Harris served as the director of diversity and affirmative action at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. He also served as an adjunct in the Department of Women and Gender studies. Among his other positions, Harris also served as vice president and professor of teacher education at McNeese State University, Lake Charles, Louisiana. |
