Analysis Of Being Feared : Masculinity In A Public Space

In his article “Black Men in Public Spaces”, journalist Brent Staples discusses how stereotyping has negatively affected him throughout his life, especially during his nightly walks to ease his insomnia. He outlines when he first noticed this occurrence and the steps he has used to minimize the degree of reactions.

In his Essay “Black Men and Public Spaces,” Brett Staples’ illustrates the way black men are stereotyped, and seen as muggers, rapists, or worse. His purpose was to inform readers about how black men are mistaken to be aggressive and hostile individuals, and he planned on enlightening people who are afraid of black people in order for them to not be afraid when they encounter one of them. Staples begins his essay with an anecdote to demonstrate to his readers the focus for the rest of the essay. Brett Staples frequently narrates his personal experiences, reinforcing his message, and making the audience sympathetic to his point of view. Staples wants his audience to

In Brent Staples’ article, “Black Men in Public Spaces”, provoked by racism against him, and other black men on the streets, he gives many personal examples in high hopes people will understand how he, and many other black men, face prejudice from regular encounters simply because of their race. With a Ph.D in psychology, Staples’ writes to his strongly feminist audience in the Ms. Magazine and Harper's publication in 1986. Although staples’ addresses the fact that women have reasonable cause to fear black men on the streets, he comes back to the idea that racial profiling is a serious issue. Throughout his article, Staples’ uses personal anecdotes, an accepting tone, and strong diction in order to further develop his argument.

In the article Black Men and Public Space, the author uses personal experiences to express the idea of racism and judgement based on appearance. One of the worst experiences Staples talked about on page 15 was when he scared a white women when he turned the corner at night, and she ran off. He exclaimed “It was clear that she thought to herself the quarry of a mugger, rapist, or worse” (page 15). By using personal experiences, it helps the reader become more connected to the topic and it also makes people side with the author's opinions because he/she is experienced. In my opinion this article is very sad but true at the same time. People fear what they do know know whether it is race, religion or a certain way of life.

Public space can easily be changed if you belong to certain minority groups that are stereotyped and devalued, such as being a person of color. Brent Staples describes his “ability to alter public space in ugly ways” in his essay “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space” (239). Racial profiling is still a discernible issue in America and Staples’ essay is a perfect example of the damaging effects racial profiling has on people of color. He recounts the event that caused him to become aware of the change his presence creates in public and the steps he took to help people not fear him during the walks he took at night to help battle his insomnia.

Men and women alike are often afraid to venture out into the streets at the dark hours of the day. It could be argued that this is a byproduct of the ever-increasing US crime rate, yet it may also be due to the natural fear that accompanies walking alone in public spaces, familiar or not. Although any shifty figures lurking on the sidewalk can be the source of this fear, it is no doubt that the gross misrepresentation of black people as perpetrators of violent crimes has given them “the ability to alter public space in ugly ways,” as so proficiently stated in “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples (205). Through this short essay, Staples uses a variety of rhetorical devices, namely anecdotes, in order to present the fact that these preconceived racial notions can make certain individuals increasingly susceptible to societal scrutiny. This forces many individuals to make concentrated efforts to present themselves as less threatening because “where fear and weapons meet -- [as] they often do in urban America -- there is always the possibility of death” (206).

Is being a black man in public space a crime in America ? In today's society that question is very prevalent and seems to cause a lot of discussion. Many people often start these kinds of discussions and still do not receive the change that they are looking for. In the essay “Black Men and Public Space,” Brent Staples talks about his personal experiences of him being a black man in the presence of the public. He uses his personal accounts to give off vivid imagery that appeals to the audience in multiple different ways. His accounts are explained in his writing with a plentiful array of words and a use of a humorous style. Brent Staples successfully uses the emotional appeal of pathos and ethos to achieve his main goal of showing how racism and discrimination still exists in today's society.

In Michael Kimmel’s pieces “Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity” and “Who’s Afraid of Men Doing Feminism” he gives us a description of masculinity and explains what this concept of masculinity means for both men and women. He argues that men can, and should be feminist; that they should advocate for gender equality, because gender equality will benefit both men and women. In this paper I will use Kimmel’s analysis of masculinity, which he uses in his arguments for the necessity of profeminist men, along with some assertions made by Jean-Jacques Rousseau about the education of young boys and girls, to show the strengths and weaknesses of Kimmel’s argument. His assertions can seem strong when read alone, however by looking at his argument for profeminist men together with his and Rousseau’s assertions about masculinity one can see a fundamental flaw in his argument. In his analysis of masculinity he not only points out the significant problems with the way men, especially American men, are forced to subscribe to this barbaric concept of manliness, he also expresses concern for this ‘boys club’ atmosphere. However, in his argument for profeminist men, he takes what could be a strong argument and weakens it when he feeds into this desperate need for reassurance by telling men that feminism will benefit them too.

