Black masculinities in American social science and self-narratives of the 1960s and 1970s
By: Aneta Dybska
Series: American studies and media -- v. 2; American studies and media (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) -- v. 2.
Publisher: Peter Lang
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Frankfurt am Main
Language: eng
Number of pages: 193
ISBN-13: 9783631613306
Subjects: Masculinity; African American men; Sex role; Social sciences; Psychology
Description: This is a study of black masculinities produced in two distinct bodies of 1960s and 1970s texts: ethnographic accounts of black urban families and black men's self-narratives. Those seemingly incompatible genres of writing are treated on a par, as narrative spaces within which social identities are forged and negotiated. Part I of this book offers a critical analysis of social science literature since the mid- to late 1960s. It includes the controversial Moynihan Report, which has been center stage of debates about "black matriarchy", race relations, and social policy, as well as ethnographies by Ulf Hannerz, David A. Schulz, and Kenneth B. Clark. It is against the backdrop of the ethnographic research that Part II investigates discursive continuities as well as ruptures in the articulation of black masculinities in Dick Gregory's and Claude Brown's narratives of success and counter-hegemonic prison writings by Black Panther Party leaders: Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, and George Jackson.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-181) and index.
Table of contents: title: pt. I. Social science representations. Homogenous weak black masculinity suppressed by matriarchy: Daniel P. Moynihan; title: Fluid and contextual black masculinity in the public space: Ulf Hannerz; title: A plurality of marginal black masculinities in the domestic space: David A. Schulz; title: "Authentic" black masculinities forged under white oppression: Kenneth B. Clark; title: pt. 2. Autobiographical representations.  Autoethnographies of "coming up" black: Claude Brown and Dick Gregory; title: From collective to individualistic masculinity: Bobby Seale; title: Imprisoned masculinities: Eldridge Cleaver and George Jackson; title: Conclusions: a comparative analysis.