How Does Media Influence Young Black Men's Conceptualization of Masculinity?: Findings from the Ybmen Project

BACKGROUND: Black youth report significantly higher rates of media consumption than their peers of other racial groups (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). A significant body of research has worked to examine media effects on Black girls and women’s rates of self-esteem and femininity ideology (Gracbe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008; Schooler, Ward, Merriwether, & Caruthers, 2004).However, targeted work that examines the impact of media influence among young Black men’s conceptualization of masculinity remains understudied. Mincey (2015) interviewed college Black men who reported that parents, friends, and sense of self serve as the most influential factors in determining young Black men’s development of masculine identity. The current study aims to expand this area of scholarship by suggesting that media also impacts the ways in which young Black men define their ideas of manhood. It is critical to understand masculinity development among young Black men, as their exposure to various forms of media could largely shape their thoughts surrounding masculinity performance. This topic calls for further exploration, as seeking to understand how young Black men define manhood is imperative to mitigating the disparate treatment they oftentimes encounter throughout their transition into adulthood and beyond.

METHOD: The current study is a secondary analysis of data from a larger intervention— the Young Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) Project. This project was piloted to explore the stressors and pressures unique to young Black men. Participants were 18 to 25-year-old Black men (n=11) enrolled at a 2-year university in the Midwest. Qualitative interviews using pre and post-test measures were matched by race and gender. The interviews were analyzed using a rigorous and accelerated data reduction (RADaR) technique (Watkins & Gioia, 2015). This process involved first transferring transcript data into a Microsoft Word spreadsheet. The next step required the overarching research question to be placed as the page header, and all data that were not pertinent to the research question were removed from the table. This process was repeated until only data that directly supported the overarching research question remained. From there a rigorous content analysis was conducted in order to detect trends and differences among responses (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007).

RESULTS: Our findings highlight the role popular culture has in shaping young Black men’s notions of masculinity. When asked to describe and identify manhood, participants frequently referenced well-known male media figures of the past and present, and specifically identified a myriad of athletes, musicians, and social movement leaders who were central to their conceptualization of manhood. Moreover, men in the study synthesized both positive and negative qualities of these popular figures to determine aspects they either aspired to adopt or reject within their own lives. 

DISCUSSION: Qualitative research should be utilized in studies that investigate marginalized men because it adds to the dearth of literature on masculine identity development while complementing current evidence generated from quantitative measures. Critically analyzing the attributes and characteristics of male figures in the media presents a unique opportunity for researchers to expand upon current ideas of Black masculinity development.