How Frank Ocean Defies the “Hegemonic Masculinity and Black Gender Ideology”

If Frank Ocean still doesn’t seem like someone who should be regarded in the queer community, then let’s go further in. Now, the queer community has always been an accepting community, this community refuses to conform to heteronormativity and embrace femininity as powerful and have femininity and masculinity coexist. However, in being part of the queer community there are many crosses of intersectionality that occur; how race and culture can impact someone, or how assigned gender can create misconceptions throughout.

In Patricia Hill Collins's essay “Hegemonic Masculinity and Black Gender Ideology”, she goes into understanding the way masculinity works and how race adds to that. Collins understands that masculinity and femininity are at odds and how femininity is perceived and inferior or weak, thus, the association of women and being weak has come about. In creating complexities in the meaning of that, Collins goes further and adds race into the picture and how for many men, their masculinity is based on how much they can take what they’re willing to do as a “man”. She defines a masculine man’s work to essentially being a provider with no emotions and if a man shows an association with femininity, that man is relegated to being weak and less of a man:

“Within this logic, men who seem to closely aligned with women, who lack authority with the women in their racial group and/or social class, or worst yet, who seem to be dominated by women suffer a loss of manhood. In other words, male dominance occurs within racial/ethnic categories and is one marker of male power.” (Collins 227)

It’s no secret that the queer community champions against this mindset and works to get rid of this toxic idea. Throughout, Ocean’s career he’s indirectly promoted films that champion the queer community, has used his own work to explore the ins and outs of his sexuality, and has been fluid about his looks. Ocean in Collins’ eyes would be the perfect example of her understanding of culturally weak men as he has been outspoken about his sexuality not just in his writing overall but in his actions.

Hill Collins, Patricia. Hegemonic Masculinity and Black Gender Ideology.