This is the final paper I turned in for my communication and culture class this semester, analyzing a media artifact and connecting it to the readings and material covered in class.
Hegemonic Masculinity in Moonlight
Masculinity is a complex ideology, plagued by traditional gender roles and media representations. Historically, being a man is associated with strength, aggressiveness, and authority. Men were heads of the household and the ones who worked to provide for the traditional American family, giving them a position of dominance. They also were taught to repress emotions, especially sadness, which is consequential today in the inability of many men and young boys to be vulnerable. Today, many media representations continue to perpetuate traditional ideas of masculinity through their consumption. However, there are also counter-hegemonic works that function to challenge these ideas. One such film is Moonlight (2016), directed by Barry Jenkins, which garnered massive global attention through its depiction of a young Black boy growing up in the Liberty City area of Miami, grappling with his identity not just in relation to masculinity, but also the intersection of sexuality and race.
The film is split into 3 parts: Little, Chiron, and Black. These titles correspond to the names Chiron, the main character, is called during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Chiron is a poor Black boy, raised solely by his mother who is an addict. It is a coming of age narrative where he fights his true identity as a queer person. Growing up without a father, Chiron clings to the support of the drug lord, Juan, who is the closest thing he has to a father figure, but unfortunately dies before the adolescent portion of the movie. Powell explores the challenges of growing up without a father figure, similar to Chiron, and the influence of father roles in “Re-Defining Masculinity.” He notes of his own experience, “Here I was a boy child being raised by a single mother, with no male figure to be found anywhere—not a stepfather, not a role model, not a mentor in sight. But what I did have—what we all have, whether we have fathers or not—is the intensively male-dominated tone of our common culture: television, film, books, magazines, comic books, religious institutions, music, sports, the mass media.” Chiron’s childhood takes place in the 1980s with a very different media culture than what exists today. However, he is still socialized to understand male dominance and feel that he does not fit into the expectations that society wants from him, creating self-doubt and isolation.
The ideology of masculinity exists as an unmarked category. This means that male is the norm in society, as seen through common phrases such as “mankind” that signify all of humanity. Men are human, but women or anything other than men exist as gendered. Toxic masculinity, or hegemonic masculinity, is the defensive and fragile state of masculinity that is common in media. This masculinity is harmful not only to the men who are taught to fill this role, but also to others who are treated poorly by its implications. Judith Butler discusses the deadly consequences of toxic masculinity in “Why Do Men Kill Trans Women? Gender Theorist Judith Butler Explains.” Butler explains how trans women face violence from men due to toxic accounts of domination, for killing is a powerful act that upholds the perceived dominance of masculinity. Butler says, “Trans women have relinquished masculinity, showing that it can be, and that is, very threatening to a man who wants to see his power as an intrinsic feature of who he is” (Tourjée). There are connections between the reasons for violence against trans women and against gay men. According to the straight male, gay men have relinquished their masculinity, akin to trans women. Straight men may also feel “attacked” by flirtation of the gay man. Chiron, the queer main character, is a victim of toxic masculinity through verbal and physical bullying in Moonlight when he can’t live up to societal norms. The bullying since young childhood peaks in high school when he is brutally beaten up by the one person he thought to be his friend.
Masculinity is key to unpack in Moonlight, but it is also important to consider how race functions within the narrative. Whiteness, like masculinity, is an unmarked category according to Dyer in The Matter of Whiteness. This means that whiteness signifies universality, and is not discussed when considering race. As the dominant unmarked category, white people have the position of power of just being human. Why must one talk about whiteness in a movie about African Americans? The imagery of race is “never not a factor, never not in play” (Dyer, 1). When Juan and Chiron are on the beach during his childhood years, Juan says, “There are Black people everywhere… No place you can go in the world ain't got no Black people. We was the first on this planet.” If Black people are everywhere and the origin of everyone, then why does whiteness dominate as the unmarked race and category? If the same story were told of white boys, it would just be about people, not also about race. Dyer discusses how the concept of race is simply a social construct: “Race itself - insofar as it is anything in itself - refers to some intrinsically insignificant geographical / physical differences between people, it is the imagery of race that is in play” (Dyer, 1). This connects to Tallbear’s reading, “The Genographic Project” in which she explores how racism is scientifically incorrect because humans are 99.9% genetically similar. Although it is scientifically incorrect, racism still thrives due to institutions and social implications. Therefore, one cannot ignore the factor of race in oppression just because that oppression should not exist. In Moonlight, while focusing on masculinity and sexuality, the intersection of race is crucial to the coming of age experience as a gay male. The whole premise is that in the moonlight, Black boys look blue. In the end, they are all the same under moonlight - not gay or straight or hard or soft, but all blue.
