Boyz N the Hood

There are two types of masculinity depicted in the film. One is delineated through the characters Tre, Tre’s father, and Ricky. The other one is delineated through the characters Doughboy, and his enemies. The first masculinity is the positive masculinity, which is related to the ability to control oneself, to not give up to emotions, to do the right thing, to think through, the ability to raise a child, to operate a business, etc. In the film, Tre shows that he is masculine and he is a real man by his ability to control his emotion, attain a high education, respect his father, showed his maturity in thinking, and act in a proper way. He can be seen as higher and more masculine than the other men in the movie. Furthermore, Tre’s father also showed positive masculinity, through his success in raising Tre to be an accomplished individual, his ability to educate people and think maturely, and operating a business. Furthermore, positive masculinity is also showed from the character Ricky. Ricky was able to think about his future and know what he want to do with it. He did not give up to reach his dream of playing football and he is able to be persistent in achieving it.

The negative and dangerous masculinity depicted through the character Doughboy and his enemies is related to physical strength, violence, power, winning, engage in fights, etc. Doughboy and his enemies keep on fighting and shooting against each other to show their masculinity and power. The dangerous masculinity is the ability to win a fight and to eliminate the enemies.

All of the characters in the movie are African American which is very effective in depicting African American masculinities. Instead of the typical white vs. black movie, this movie present 2 different sides of African Americans, where each side portrayed different types of masculinity. I think this movie build the perception and generalization that African Americans are dangerous and violent, while in fact not all of them possess negative masculinity.

Women in the film are portrayed as passive agents and sexual objects. All of the main and important character in the story are male. Women in the picture are shown when they are carrying a baby, Ricky’s girlfriend, and walking in tight clothes. Women as sexual objects are also shown when a couple of girls were walking pass Doughboy and his friends and the men were shouting out sexual language and intentions to them. An example of the “outsiders-within” is Tre’s mother. Tre’s mother is different compared to all the other women in the community. She has her own job and she did not raise Tre until he become an adult. It can also be seen from the movie that she is wealthy compared to the other women.

From the article “I couldn’t ever picture myself having sex” by Karin A. Martin, it is stated that “Boys seem to be looking for a blend of friendship and sex in relationships” and “They are not looking for romance or ideal love.” Tre did not maintain a close relationship with his girlfriend, not returning her calls, and when they are together, they are always talking about Tre’s problem. This show that, as the article explained, boys “rarely express the feelings of romantic love”. They are only looking for a “good friend, someone to talk to a lot”. Boys also frequently complain about “commitment and the amount of time one has to spend with his girlfriend.” This is shown when Tre ignored his girlfriend when she complaint about him not calling and communicating with her for a long time. Furthermore, the article also say that boys have “positive expectations about sex ... pleasurable, they looked forward to it and curious about it.” This is subverted when Tre told Ricky that he is “scared” of having sex with his girlfriend.