Analysis of Racial and Gender Iconography in the Representation of the Black Male Body
Overview
This paper analyzes Thelma Golden's work on how the black male body has been represented within frameworks of white supremacy and racist/sexist iconography. The student examines Golden's argument about the evolution of these representations from biological inferiority narratives to commodification and positive reframing through sports and media in the late 1970s.
What this coursework covers
- Historical framework of racist iconography and white supremacy's impact on perceptions of black bodies
- Role of race and gender in psychoanalysis and feminist body politics discourse
- Shift in visual representation and commodification of the black male body in 1970s television and sports
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IVC RESEARCH TABLE FORM
Student’s Name
Class
Date
Article Citation Information
Golden, Thelma. 1994. Black Male. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art.
Research Table
Quotation | Paraphrase | Interpretation |
“The black body has always received attention within the framework of white supremacy, as racist/sexist iconography has been deployed to perpetuate notions of innate biological inferiority[1].” | Golden expounds that the whites have always been concerned on the black people. The whites have used the gender and race iconography to enhance the understanding of the instinctive biological inferiority. | Black people have always been inferior when compared to the whites. In the ancient, Most of the white people held the perception that black people were useless individuals and did not deserve to hold any place in the world. Therefore, they attempted to investigate more about black people. They identified that although race created the difference between whites and blacks, they had something in common such as reasoning, working, communicating, and e.t.c. However, they attempted to research further about Black people, by deploying the gender and race iconography to enhance their understanding of the innate biological inferiority of blacks. |
“Acknowledging the Primacy of race in relation to feminist and psychoanalysis thinking about body politics is a critical standpoint that has consistently led me to focus on the black male body[2].” | Golden further explains that understanding the importance of race in association with psychoanalysis and feminist notions based on body politics is vital. Therefore, it has enabled the author to focus on the black male body primarily. |