Thus \u2018the gangsta image in popular culture intoxicated boys, promising the \u2018glamour and romance\u2019 of unapologetic masculinity\u2019. But what also remains to be emphasised is that the gangsta persona is distinct from crime, and for many was more a gesture about authority as opposed to committing actual misdemeanours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a sad and well-known fact that racial hatred is most ruinous and hard to curtail when it is exacted from within. As Coolio said in his greatest hit, \u2018Gangster\u2019s Paradise\u2019 (1995), \u2018Why don\u2019t we just try to see that the ones we hurt are you and me\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the assertion of masculinity amongst gangsta cultures is as much an effect of pride as it is of self-hatred and disrespect\u2014hence the common use from one African American to another of \u2018nigga\u2019 and \u2018black motherfucker\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is because of this duality that the common use in contemporary culture of what is now called \u2018the n word\u2019 among African American men is hard to situate from an ethico-historical point of view. In his study of youth culture in schools, Edward Morris reflects that \u2018the n word, along with other social mechanisms, defined boundaries and provided pathways for the localized constructions of race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to expressing racial solidarity, it was meant to make white people feel uncomfortable\u2019. It is therefore a linguistic tactic to show fealty and to facilitate what he calls \u2018the achievement of blackness\u2019. In this campaign of socialization, it is important for African American youths of certain (usually underprivileged) schools and communities to achieve gangsta status and to avoid being \u2018lame\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be lame is show signs of vulnerability, not to have the right dress, or to have conflicting attitudes of the group, especially as it applies to the combative male culture. As opposed to the gangsta, which appropriated for itself the realities and the myths of black criminality, to be lame was to comply with rules and, by extension, to affiliate with the oppressive status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Morris notices, \u2018boys in particular felt a pull to enact this hard streetwise image\u2019. The gangsta image is a powerful and seductive concept as it is far from confined to an urban condition, but is caught up in the fantasies circulated by representation and narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus \u2018the gangsta image in popular culture intoxicated boys, promising the \u2018glamour and romance\u2019 of unapologetic masculinity\u2019. But what also remains to be emphasised is that the gangsta persona is distinct from crime, and for many was more a gesture about authority as opposed to committing actual misdemeanours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bridging the divide between the individual gangsta and the gangsta\u2019s representation in all forms of media is the ways in which gangsta groups also manage and curate their own reputations in their \u2018hoods\u2019 and beyond. In short, gossip and hearsay are important if not essential to a gang\u2019s collective identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Violence is a constant in these discussions, but the truth of the acts is a different matter. But it is the constant storytelling within and between gangs that is also an important modulator in violence. As Timothy Lauger concludes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legitimacy in the intergang environment is not static; gang members continuously develop reputations for violence by telling stories or gossiping about peers. The intergang environment is host to an endless stream of information designed to both build and undermine reputations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Violent or potentially violent events become distorted as they are reconstructed to fit the agendas of the storyteller. Some self-defined gang members are labelled as weak, while others are labelled as strong. This constant flow of information pressures gang members to perform in front of their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This also suggests that the violence, while ostensibly against the white establishment, is just as, if not more, internecine, that is, enacted on one another. The role of perception and aesthetics is also striking: violence is a way of looking good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even signs of violence, such as scars, can be worn alongside \u2018bling\u2019 as just another trophy. Indeed the sartorial signs of gangsta-dom\u2014bandanas, baggy pants, sportswear, and so on\u2014are so intertwined with the act of violence that rap venues are known to forbid people from wearing them, in an effort to keep concerts and clubs safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Promotional flyers might even stipulate \u2018no headgear, no jerseys\u2019, although these have been hard to police and proven easy to circumvent by subtle changes in clothing. While it is hard to measure, it is nonetheless undeniable that the evolution of gangsta hyper-masculinity is an after effect of the deep and pervading social anxieties of white society regarding African American sexual prowess and appetite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is visible on all levels of society from pornography to literature\u2014and is also evident in the conduct of adolescent children. In a case study analysis of a ritual in an American high school, River High, C.J. Pascoe reveals how ingrained the mentality is. \u2018Mr Cougar\u2019 is the title awarded to the most popular senior boy of the high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To earn the title, six candidates play out a variety of skits in the school gym, which are then voted upon by the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two candidates are handsome, Aryan water polo players, Brent and Greg. In the skit in question, they are assailed by a group of (white) students dressed as gangstas complete with bandannas, bling, and baggy clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They assault the pair who flee, allowing the \u2018capture\u2019 of their girlfriends. The \u2018happy ending\u2019 is when Craig and Brent succeeding in overcoming the gangstas and retrieving their \u2018women\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Pascoe explains, The Mr Cougar competition clearly illuminates the intersecting dynamics of sexuality, gender, social class, race, bodies and institutional practices that constitute adolescent masculinities in this setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Craig and Brent are transformed from unmasculine nerds who cannot protect their girlfriends into heterosexual, muscular men. This masculinizing process happens through a transformation of bodies, the assertion of racial privilege, and a shoring up of heterosexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This masculinity is negotiated at the expense of the formidable odds (as the myth has it) or confronting black sexuality as embodied by the gangsta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The above anecdote also serves as a reminder that the complex forces foisted on both black and chicano culture with regard to myths of primal sexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Pancho McFarland notes that \u201cAs a result of economic exclusion and social marginalization, black and brown men have been forced to adopt the \u2018phallic norm\u2019\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are enforced concepts that these subjugated cultures unwittingly propagate. The issue of choice is therefore highly moot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thus \u2018the gangsta image in popular culture intoxicated boys, promising the \u2018glamour and romance\u2019 of unapologetic masculinity\u2019. But what also remains to be emphasised is that the gangsta persona is distinct from crime, and for many was more a gesture about authority as opposed to committing actual misdemeanours. It is a sad and well-known fact … <\/p>\n