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Response to "TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE
Historical context of the film 12 years of slave
Historical context of the film 12 years of slave
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In a world where slavery existed, enslaved men and women were becoming more aware of the injustice inflicted upon them because of their skin color. In that world, black people were being forced to migrate, sold, kidnapped and traded in the name of slavery. Slavery was the ultimate business that condemned black men and women’s humanity and freedom. The slaves became the reliable pathway for people of white skin to obtain power and prosperity. Obtaining freedom was not an option but more of a necessity not only for the slaves but also for all their descendants. The enslaved men were put in a situation where their pride of masculinity was taken away from them. Eventually, there came a time when rebellious slaves strived to conquer what white men had stolen from them, what made them true men, their virility. With no rights, the enslaved men were completely being stripped of their masculinity, which was to men the main factor of being a true man. The white men impertinently build a sense of self-esteem by keeping their masculinity and thriving from the slaves’ pain. The movie “12 years a slave” portrays the idea that manhood was a concept important …show more content…
The movie certainly did a great job at portraying the masculinity that certain slaves deeply wanted to regain. As the article mentions, masculinity to any men was taken in the context of what a true man really is. After analyzing the movie and the article of Edward E. Baptist, it is adequate that they both go hand in hand at describing the importance of masculinity. Manhood was not only about being a man but it was to them the ability to feel in control of their own life and having their rights respected. Overall, masculinity played a big role in obtaining the slaves’ freedom and the producers of the movie successfully portrayed this aspect in the slaves’
The “Rock Pile” by James Baldwin and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston are two stories that examined black male resistance to emasculation. The men in these stories lived in patriarchal societies, and they reaped the benefits of a structure that favored men. In both stories, the male characters were dominant figures in their households, and when they felt like their manhood was being attacked, they retaliated viciously.
The institution of slavery was part of a significant portion of American history, along with human history. Additionally, it is also one of the greatest human tragedies of the New World and the United States. The White Man's Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States was written by Winthrop D. Jordan and tells the history of racism in the United States. The author discusses the very origins of racism and the nature of slavery within the United States through the attitudes of the white slave owners. In the book, the author addresses the problem of slavery through the negative stereotypes, racist laws, and the paradox of Thomas Jefferson.
The sexual abuse of african-american women, and african women began with slavery, and can be noted as the first shift in inequality and lack of control over one’s own body. The psychological, and physiological construct of control is deeply rooted in history. Slavery, for example, was the physical dehumanization of another human being who was thought to be inferior. Psychologically, the act of physical constraint must have internalized ideas of social dominance. Especially, when slave owners, overseers, and drivers would take advantage of their authority and of their powerful positions to rape enslaved women. After the emancipation of the slaves, white men were no longer in control, and this generated a fear of equality with african-american
In Gail Bederman’s Manliness and Civilization, she aims to describe the concepts of manliness and masculinity at the turn of the century. Bederman explains that the concept of what it means to be a man is ever changing as a result of the ideology of the time as well as the material actions of the men. During the Progressive Era, many forces were at work that put pressure on the supremacy of white, middle class men. Some of these forces included the growing move toward empowered women, the unionization of the working class, and the move from self-employment to big, corporate business. She delves into the way that both racism and sexism were used to build up the concept of masculinity and the turn of the century discourse on civilization.
It is theorized that the phrase “angry Black man” is a social construct created during America’s Colonial period. It was supposedly used to negatively describe African-American men who spoke out against what they considered to be an incongruous and xenophobic society and more specifically the institution of slavery. The phrase’s essence has been intentionally misconstrued. The three words together were said to have been used by whites as a dismissive tool; a method of sabotaging the validity of an outspoken Black man’s claims of an unjust and oppressive system. This was done in an effort to detract from the legitimacy of the outraged Black man’s cries of injustice.
While she does not adopt instances of amputation as a loss of manhood as Megan Kate Nelson does in her book, she uses the issue of slavery to illustrate the concept of manhood instead, stating, “The purpose of slavery, from the perspective of the nonslaveholding southern soldier, had less to do with the wealth that it generated for owners and more to do with assuring the identity of white southern men.” (Manning, 210; Nelson, 160) In discussing manhood in more nuanced terms, Manning reveals more about her argument; however, Nelson also exhibits this by stating that “The silence of manly suffering was an extension of political and national affiliation.” (Nelson,
The movie White Man’s Burden, a 1995 drama, reverses the typical American cultural perspectives. In this movie John Travolta and Harry Belafonte create an emotional story highlighting the way people treat others. In a White Man’s Burden Harry Belafonte is a successful and wealthy black man, and John Travolta is a poor struggling white man. To me this movie showed me many things I was blind to. The reversal of traditional white and black roles emphasized the injustice that many minorities, in this scenario blacks, go through on a daily basis.
