Do any of you listen to the radio show This American Life? If not, let me be the first to introduce you to
this hilarious, awkward, hilariously awkward, touching, and inspiring
story-hour. These wonderful and occasionally wacko stories will reaffirm your faith
in public radio and make you fall in love with host Ira Glass. Almost as cool
as the show itself is the fact that there is an online archive with free
podcasts with every one of its shows since 1995, so get at it. But first I want
to tell you about an especially good one relating to masculinities that I
listened to over spring break. I have been looking for reason to give it to you
all since then, and I think this week’s topic relates well to it.
This episode is called “Harper Lee High School,” and it came
out in late February. The episode is in response to recent gun violence, but is
not a direct call for policy change—rather, the program takes a closer look
into the reality for families living in the US where gun violence is a daily
fear. The program is created over number of months, during which selected staff
reporters developed relationships with students and staff at a high school in
inner city Chicago called Harper Lee High School. The radio show chose this
school specifically because during last year alone 29 students died as a result
of gun violence
As you may have guessed, the neighborhood surrounding Harper
Lee High School is one exhausted by gang violence—a culture that is more normal
to Harper Lee students than not. Students who are interviewed discuss how they
are assigned to gangs simply by their position on the block. And this gang
culture is a pressure primarily facing young men.
The reason that I think this episode fits in with this
week’s topic of cross-cultural masculinities is because it explores how sub-cultures
grapple with the phenomena of the global hegemonic male. Just as Muslim
masculinities are formed in part in reaction to colonial ideas of masculinity, so
do African-American communities create a unique version of the hegemonic male.
This pervasive image of the white, strong man that inculcates Western media
plays an unseen role in forming this hegemonic masculinity that reigns in gang
territory. This new version of masculinity seen in gangs is firmly established
in its separateness from the white ideal, yet retains elements of this
influence.
I encourage you to listen to it! Here is the link to the
online streaming.
Happy listening,
Inanna
Great analysis, Inana. Thanks for sharing.
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