Reading Reflection: Black Gender Ideology

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Reading Reflection
In her article, Patricia Collins presents a solid argument on black gender ideology. Collins begins by mentioning the accomplishments of Denzel Washington and Halle Berry in the 2002 Oscars (Collins 181). Her view and that of many is that when the two actors won the best actor and best actress, there were underlying gender, sexual, and behavioral issues. This is one of the things I take away from Collin’s article. She enlightens me on what has become a stereotype in modern cinema and society in general. When actors, especially black actors, are cast in various roles, it is always due to the stereotype associated with the given roles. I have always heard actors and the media complaining about how Hollywood still casts black actors based on stereotypes. However, I did not know that the same would be extended to the award process.
As clarified by Collins, the character for which Halle Berry won the best actress is one with sexual promiscuity (Collins 185). On the other hand, the character for which Denzel Washington won the best actor is one that has anger, corruption and violence issues (Collins 185). Therefore, even without Collins’ explanation, one can see how the two were stereotyped even when it came to the award stage.
Collins further discusses the strong woman and the weak man, as seen in the African American community (Collins 184). She ventures into this topic by explaining how men have had to escape their families, and women have been forced to be the breadwinners. I find Collins’ argument compelling in how she manages to explain how the strong woman, weak man situation in African American society came to be. It is indeed a problem that can ...