Masculinity in Deliverance by James Dickey The novel Deliverance by James Dickey portrays the essence of middle-aged men experiencing the mid-life crisis through which they must prove to themselves and more importantly everyone else that they still possess the strength, bravery, intelligence, and charm believed to be society's ideal of "masculinity." Dickey's four main characters undertake a risky adventure to satisfy their egotistical complexes and prove to the world that they are still the strong young men their wives married. Each character represents a different stereotype of the middle-aged man, and therefore experiences a different type of psychological and physical journey than their peers. The character Drew Ballinger in Deliverance is a sales supervisor at a soft-drink company who is very devoted to his son and his job.
In the novel, the author proposes that the African American female slave’s need to overcome three obstacles was what unavoidably separated her from the rest of society; she was black, female, and a slave, in a white male dominating society. The novel “locates black women at the intersection of racial and sexual ideologies and politics (12).” White begins by illustrating the Europeans’ two major stereotypes o...
It has defined “manhood” in terms of it’s own interest and “femininity” likewise” (Beale, 146). Because gender roles in American society are so skewed it is viewed with negative connotation if the women is “dominant” in a relationship. Men should, in the eyes of society, be more powerful than the woman. Moynihan connects the lack of dominance in the black male with economic and educational downfall.
It is interesting that the authors are both females, and choose to write on a topics concerning manhood. However, I am sure this research spiked their attention from observing their children, husband, and those around them. Both give significant amount of examples that black men were wrongly treated and negatively denoted in the south. Chapter 7, The Politics of Black Land Tenure 1877-1915, talks about the evolution of black agriculture in the southern states Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The chapter also mentions the positive of this movement as well as the illegal hanging of black people. This shows how the south after the Civil War began their new acts of racism. This is one of the first books that focus on historic issues concerning black men’s masculinities in many aspects. Hine and Jenkins uses the Civil War through the 19th century time period to focus on black men’s lives in their occupations, families, sports, military, leadership, and their image in society. The authors use history journals and academic periodicals to provide pertinent information to their readers. All of there information is substantial and very creditable because of their careful construction of questioning
Beloved by Toni Morrison and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry tackle issues of masculinity. On pages 125 to 138 and 147 to 149, Morrison illustrations in Beloved how white power structures and the sexual fetishism of the black man’s body, which were established by American slavery, emasculates the black man. On pages 143 to 144 in A Raisin in the Sun, which takes place between World War II and the present, portrays a peculiar mindset of a black man, and his fight to define his masculinity within a matriarchal family structure, a product of American slavery. The language in Beloved and A Raisin in the Sun, underlines the products of the societal structures of slavery effect on black masculinity.
With its phallic musical dream sequences, belligerent characters, and Gulf War backdrop, The Big Lebowski is saturated with masculinity overtones. In stark contrast to this theme of masculinity, the Dude is one of the least manly characters in the film. His aversion to violence, partiality for feminine cocktails, and lack of job and ambitions all go against what most of us would consider characteristic of a man. Despite all of his failures at traditional manhood, the Stranger, the iconic man of western film, asserts that the Dude is “the man for his time and place.” In “Logjammin’ and Gutterballs: Masculinities in The Big Lebowski,” Dennis Allen interprets the Stranger’s assertion and the entire theme of masculinity in the film as a critique of “a variety of more or less culturally acceptable definitions of the masculine” (388). Although Allen’s analysis of the masculine theme in The Big Lebowski is correct, he misinterprets the role of the Dude within this theme. Allen believes the Dude, like the other characters of the film, represents a slacker masculinity that has become popular in today’s culture. While there is evidence to support Allen’s claim, this interpretation of the Dude does not address the flawed masculinity presented through the other characters of the film. I contend that the Dude is “the man for his time n’ place”
[Slaves] seemed to think that the greatness of their master was transferable to themselves” (Douglass 867). Consequently, slaves start to identify with their master rather than with other slaves by becoming prejudiced of other slaves whose masters were not as wealthy or as nice as theirs, thereby falling into the traps of the white in which slaves start to lose their
Comparably, the criminalization of Black men in America is as prevalent and dangerous. In her 2004 work We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity, bell hooks eulogizes the 1997 film Amistad, praising its portrayal of Black men and the difference between this portrayal of Black men versus another movie that enforces the gangster and buffoon stereotypes. Reading through accounts of history, men back in Africa - where gender was determinative to their role in the community; these men were innocent until their right to dominated women was seen as necessary to be taught to them and this patriarchal masculinity was implemented into the minds of these young men. Part of reconstruction process of Black masculinity was, by many men, to fight; Frederick