Boys in the Hood

In the film Boys in the Hood, there are different kinds of masculinity portrayed by the male characters, Tre, Furious Styles, Ricky, and Doughboy. Tre's father teaches Trey how to be a man and makes sure that Trey is responsible and aspiring. In his childhood, Trey encounters disciplinary problems without the guidance of his father, but once he starts living with a father, he is an intelligent high school student. One important positive characteristic of the male characters is having a specific goal in life. The movie epitomizes the importance that the male characters have an ambition: Trey is an aspiring senior ready for college while Ricky is an extremely talented football player. This also ties into their responsibility as men. Ricky and his girlfriend have a teen pregnancy, and he stays together with her and takes care of her and the baby, which shows his responsibility to his own mistakes. Comparably, Doughboy is the exact opposite of Tre and Ricky. He shows the dangerous sides of masculinity, such as temper and violence. Because he never had the parental guidance, he grows up as a drug dealer and is often trapped in violent situations. When Ricky is killed, his hot temper and violent nature only lead to taking a revenge.
Race plays a significant role in the film because it sets the background of African American life in South Central L.A., which is characterized with dangerous activities--fighting, drugs, sex. Also, throughout the movie, racism towards black men is highlighted. Because of the stereotypes against black men, being uneducated and violent, they suffer through much judgment from others.
Female characters in the film are very passive; however, there is an exception. The film portrays the female characters' weakness and dependence on men. Tre's mother could not control Tre so she decides that he needs guidance from his dad, while Ricky's mother lets her sons do whatever they want because they are uncontrollable with her power. However, Tre's girlfriend is an exception to the norm and is the "outsider-within" because she somewhat "holds the power" in their relationship as she firmly stands up for her Catholic beliefs by refusing sex with Tre. Also, racism ties in with the discrimination on women in the film. Like the article "Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism" states, "race stresses the social construction of differently situated social groups and their varying degrees of advantage and power." In the film, the African American women live a low-class life, having no control over the society or even their own family.

Boys in the Hood

The movie Boys in the Hood is loaded with gender issues in relation to masculinities. It displays both positive and dangerous aspects of masculinity. The positive affects include athleticism and self-sufficiency. Athleticism is portrayed through the character of Ricky who although lives the gang life, through football is determined to make something of himself and to succeed outside of the community. For him, football is the way out. Every since a young boy it was his dream and he represents that despite his destitution, he is able to follow what he loves, and work to receive a GPA he is required. The irony comes when his life is ended on the day he attains his goal.
The negative or dangerous masculinities portrayed are violence and fighting. All carrying around guns and weapons, the need to retaliate and appear strong and manly is valued by most of the men in the movie. In the gang culture of South Central LA, a man must be involved in violence, drugs, and sex.
Characters who might be examples of outsiders would be Tre Styles, Tre’s girlfriend Brandi and his father Furious Styles. They would be considered outsiders because Tre for example has lived outside of the area before and has been brought up with his mother, therefore he is not like the other boys in the neighborhood. He also values education and morals that his parents have instilled in him. His rational thinking is what leads him to get out of the car on the way to the killing of Ricky’s murderers. Brandi does not fit the stereotypical role of the teenage girl in the movie because she too values education and wants to pursue college. She also is a strong Christian and therefore sticks to her beliefs in not sleeping with Tre, even when he begs her. Lastly, Furious Styles is the epitome of an “outsider-within” as he, unlike the other fathers, implants in Tre his morals and beliefs. He values safe-sex, pursuing a career, being a dedicated father and avoiding the crime of the area.
This is exemplified when Tre is first dropped off at his fathers and immediately he has his son clean up the leaves in front of the house and to learn to respect and value your possessions as well as how to be responsible. Furious teaches Tre how to run a business and earn a living while also explaining how the Black community must help each other rather than fight against and kill each other. Rather, they must unite and protect each other.
Race plays a large role in this movie as it depicts that because the area of South Central LA is predominantly African American, then it associates all the violence with people of that race. For men, it depicts broken families with the men living in low income areas, alcoholism, drugs, violence, death and a lack of education.
The few women characters portrayed in the film are more passive that ‘active agents’. They are seen more as agents sexually but they do not hold any power positions in the community. An example of this is at the bar-b-que and the guys push in line in front of all the girls and Tre says hold on guys, “Hoes gotta eat too” and one of the replies “I ain’t no hoe” and then Trey says again “Okay, bitch.” This immediately reminded me of the reading “Strong and Large Black Women?” where the stereotype of Black women are big and sassy is discussed. Although none of the girls were “big” there views around food and social values are very representative of what Beauboeuf-Lafontant’s argument about the baggage and adversity Black women carry around on their backs. The girls response to Tre was indicative of her attitude and the different levels of social respect for females.

