Emasculation and Emancipation: African American Masculinity in African American Women's

196 Pages·2017·1.04 MB·English

by  Lana N. Lockhart

Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Knowledge Repository @ IUP
Theses and Dissertations (All)
8-4-2015
Emasculation and Emancipation: African American
Masculinity in African American Women's
Literature, 1955-1985
Lana N. Lockhart
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
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Recommended Citation
Lockhart, Lana N., "Emasculation and Emancipation: African American Masculinity in African American Women's Literature,
1955-1985" (2015).Theses and Dissertations (All). 405.
http://knowledge.library.iup.edu/etd/405
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EMASCULATION AND EMANCIPATION: AFRICAN AMERICAN MASCULINITY IN
AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN’S LITERATURE, 1955-1985

A Dissertation
Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies and Research
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy

Lana N. Lockhart
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
August 2015
© 2015 Lana N. Lockhart
All Rights Reserved

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Indiana University of Pennsylvania
School of Graduate Studies and Research
Department of English

We hereby approve the dissertation of
Lana N. Lockhart
Candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

________________________________ ____________________________________
David Downing, Ph.D.
Professor of English, Advisor

_______________________________ ____________________________________
Mike Sell, Ph.D.
Professor of English

______________________________ ____________________________________
Todd Thompson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English

ACCEPTED

_____________________________ ____________________________________
Randy L. Martin, Ph.D.
Dean
School of Graduate Studies and Research

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Title: Emasculation and Emancipation: African American Masculinity in African American
Women’s Literature, 1955-1985

Author: Lana N. Lockhart

Dissertation Chair: Dr. David Downing

Dissertation Committee Members: Dr. Mike Sell
Dr. Todd Thompson

The 1950s to the 1980s were a critical period for the twentieth century African American
experience in both social and literary terms. This dissertation examines the impact of Black
Nationalism and the Black Arts Movement on the development of African American masculinity
as well as the African American woman’s depiction of that masculinity in the middle to late
twentieth century. Using African American masculinity and African American feminist studies
as my framework, I examine the emasculated male characters in three literary works by Black
women: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry; Third Life of Grange Copeland by Alice
Walker; and Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor. Considerable scholarship has been dedicated to the
issues of womanhood addressed by these authors; however, there remains much to be said about
the plight of African American men. Although the works of these women writers were not
directly involved in the Black Nationalist and Black Arts Movements of the 1950s to the 1980s,
the historical influences on their depictions of masculinity are definitely significant in the male
characters that these authors portray. Some critics argue that these particular texts illustrate the
archetypal male character because the content champions the causes of African American
women and because these authors need to have a voice for the issues of their own doubly
burdened race and sex. However, I suggest that these women were also presenting concepts for
redefining masculinity. Hence, in this dissertation I scrutinize the three characteristics of this
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recurring male character who is trapped by his economic circumstances, subjugated to the
pressures and standards of white society, and disdainful and misogynistic toward women,
especially African American women. I demonstrate how these writers imagine the possibilities
for emancipation of the male characters, from their emasculated state.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My matriculation in this program began in the summer of 2008 and it has been quite a
journey with many ups and downs, twists and turns, and peaks and valleys. However, to those
who have supported me in this process, it is with great thanks that I acknowledge you. First of
all, I give thanks to the multiple IUP faculty members who served on my dissertation committee.
I especially would like to thank Drs. David Downing, Mike Sell, Todd Thompson, and Veronica
Watson. I sincerely appreciate your valuable input on this project. Next, I thank my immediate
and extended family, friends, church members, co-workers, and classmates, who have supported
me throughout the years with plenty of love, prayers, encouragement, and advice while I’ve been
in this program. Special thanks go to my mother, Linda Lockhart. You have been my biggest fan
and cheerleader since day one. I also thank the faculty and staff of Clayton County Public
Schools and Georgia Perimeter College, for the opportunities that you have given me to impact
students’ lives. And finally, but most importantly, to my God, who is able to do exceedingly and
abundantly above all that I could ever ask or think -- I thank you.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page

One INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................1

Two “BLACK IS. BLACK AIN’T”: PLAYS, NATIONALISM, AND
MANHOOD IN A RAISIN IN THE SUN ....................................................34

Three “PAYING THE RENT” OF MANHOOD: GRANGE’S GRAPPLE
AND BROWNFIELD’S BATTLE ................................................................74

Four THE MEN OF LINDEN HILLS: MANHOOD, MATERIALISM AND
THE MOVEMENT ........................................................................................117

Five CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................159

WORKS CONSULTED ........................................................................................................171

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1

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Why should one explore the concept of emasculation and domination among the precepts
of Black masculinity? Why should one take a perceptive look at the gender issues that govern
Black1 males’ lives? Why is it that, historically, the same issues concerning Black males have
emerged repeatedly, with very little change, over a period of several decades in the works of
African American women authors? It is because for years, Black women authors and artists have
utilized history and the reality of their current plight as an inspiration for their literature. When
history and literature merge, literature is no longer just the contents of a story, but it is a
reflection of the ideology and practices of the society in which it is set. Additionally, when
history and literature merge, literature is no longer a mere form of protest, but it echoes and
critiques society’s beliefs and values. It also purports the necessary principles of a new society
that desires to be free from sexism or racism. Therefore, it is not surprising that literature often
reflects the gender roles that have governed the lives of men and women over the years, and it
reflects what society deems as acceptable behavior for someone of either sex. It also offers a
critique of the dominant culture and its traditional gender ideologies. However, what happens
when those non-fiction gender roles become a literary reflection of the plight of a particular
community and their universal struggle?
Throughout the middle to late twentieth century, the intersection of history and literature
created a framework for developing scholarship on a variety of factors affecting the African
American community. One of those factors that I explore is the perception of African American
masculinity as seen through the African American feminists’ lens. As bell hooks says in, We
Real Cool, “As a black woman who cares about the plight of black men, I feel I can no longer
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wait for brothers to take the lead and spread the word… Black women cannot speak for black
men. We can speak with them. And by doing so embody the practice of solidarity wherein
dialogue is the foundation of true love” (xvii). This dissertation is a manifestation of what I
believe the Black women authors that I have selected are trying to say about the plight of Black
men. I do not believe that that they are attempting to speak for Black men nor do I believe that
they are attacking Black men, but I do I think that these authors are using their fictional male
characters to create a powerful new discourse about masculinity.
In Helene Cixous’s Laugh of the Medusa, the author admonishes women to write and
explains that, “It is time for women to start scoring their feats in written and oral language… It is
by writing, from and toward women and by taking up the challenge of speech, which has been
governed by the phallus, that … women should break of the snare of silence” (338). Essentially
this theory advocates oral and written acknowledgement of the plight of women and encourages
women authors to force changes or bring to light the social conditions of their sex. However,
one cannot address the plight of Black women without addressing the dynamics of a traditionally
oppressive patriarchal system. So, like many historical symbols, this dissertation explores how
selected Black women authors have taken the pen and turned it into a prop of change. Even in
twentieth century African American women’s literature, the pen was the weapon of choice for
sparring with manifold systems of subjugation, the portrayal of struggle, and the path of self-
discovery. Since literature is often a reflection as well as a critique of the dominant culture, I
explore how the same ideas and ways of thinking that were presented historically about African
American masculinity often appear in African American women’s fiction, especially from the
1950s to the 1980s, which was a critical period to the twentieth century African American
experience in both social and literary developments.