In the short essay, “Black Men in Public Space” written by Brent Staples, discusses his own experiences on how he is stereotyped because he is an African American and looks intimidated in “public places” (Staples 225). Staples, an intelligent man that is a graduate student at University of Chicago. Due to his skin complexity, he is not treated fairly and always being discriminated against. On one of his usual nightly walks he encountered a white woman. She took a couple glances at him and soon began to walk faster and avoided him that night. He decided to change his appearance so others would not be frightened by his skin color. He changed the way he looked and walked. Staples dressed sophisticated to look more professional so no

Similar to Dumas’ struggle in America as an Iranian, Brent Staples’ “Black Men and Public Space” details the struggle of being a black man in America. There are countless stereotypes implanted in the minds of Americans of the typical black person, aggressive, dishonest, ruthless, and overall ill intentioned. The first encounter with this racist outlook on blacks Staples had was in a wealthier area of downbeat Chicago, who began to appear worrisome and soon after proceeded to run from the author, who had done nothing intentionally to provoke fear in her. I agree that women should always place their safety as their first priority and should remove themselves from any situation in which they find themselves uncomfortable or at risk, but if blacks and whites can’t manage to walk the same streets without one race thinking the other is going to attack at any given moment due to the misconceptions floating around in their heads, then America really isn’t a land of diversity. It then becomes a land of hierarchy. As he says, Staples is too scared to even wield a knife at a chicken, let alone wield a knife at another human being, but by the color of his skin and appearance, one would never know this. Being perceived as dangerous, he writes, is a hazard in itself, and could easily land him in the back of a police car

In modern times, feminism and the yearning to become more than a traditional “housewife” have been topics of fierce discussion; however, often neglected is the fact that men, too, are expected to fulfill a role in society. In Michel Marc Bouchard’s Lilies, the characters are heavily influenced by the Catholic, Quebecois society of Roberval, which promotes heteronormativity and a certain masculine mold, resulting in tense relationships with oneself and with others. This can be seen as Simon struggles internally with who he is while Bilodeau and Timothee express discontent in the increasing visibility of homosexuality and the breakdown of the masculine “norms.” Although this play takes place in the early 20th century, the advocacy of what a man should be according to Catholicism, which often leads to homophobia, still prevails heavily today, as seen in Katherine Dugan’s “Gendering Prayer: Millennial-generation Catholics and the Embodiment of Feminine Genius and Authentic Masculinity” and in Wayne Martino’s “Policing Masculinities: Investigating the Role of Homophobia and Heteronormativity in the Lives of Adolescent School Boys.” These articles show the extent to which the toxic outlook on masculinity is seen in Lilies while providing insight into how the public is expected to adhere to heteronormativity. These struggles perceived in Lilies can also further be analyzed through the works of Roy Brooks-Delphin, Lowell Gallagher et al., and Wolfgang Palaver.

In Brent Staples’ personal essay “Black Men and Public Space”, he tells the readers what happen to a young black man in an urban setting. He pinpointed that people often stereotype you because of color, race, gender, culture or appearance. In addition, the author expresses to us that he notices the space between him and other people, such as women on the street. Some people may disagree that women set a certain amount of space when walking by a black man on the street. This statement is not true and public space is not about race, gender, color, culture, or appearance.

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land explores modernism, specifically focusing on the troubling of binaries and the breakdown of the traditional. The boundaries between life and death, wet and dry, male and female, and more are called into question in Eliot’s conception of modernity and the waste land. The blurring of gender boundaries—significantly through Tiresias and the hooded figure scene in “What the Thunder Said”— in the poem lends itself to Eliot’s suggestion that traditional masculinity breaks down and decays in the waste land. Traditional masculinity is further challenged through Eliot’s criticism of hyper-masculinity and heterosexual relations in the modern era through allusions to the myth of Philomela and the “young man carbuncular” scene in “The Fire Sermon.” Along with this, Eliot stages scenes charged with homoeroticism to further challenge ideas of traditional masculinity. Homoerotic scenes such as the “hyacinth girl” scene in “The Burial of the Dead” and the Mr. Eugenides scene in “The Fire Sermon” suggest an intensity and enticement towards male-male relations, while also offering a different depiction of masculinity than is laid out in the heterosexual romance scenes. Through scenes depicting queer desire and homosexual behavior, Eliot suggests that masculinity in the modern era does not need to be marked by aggression and

Today, the news is filled with stories depicting rape and murder incidents of innocent females. These heinous events cause fear in the public. However, these terrifying scenarios have a far greater impact on women. This scary thought has far more effects on women. This mental agony and fear dictates their path and sense of direction. This indeed restricts the places, facilities and the time a woman travels in order to feel and be safe. This is explained in the article The geography of women’s fear by Gill Valentine. “Women develop individual mental maps of places where they fear assault as a product of their past experience of space and secondary information” (386). They should be as free and able as men to make choices of where or when they go without any fear. Women are constantly faced with so many choices and questions including comparing streets, alleys, how clean the place is and if the man behind them is planning something. This is something men do not experience often. This is paired with the stereotype of black males being dangerous and life threatening. If an African American male walks close to a female in the dark, she typically gets restless and scared. A lot of this has to do with how our media portrays young black males. Women feel unfair fear on the street due to their geography, time, African American male and the media.

Being a male in today’s society is not about living and enjoyment, it has become more of a task. Social pressures and media have made it difficult for males to live a life in which they are not being pressured to act or perform a certain way. In order to reassure themselves of their masculinity, violence has become the main method in assuring themselves and those around them that they are powerful. Not only is this violence being perpetrated against others, but self-inflicted violence also exists. The violence being used is not only physical but it is emotional abuse as well. Masculinity has forced many males to perform in ways that are detrimental to their own health as well as their loved ones. Furthermore, it has also put males in the