Boys in the Hood Post

I feel as though there are two masculinities displayed in the movie that directly contrast each other, especially in that they are both in the same neighborhood. The positive type of masculinity was best represented by Tre's dad, Furious Styles, who was the exact opposite of the boys living in his neighborhood. Mr. Styles had a successful career, was financially stable, loved his son very much, promoted abstinence and tried his best to instill the best morals he could in his son. Tre's dad was the epitome of a positive male in that he was able to grow out of the idea of the typical "bad boy" and move on to realize that there are bigger and better things in life other than causing fights and experiencing the death of your friends every day. Furious tries to instill this same mentality in his son even though he knows his son is involved with people like Doughboy. Another person I saw who promoted positive masculinity would be Ricky, even though he is not as positive as Furious. Ricky and his girlfriend had a teen pregnancy and even though it could have been very easy for him to get out of it, he decided to stay with his girlfriend and help her take care of the baby. He is trying to be responsible and get away from the trouble that surrounds him in his neighborhood. He even takes a standardized test so that he can go to college and gain an education to support his family. This shows how he wants to move on from the fighting and experience better things. Unfortunately, though, his death is a result of the trouble he got into but we can see he was trying to become better because moments before his death, he was telling his friend that he wanted to join the army. Contrasting to Ricky and Mr. Styles, we see Doughboy, Ricky's brother, who is the epitome of trouble in the neighborhood. He is always ready to get into a fight and has quite a temper. Doughboy is usually the one who has to watch his brother's back and in the end, after his brother is shot in a drive-by, it is Doughboy who goes and shoots the men who killed his brother. This situation obviously caught up with him when he also died weeks after his brother. Doughboy never showed a want to get out of this life and move on and in this, he can be considered to give off a more dangerous vibe than the other boys in the movie.

Race plays a big role in this movie, even though most of the movie is about African American people, because the boys like Tre and Doughboy feel the need to show off and flaunt their masculinities more because they are African American. Since they know people see them as inferior to white people, they feel the only way in which they can make a statement and fend for their race if by causing fights and showing off their manly abilities.

Women, I feel, played a more passive role in this movie but still made an effect to the overall plot. Brandi, Tre's girlfriend, and Mrs. Style's were both displayed as women who depended on their men yet still had strong values. For example, Brandi chose to remain abstinent because of her religion and Tre had no choice but to accept that. She also wanted to go to college so that she could get a good education and get away from the dangers of her neighborhood. Even though she is relatively dependent on Tre, this want to go to college shows that she too is also independent. This is similar to the African-American girl in Lopez's Homegrown article who talks about how her parents told her "You have to work twice as hard because you are Black and you have it even worse because you are a woman." In this, the girl wanted to be more independent so she didn't have to depend on anyone and could rather support herself one day. Brandi shows this same encouragement by realizing that college would be a challenge but she knew she had to go, especially being an African-American woman.

boys n the hood

In the film, Boys in the Hood, we see many male characters, raised mainly in the same area, who portray masculinity. However, some of these traits are shown in a positive light, and some are shown in a negative light. For instance, we do not doubt that Furious Styles, father of Tre, is a figure of masculinity. We see him as a single man, raising his son and teaching him morals. Though he is unlike the prisoners described in Sabo’s article, Furious Styles portrays his masculinity in a way that which “scripts masculinity by supplying direction, role models, props, motivations, rewards, and values” (110). Tre knows this and also knows that he must study hard and treat women “right”. We also see Ricky, a boy who, unlike his brother, was never willing to pick a fight. Even in his teenage years, we see him fathering a young child yet also striving to get a scholarship to play football at the collegiate level in order to obtain some financial security. On the other hand, some of the male characters in this movie personify the flip side of masculinity. For instance, Ricky’s brother, Doughboy and his friends portray the tough guys, the “good-guys” fighting against evil. They use violence to defend the innocent. From their childhood days, Doughboy is constantly sticking up for his brother during potentially violent incidents such as the time the older boys took their football. From that point on, we see Doughboy as the physical one, the one who will eventually avenge his brother’s death, thus leading to his own. I believe Doughboy represents the prisoner’s Sabo interacted with very well. He is

This movie also shows the African American community living in poverty, and speaking in a way, which makes us assume a lack of education (with the exception of the Styles family). They often use violence, from mothers slapping their children to gang violence. I think society has seen some of these elements as increasing the masculinity of the male figure. Doughboy shoots his brother’s murderers. Although this can be seen as a immature act, this notion is ignored by the fact that it can also be seen as heroic, a trait which is the epitome of masculinity.

The women in this film are mostly passive agents. Their whole existence basically had to do with the sexual desires of the male characters. The role of Brandi, Tre’s girlfriend, is used to gauge Tre’s ability to withhold having sex with women. Brandi refuses to have sex with Tre due to her religion, and Tre has to deal with this. She is an “outsider within”. Brandi takes no part in the constant battles in their neighborhood, yet she is in the center of it. 

Boyz N The Hood Blog

In the movie, Boyz N The Hood, the majority of the females in the movie—with the exception of Tre’s mom and Tre’s girlfriend—were not active agents because many of them were very dependant on males and let the males degrade them. Tre’s mom and Tre’s girlfriend are good examples of “outsiders-within” because they aren’t the stereotypical African American women; they both get a good education and try hard to make a life for themselves.

