The black community in general has a high illegitimacy rate. And if you isolated the illegitimacy rates to just the ghetto, the percentage of single mother homes would be even higher. Thus, the ghetto tends to be a very matriarchal community. There aren’t many men, and most of the men you do find tend to be young. As Tariq Nasheed says in his book The Mack Within, you hardly see older men in the hood. This is because when most guys get past a certain age in the hood, they have either worked their way out, gone to jail, entered the military or died from violence or drugs. The few old men you do still see in the hood tend to be burnouts. So not only do young ghetto guys lack fathers to instruct them in how to be men, but they also lack older male authority figures outside their family to look up to (most teachers are female too) in their neighborhood.

Like all young men of all races, they have testosterone surges making them aggressive and competitive. However they don’t have reliable older men to teach them how to channel this testosterone-fueled aggression positively, and this creates an insecurity in their male identity causing them to create their own hyperexaggerated ideal of what a man should be. Supermacho, obnoxious, fearless to the point of knuckleheaded, overaggressive…basically the parody of manhood we see in gangster rap. It’s overcompensation to the worst degree.

But even though they are doing their best to be supernigga, they still end up doing things in a feminine way because feminine influences are most of what they know. Most of their role models and involved family members are women, and the few men in their lives were likely raised by only women too. And it shows in how they handle conflict: grudges are held forever, they never know how to let anything slide, they think primarily with emotion and are prone to outbursts, drama and confrontation and most importantly, they don’t know how to choose their battles.

True male behavior isn’t being a drama queen, emotional outbursts and holding onto grudges; true male behavior is picking your battles, knowing when to fight and when to let things slide, analyzing things calmly and logically and having discipline over your moods and emotions and exercising emotional restraint. There are times when it’s acceptable to lose your shit and times when it’s not. These are things that a true mature male influence teaches you, and such influences have almost disappeared completely from the hood.

A chick in the hood can get away with all the drama queen meltdowns and public displays of emotion and confrontation because most people, guys and girls, don’t feel as threatened by a woman and are more likely to let her just yap without serious repercussions. Or at worst just argue back and never let it escalate to a physical level (although it does happen on occasion). When guys are the ones getting overly emotional and confrontational, it’s a lot scarier and it invites a much more serious retaliation, because now the behavior’s coming from a man, which means possible escalation into serious, possibly fatal, violence. That’s why a society of men learning to manage conflict and emotions from women is a disaster waiting to happen, because what’s an acceptable conflict resolution style for a woman can get a young man arrested or killed.

Sure a lot of male tendencies are going to show on the surface. These guys are young and are bursting with testosterone after all. But look at a lot of the other behaviors that are there also. Sitting on the stoop getting their hair braided by other girls. Long t-shirts that go down to the kneecaps and look like skirts. Colorful clothes. Obsession with fashion, shopping, shoes and accessorizing. Love of jewelry. Grooming obsessions that would put metrosexuals to shame. The more you think about it, the more you’ll notice and come up with your own examples.

http://therawness.com/myth-of-the-ghetto-alpha-male/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1861475&forum_id=2#19865283)

There are a few things that I want to contest here.

You mentioned a 70% illigitimacy rate among ghetto males. I think we should all think more about legitimacy with regards to child rearing and who defines it. I know ariticially inseminated people with two mothers? Are they illegitimate. Every being is legit because we exist as part of God’s will.

Secondly, how do you account for the ghetto behavior of men who were raised by their mom & dad, especially in the Latino, Asian, and White communities?

Also, as you yourself implied, the colorful and flashy fashion styles popular in the ghetto represent a worldwide trend of “metrosexuality.” It comes in cycles-Arab men are doing the 70′s-80′s polyester disco thing with the v-neck and chest hair pockin out, and traditionalists consider that unmanly. Meanwhile, ghetto niggas sport tall-T’s and du-rags that resemble middle eastern dishdashas and kaffiyehs.

Overall, I agree with the author about this feminization of American society. I think it’s taking place accross racial and socio-economic boundaries accross the country. What’s wrong with that? I personally think it’s a good thing, and I’m a straight male currently active duty US Navy. But we are not an anglo-saxon nation anymore and we don’t have to act like men used too…

I think the stereotype of ghetto male behavior is comporable to that of the Irish 100 years ago-easily angered, easily placated. It was an upperclass, white, Yaley male cheerleader-truned-cowboy that got us into the current war, not a ghetto nigga.

Now Africa is a different story. But is the African situation really comporable to that of black American males? Or do we make the connection out of false solidarity (if we’re black) or racism?

The truth is the old story of ghetto problems in America is less and less relevant. We have very few problems in the US compared to the rest of the world, and those problems cross racial boundaries.

Besides, within 50 years Europe and America will be brown, black, and mixed. Demographics are destiny.

Anyway, very interesting point though.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1861475&forum_id=2#19865305)

WTF? as long as "the rest of the world" excludes almost all the other developed countries...

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1861475&forum_id=2#19865343)

Flame jumped the shark here

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1861475&forum_id=2#40691105)