Understanding Black masculinity

           

            Dear Imani Perry,

            Thank you for your laborious research and thoughtful analysis on hip-hop. I have never had the opportunity to engage with scholarship on the history and culture of hip-hop in the Black community. I wanted to write to you about chapters 5 and 6 because they left me with a lot of unanswered questions. You dedicated an entire chapter to exploring masculinity in hip-hop and most importantly, you provided a historical socio-political framework for your analysis. This particular chapter caused me to think deeply about my judgments of male-dominated hip-hop culture. While I recognize that not all hip-hop and rap is misogynistic and sexist, a lot of the lyrics and messaging make me feel extremely uncomfortable as woman, and these feelings are heightened when I am surrounded by men bobbing their heads to the beat and singing a long. Chapter 5 challenged my perceptions and forced me to think critically about black masculinity in relation to white masculinity. You write, “it is, in fact, a sense of powerlessness in the face of white masculinity, and the fear of being pimped at the hands of wealthy white recording moguls, that guides the hyper-masculinist moment, and the heterosexist moment as racial anxiety is articulated through a patriarchal cultural lens when the fear of being “bitched” finds artistic expression”(124). At first, I struggled with your argument because, at times, it felt like you were making an excuse for misogynistic sexist violent behavior against women. However, instead of making excuses for this behavior, this you helped me to contextualize black masculinity through an important historical framework that addresses the pervasive white power structure that disempowers black men. With that being said I did feel like your language and tone was apologetic of black masculinity. I feel that you could have provided the historical context while being critical of black masculinity. I would be curious to know how a black male audience would receive your commentary on black masculinity in hip-hop. Do you think they would use your work to better understand their behavior and understand how they oppress Black women? Or, do you think they may understand your work to be an excuse for their sexist and violent behavior against Black women?

Looking forward to your response.

Best,

Ry