Gender and Masculinity in Boyz N' the Hood (by Schyler)

Although I commonly associate the issue of gender in terms of the experiences of women and their expression of femininity, gender plays a pivotal role in the lives of men as well. In examining gender and masculinity in Boyz N’ the Hood, I have found that historical events such as the Civil Rights Movement fostered a heightened sense of oppression among the black community. In turn, future generations of black men and women exhibited a struggle for freedom that permeated well into 1990s gang life. During such a time and within such a place as South Central Los Angeles, individuals were often faced with economic challenges and continued racial oppression. In Doing Time, Doing Masculinity, Sports and Prison, Don Sabo notes the performance of masculinity within a predominantly male environment. As there are limited women, men convey a physical and emotional aura due to a dangerous setting. Likewise, men are confronted with the dangerous influences of violence, sex, and drugs that seem to separate their personalities and characteristics from the women in the film.

However, such negativity is influenced and counteracted by positive feelings of hope and ambition to excel within their community. For example, one of the main characters, Ricky, strives to attain an athletic scholarship at USC as Dough maintains a sense of courage amidst violence, crime, and drugs. Although the women take on comparably minor roles, they act as active agents, even “outsiders-within,” because of their effect on the men. For instance, after Tre is faced with police brutality, Brandi, his girlfriend of immense maturity, consoles him and enables him to shed away his tough and hardened masculine exterior in a positive light.

In his article, Barbie Girls Versus Sea Monsters: Children Constructing Gender, Professor Messner discusses the ways in which boys and girls perform their gender in sync with their peers. The gendered social structure of the AYSO teams is impacted as a result of cultural symbols, such as the distinct colors and team names (that sets the boys and girls’ teams apart). Similarly, the gang life that is depicted in Boyz N’ the Hood, arguably a social structure, is created and reinforced by the cultural symbols such as the violence, drugs, and crime popular among the male subjects. But, like the Barbies and the Sea Monsters, the men and women are able to come closer to a gendered symbiosis.