In the 1970s, Marvel comics and DC comics released stories that had black leading superhero roles with supporting black characters. These stories were released under a film genre called “Blaxploitation” which featured hyper-masculine black leading roles (Lendrum, 2005) with stereotypical “difficult” black female as their supporting characters. In the Blaxploitation genre, black leading roles were written and directed by white males, thus creating stereotypical and one-dimensional characters that supported the hegemonic patriarchal views about gender and race. With ethnographic knowledge about the “other”, white executives created black characters that went on to be the primary image representing the African- American race and the African-American experience within the American society in the 1970s. The lens in which these black leading roles were created were inspired by real perspectives that were inspired by the Black Power Movement which an executive presence that influenced African Americans to think differently about race and gender.
These black leading roles were created to be hyper-masculine as they were ideals upheld by the Black Power movement and how it emphasized that African-American men need to “perform a Black Mocho attitude” (Lendrum, 2005: 360). As stated above, promotional material such as Marvel Comics or DC comics introduced African American characters to be leading roles; therefore the African American experience within the comic books shed light on the economic and social difference that African Americans went through within the white American society. Such information was shown to be quiet accurate about the economic disadvantages that African Americans go through because of their skin color. The African American man at that time could not get a good job that could pay for all the bills and provide food on the table. According to Lendrum, since the sixties, black women have been the providers of their household, but this was raised as an issue when the Black Power movement rose to uphold hyper-masculine ideals such as the man needing to be the sole provider for the family and black women needing to be more submissive and quiet. This kind of representation impacted the black community today because popular platforms of entertainment such as Marvel and DC have immense power and influence over the behavior of young people and influence pop culture. Therefore such representation of the African American family and experience should be ethnographically correct and accurate.
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With the black leading roles that Marvel comics and DC comics released the 1970s, this is not the case. Hyper masculine black leading roles are problematic as it upholds hegemonic ideals of patriarchy. Black female characters were demonized and portrayed to be women that are difficult, loud and villainous or vixens because they did not live up to the hegemonic idea of what a woman should be. Lendrum goes to explain that even though black women were more independent and most likely, the providers for the household, black women expected black men to perform the same hegemonic and patriarchal roles of being a man. This lead to conflict where both parties were expected to act on hegemonic roles however, the accurate portrayal of the historical relationship between the two was being compromised. The gender roles the characters played out were and still are problematic as it upholds the hegemonic view that black women should be more submissive, quiet and only identify with their motherly duties, while black men should be hyper-masculine by being the sole provider and dominate the black woman. These roles represented in marketing and pop culture are problematic as it expects people of color to perform and think one-dimensionally.
Representation of “otherness” in marketing or promotional materials are used to support and entrench the hegemony. Even today, ethnically diverse representations in marketing, entertainment and media still have one dimensional and stereotypical views. It seems like whenever an original entertainment production or promotional material creates characters about people of color, it is one that grapples with choosing white hegemonic perspective and experience in society vs the historical-cultural black experience. However, when looking at the details of the promotional material or original entertainment production, the black male is somehow subverted to play out sexist hyper-masculine tropes while their black female counterparts are demonized for being too dominant and sassy.
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Black Power Movement Inspired Black Gender Roles in Pop-Culture.
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2023 Feb 01 [cited 2024 Dec 22].
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