What is Physical Dominance?
"Muscular might, aggressiveness, and violence...the use of physical force, aggression, and violence as tools of subordination"
-Collins, Black Sexual Politics
-Collins, Black Sexual Politics
Physical Dominance in the Black Community
According to Collins, in her book Black Sexual Politics, physical dominance has helped to create three interconnected issues in the African American community. These three issues, which mainly effect African American men, include: violence against other men, violence against women, and violence against younger African Americans. The first is often viewed as as homophobic violence and the latter as an authoritarian father figure. She goes on to speak about how even though others are capable of physical dominance, a large and prevalent issue in today's society is that male strength comes from this form of dominance (Collins, p. 210-212).
Although the 3 different dominances discussed on this website can all be considered separate, they also very much overlap. Physical dominance and sexual dominance, for example, are very much interrelated. Collins goes on to say later in Black Sexual Politics that, "Rape is a part of a system of male dominance. Recall that hegemonic masculinity is predicted upon a pecking order among men that is dependent, in part, on the sexual and physical domination of women...Much of this violence occurs within the context of Black heterosexual love relationships, Black family life, and within African American social institutions. Such violence takes many forms, including verbally berating Black women, hitting them, ridiculing their appearance, grabbing their body parts, pressuring them to have sex, beating them, and murdering them" (Collins, p. 225-226).
"Yes - minorities tend to be portrayed as exhibiting more relationship violence", said one student who took part in our survey. This goes on to show that young people have seen enough instances of physical dominance, whether it be in the various forms of media or in their own personal lives, that it has crossed the line into becoming a stereotype in our society. In fact, 61.9% of people in our survey said they feel physical dominance is prevalent in today's media and 42.9% of people in the survey said they had experience this dominance in their own lives.
Although the 3 different dominances discussed on this website can all be considered separate, they also very much overlap. Physical dominance and sexual dominance, for example, are very much interrelated. Collins goes on to say later in Black Sexual Politics that, "Rape is a part of a system of male dominance. Recall that hegemonic masculinity is predicted upon a pecking order among men that is dependent, in part, on the sexual and physical domination of women...Much of this violence occurs within the context of Black heterosexual love relationships, Black family life, and within African American social institutions. Such violence takes many forms, including verbally berating Black women, hitting them, ridiculing their appearance, grabbing their body parts, pressuring them to have sex, beating them, and murdering them" (Collins, p. 225-226).
"Yes - minorities tend to be portrayed as exhibiting more relationship violence", said one student who took part in our survey. This goes on to show that young people have seen enough instances of physical dominance, whether it be in the various forms of media or in their own personal lives, that it has crossed the line into becoming a stereotype in our society. In fact, 61.9% of people in our survey said they feel physical dominance is prevalent in today's media and 42.9% of people in the survey said they had experience this dominance in their own lives.
Physical Dominance in Break Any Woman Down
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1. Hot Pepper- A short story in Break Any Woman Down called "Hot Pepper" contains several examples of physical dominance. In the story the narrator is a witness to her Uncle Smiley's abuse of his wife. The narrator is outside playing jump rope when Uncle Smiley gets angry at his new wife for not listening to him. He gets her inside and the narrator can hear him hitting her. Uncle Smiley then throws the girl out of the house and forces her to leave without anything but a few of her belongings. Some quotes of physical dominance from the book include:
–“Mama always saying that Uncle Smiley beat his women for breakfast, dinner, and supper.” (Johnson 75).
–“We could hear Uncle Smiley cussing and the girl crying, heard some slaps every now and then [...]
Uncle Smiley shoved her down the stairs and she went spilling out into the road.” (Johnson 80).
2. Melvin in the Sixth Grade- Is the first story in Breaking Any Woman Down. This story rich of many different themes discussed throughout this website, including physical dominance. As mentioned before, Collins says that this physical dominance involves the more obvious physical abuse such as hitting, but it can also include physical sexual assaults as well as verbal assaults that put women down. This story is somewhat different than "Hot Pepper" in that the physical dominance occurs both across races and cultures rather than just within the Black Community. This shows that although this is relevant to people in the black community, it is something the people from all races and cultures can be afflicted by.
- "I had been called so many names that even 'nigger' didn't faze me anymore. Not so much anymore. There were Mexicans and
Philippinos and Chinese kids sprinkled throughout the class, but they blended better than me. There was more than one of each of
them, and when they were called "taco" when they were from Portugal or 'chink,' even when they happened to be Philippino or
Korean, that was the best kids like Terri could do with them. With me, there seemed to be endless creativity" (Johnson 9-10).
-'"Hey, Turd Head,' Harry Collins called out to me, my name whenever I wore cornrows. 'We need one more person for butt ball.' He walked over toward me with the red rubber ball while I tried to figure out how to say no. Butt ball hurt. [...] He grabbed the front of my 94.7 KMET T-shirt [...] Harry started pulling me toward the handball court, and when I resisted, he pulled so hard I fell down. I looked over at the swings. Melvin wasn't there. My slacks had a tear where I fell on my knees. I got mad because I told him to leave me alone and he didn't. I started to cry because I was mad and couldn't kick Harry's ass, couldn't do anything" (Johnson 11-12).