For the males in the movie, masculinity is very important, but depicted in two very different ways. Tre Styles’ father, Furious Styles, represents a more positive image of masculinity because he is a strong, single man who cares for his son, served in the army, respects women, promotes safe sex, has a career and is financially stable. Also, Tre and Ricky, were both masculine in a positive way because for the most part, they avoided trouble and were trying to be something greater: Tre was trying to advance his education and Ricky was trying to support his family through football and possibly the Army. Contrary to Furious, Tre, and Ricky were the more “dangerous” male characters: Doughboy, Chris, and all the gang members—all of who called girls derogatory names, had “no lives,” and were involved with drugs and other illegal acts. Although these two portrayals of masculinity are very different, since the movie was centered only on African Americans, it really showed the biases and racisms aimed at all African Americans—which I believe greatly affected the young male African Americans the most because they felt the need to masculine the most.

Furthermore, even though there are two very different portrayals of masculinity in the movie, I noticed that all the young male characters were very interested in sex; Ricky and his girlfriend had a teen pregnancy and even Tre pressured his abstinent girlfriend into having sex with him. This reminded me of one of the articles in the Prisms Book called, “I couldn’t ever picture myself having sex: Gender Differences in Sex and Sexual Subjectivity” by Karin A. Martin. This article talks about how females look for ideal love while many times, males just want sex. Martin states, “Boys seem to be looking for a blend of friendship and sex in relationships with their girlfriends. They are not looking for romance or ideal love…males often insist on, provoke, or encourage girls to have sex” (165,167). The males in the movie were often provoking and pressuring females into have sex. However, I think this is an issue that pertains to all races and not just the African American race.

Boyz in the Hood Blog

In the film Boyz in the Hood, the idea of masculinity is a central topic, and strongly affects the lives of the three main characters. The characteristic of masculinity that is portrayed most are the ideas of independence and responsibility, and they are portrayed in a positive way. The boys in the movie are taught to be responsibility from a very young age. When Tre first goes to live with his father, his father gives him many jobs around the house that he is expected to do. When Tre asks why, his father tells him he is teaching him how to be a man. A man’s responsibility for raising his children is also strongly emphasized. Tre’s father tells his mother that it is time he took over raising his son. He also emphasizes to Tre the importance of using birth control so that he doesn’t have a kid at a young age, because he would be responsible for taking care of it. Tre’s friend Ricky has a kid, and he has to take care of his kid and his girlfriend, all while trying to play football and get a scholarship. Sports are also emphasized as a positive masculine thing to do. Ricky’s mother seems to like Ricky more than his brother Doughboy, because Ricky plays football and might be able to use it to go somewhere with his life. Doughboy on the other hand, just sits on the porch most days and doesn’t have very much responsibility, so his mother wishes he would do more with his life. The gender norm of male toughness is one that is portrayed critically in the movie. Ricky ended up being killed because of a stupid incident where he was trying to act tough. Doughboy then tries to act tough by killing Ricky’s killers, but that just perpetuates the cycle of violence, and we learn that in the end Doughboy is killed as well. It is quite sad because of how after Doughboy does the killing, he realizes that it was wrong and he wants to change his ways.

Race is very important to this movie as well. When Tre first goes to live with his dad and someone attempts to break in, the racism of the police is quite poignant. The policemen, even though one is black, are in no hurry to get to the scene, and the black policeman says that he wished Tre’s dad had killed the man. Tre’s dad also speaks to Tre and Ricky about how blacks need to help out other blacks and stop killing each other, because that’s exactly what the white men want.

Women are portrayed for the most part in this movie as lacking control. For example, Ricky and Doughboy’s mother has no control over what her son’s do. Tre’s mother also couldn’t control Tre, so she sent him to live with his father. Tre’s girlfriend is one of the only women in the movie to have some control. She is smart and doesn’t want to have sex with Tre, something that not many other girls refuse. This makes her an outsider within. Tre is also an outsider within because he wants to get out of the gang culture and do something with his education.

Blog Assignment #3

In the movie boyz n the hood, several musculinities are considered positive. The first one is that men should have independence spirit and work for what they want to get. Just like Tre and Ricky, they fought for their independ and responsible life. Also, to be rational is another positive musculinity. Like Tre's dad, he was always able to guide the boys in the right track and tell them to distinguish the evil and the good. Moreover, boys all have good body shapes to show and it is positive to be strong physically. However, Dough's revenge action and his despise upon the female are considered "dangerous" masculine. The revenge action indirectly caused his death, which is so dangerous to think about. His disdain on female is pretty disgusting and rude, actually it is a reflection of extremely self- humiliation.
The race is playing an fundamental role in this movie. First of all, the movie is mainly about African American and the race is unique. Also, race plays an stereotype to show the negative side of African American blocks. Also, men of African American are considered to be strong in body in gender norms.
Women characters are not the dominant roles in the movie, and they go extreme. The Tre's girl friend was so hardworking and smart while others are kind of stupid and dependent. They are passive agents in the movie. In fact, they are just the affiliations of boys partly because the movie discussing about "boyz".
There are four or five characters who are "outsiders-within". Obviously, Tre, Tre's girl friend, Ricky, Tre's dad are the "outsiders-within". The one who is a little vague to fit in the expression is Ricky's mother.