Everyone calls Chiron “Little” when he is a kid. This name implies that he is not big or strong enough to be a man. One day at the park, Chiron walks away from the other boys playing, clearly not in the mood or interested by their athletic game. One of the kids, Kevin, follows him and asks, “Why you always let people pick on you man?” Kevin continues that Chiron has to prove he isn’t soft. Softness is associated with femininity, and therefore, a negative quality for a “real man”. They proceed to fight in the grass because apparently the only way to prove worthiness and strength as a man is through fighting. After, Kevin says, “See Little, I knew you wasn’t soft.” Hegemonic masculinity teaches Chiron to be aggressive. Femininities like softness are devalued further when Terell says that Chiron forgot to change his tampon in high school. This insult is harmful to women and to Chiron, as it stigmatizes female norms and inaccurately associates gay men to the trope of periods and being uptight. As a queer person of color, Chiron exists at the margins of race and sexuality. Dyer says, “All concepts of race are always concepts of the body and also of heterosexuality… Heterosexuality is the means of ensuring, but also the site of endangering, the reproduction of these differences” (Dyer, 20). Chiron is defined by his race when Kevin gives him the nickname “Black.” His sexuality, however, is what differentiates him from the other Black boys at school. This is the site of endangering for Chiron because it brings him verbal and physical violence.
Chiron is the main character grappling with masculinity, but Kevin also goes through identity challenges. Masculinity is “hard to earn and easy to lose” says Dr. Jennifer Bosson and Kevin, like many, tries desperately to earn it. Throughout the movie, he brags about his female conquests, similar to the standard of manhood described by Powell. However, at the beach during their teenage years, Kevin and Chiron have an authentic and emotional conversation, rare in the film and of hegemonic masculinity overall. Chiron asks him if he ever cries. Kevin denies and says, “Nah”. Whether accurate or just trying to uphold the ideology of manhood, Kevin continues to present the socialized version of masculinity that Chiron sees from everyone else in his life. Chiron responds, “I cry so much sometimes I feel like I’mma just turn to drops.” This raw moment of embracing his “softness” and admitting his truth breaks the barriers set by gender norms. This also is the moment that leads to Chiron and Kevin kissing, the first time either person allowed themselves to explore this part of their identity. While seeming to be a breakthrough moment, the strength of hegemonic masculinity prevails. At school shortly after, Terrel tells Kevin to beat up Chiron. Even after sharing an intimate moment, Kevin is afraid and wants to earn masculinity, so he beats up Chiron while everyone watches. If one stands up to hegemonic masculinity, “We’d be instantly expelled from this boys’ club we so desperately wanted to be a part of” (Powell). Thus, Kevin gives in to the pressures of toxic masculinity. Masculinity supposedly aims to prove strength, but in this case, the real strength would have been in walking away and staying true to himself. Violence, “This beast-mode model of male experience has erupted time and again, like a deadly disease, in all those spaces and places so organically, so rapidly, that it’s a virtual rite of passage” (Powell). Masculinity is hegemonic because there is no resistance to its toxic implications. Men continue to consent to its definitions because it is easier to follow than it is to resist, or they don’t recognize its problems in the first place. Kevin understands in this instance that what he does is wrong, but consents to the power of masculinity by following through. In order to shift from violence as a norm and respect towards others, men need to be taught that strength is not just physical and does not need to be exerted against those they deem “inferior”, whether subconsciously or not. “Not only are we grossly mis-educated on what it is to be a man, but we are also severely mis-educated on who women are” (Powell). This miseducation applies not just to gender and the destructive male-female binary, but also to education about homosexuality. Exploring systems of oppression and educating men and all people about how they enact this oppression will begin to reverse historical trends of toxic masculinity.
While resisting the norms of masculinity in his childhood, there is a turning point where Chiron gives in to the definitions pushed by society. Juan says to Chiron as a child, “At some point you gotta decide for yourself who you gonna be,” teaching him that it is okay to be different and decide your own identity. However, the pressure of society and socialization is too strong, and Chiron eventually lets them decide for him. After Chiron is beat up by Kevin, the counselor calls him a boy. Chiron resists this diminution, and the counselor proceeds: “If you were a man, there would be four knuckleheads sitting right next to you.” This implies that a real man would have stood up for himself and fought back with violence. At this point in the movie, Chiron decides to shift to the expectations of society and fight back. The next day in class, he smashes a chair on Terrel’s head. Then, part three of the movie begins, where adult Chiron is revealed to be a drug lord in Atlanta. He is buff and aggressive, a stark contrast to the skinny and timid Chiron of younger years. Kevin asks him, “So you hard now?”, which was the very thing Kevin pushed him to be in the first place. Due to his experiences at the hands of toxic masculinity, Chiron suppressed the aspects of his identity that made him different, including his sexuality. When he visits his mother in rehab at the end of the film, she begs him to get off the streets and tells him that she loves him. This conversation sparks tears for Chiron, showing emotion and “softness” underneath his new tough exterior. Shortly after, Chiron reunites with Kevin and honestly tells him that he’s the only man he’s ever been with. While Chiron still has a lot of self-acceptance to learn, this ending reveals an opportunity to finally be his true self. This is evidence that true identity remains and deserves to be lived no matter how far one pushes it away or how much it is oppressed by the notions of society.
In a society where hegemonic masculinity still dominates, it is imperative to promote alternative narratives. Moonlight proves to audiences the danger of masculinity- not just the physical danger, but ideological danger too. By following Chiron as he tries to accept his sexuality and define himself as a man, one may connect to messages of hopelessness, confusion, and denial. These clearly resonated with the general audience and film critics as it won best picture at the Oscars in 2017. As Powell simply puts, “It is not easy to evolve or to change as a man in this world, because there really are not many examples of it” (Powell). While this may be the case, counter-hegemonic works like Moonlight push the audience to reflect on their own lives and consider if they can become that rare positive example of being who they are, starting a chain reaction.
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