–“Mama always saying that Uncle Smiley beat his women for breakfast, dinner, and supper.” (Johnson 75).
–“We could hear Uncle Smiley cussing and the girl crying, heard some slaps every now and then [...]
Uncle Smiley shoved her down the stairs and she went spilling out into the road.” (Johnson 80).
2. Melvin in the Sixth Grade- Is the first story in Breaking Any Woman Down. This story rich of many different themes discussed throughout this website, including physical dominance. As mentioned before, Collins says that this physical dominance involves the more obvious physical abuse such as hitting, but it can also include physical sexual assaults as well as verbal assaults that put women down. This story is somewhat different than "Hot Pepper" in that the physical dominance occurs both across races and cultures rather than just within the Black Community. This shows that although this is relevant to people in the black community, it is something the people from all races and cultures can be afflicted by.
- "I had been called so many names that even 'nigger' didn't faze me anymore. Not so much anymore. There were Mexicans and
Philippinos and Chinese kids sprinkled throughout the class, but they blended better than me. There was more than one of each of
them, and when they were called "taco" when they were from Portugal or 'chink,' even when they happened to be Philippino or
Korean, that was the best kids like Terri could do with them. With me, there seemed to be endless creativity" (Johnson 9-10).
-'"Hey, Turd Head,' Harry Collins called out to me, my name whenever I wore cornrows. 'We need one more person for butt ball.' He walked over toward me with the red rubber ball while I tried to figure out how to say no. Butt ball hurt. [...] He grabbed the front of my 94.7 KMET T-shirt [...] Harry started pulling me toward the handball court, and when I resisted, he pulled so hard I fell down. I looked over at the swings. Melvin wasn't there. My slacks had a tear where I fell on my knees. I got mad because I told him to leave me alone and he didn't. I started to cry because I was mad and couldn't kick Harry's ass, couldn't do anything" (Johnson 11-12).
Media
One of the most well known and talked about cases of physical abuse found in today's society can be seen through the coverage of the abuse case of Chris Brown and Rihanna. Images and videos discussing the incident appeared in many forms of media including internet, TV, magazines, and newspapers. The idea of famous and wealthy Chris Brown abusing his girlfriend of the time, Rihanna, were everywhere for the world to see. These pictures influences today's youth, some of them in a very negative way according to a report of a study that was done. An article that discussed this study stated that 46% of those asked said that Rihanna was responsible for the Chris Brown physically abusing her and that 52% felt that Chris Brown was being treated unfairly by the media for abusing her (Nasaw, "Survey: Half of Boston teens blame Rihanna for Chris Brown beating"). This survey shows that the media is capable of influencing youth to see sexual violence as okay and justified by highlighting stories of celebrities whose lives involve issues such as physical abuse.
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_ "This is beyond disturbing. Somehow our
children have learned that violence is an acceptable and appropriate response
to a domestic disagreement. This is what children learn from media messages
like this
cover of broad-circulating supermarket tabloid
Star, which purports to reveal "What made Chris snap". As if Rihanna
could have said something to which the brutal attack of which Brown is accused
was an understandable reaction. As if she stepped over the line and the vicious
blows that bloodied her nose and mouth and swelled her eyes and forehead were
justified.”
(Nasaw, "Survey: Half of Boston teens blame Rihanna for Chris Brown beating").
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Statistics of Violence Among Youth
This short video, ''Notebook: Teen Abuse" with Diane Sawyer, helps to briefly explain the prevalence of violence among youth in today's culture. After listing the statistics, Diane Sawyer goes on to say that reports indicate that there is a link to violence among teens who have had sex at a young age. This can be connected back to Collins' Black Sexual Politics in that both of these sources discuss the idea that different dominances, such as physical and sexual, are interconnected and help to influence the other in relationships, just like those found in Break Any Woman Down. Youth see sex and violence on TV which has sadly resulted in these dominances becoming a part of every day life. Just as sex and violence have become more prevalent in the media, they have also become "normal" in relationships among young people which is bound to continue into adulthood.
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Statistics from the Domestic Violence Resource Center
According to the DVRC, in 2011 25% of women in the U.S. have experience domestic violence in the U.S. "Estimates range from 960,000 incidents of violence against a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend to 3 million women who are physically abused by their husband or boyfriend per year". The website goes further to say that 34% of Americans know someone who has been a victim of domestic violence. Just these statistics alone show how prevalent this issue is in our society. It's not just in movies or in the tabloids, it is people's every day lives. Thinking about this specifically in the black community, Collins suggests that "...the source of physical dominance lies in ideas about Black masculinity that in turn is situated within a larger context of hegemonic masculinity. Rethinking Black gender ideology requires changing these gender-specific practices" (Collins, 210). You can go to the link to access more information and statistics.