The desire to provide is not an innate male instinct

Evidence

The argument that black men have been emasculated because they were not always able to assume the patriarchal role of provider is based on the assumption that black men feel that they should provide for their families and therefore feel unmanned or guilty if they cannot do so. Yet such an assumption does not appear to be based on actual fact. In many homes, black men who are employed are not eager to give money to wives and children and are even resentful that they are expected to share hard-earned low wages with others. Concurrently, despite the fact that the American capitalist economic structure forces many black men to be unemployed, there are some black men who would rather not work “shit” jobs with endless hassles and little monetary reward if they can survive without them; these men do not have doubts about their masculinity. To many of them a low paying menial job is more an attack on their masculinity than no job at all. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 225

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the matriarchy myth debunking that opens this chapter; also echoes the earlier volume’s argument that Black female independence was spun as pathology. — connects to: Camptown sexual exploitation results from deliberate human decisions, not natural male behavior.; Roman concepts of manhood depend on sexual role rather than partner gender — Stephen Kershaw, A Brief History of the Roman Empire, 685; Gender is a social power structure rather than a genetic trait. (+6 more)

Related

• Camptown sexual exploitation results from deliberate human decisions, not natural male behavior. (similarity 0.83)
• Pimp-prostitute relations mirror patriarchal expectations of wives and daughters. (similarity 0.80)
• Most men in patriarchal society resent women who abandon passive roles (similarity 0.80)
• Black men’s alienation stemmed from Black women having any power at all (similarity 0.79)
• White men created the race-sex hierarchy that black men accept and support. (similarity 0.79)
• Male bonding is how patriarchy confers and preserves male power. (similarity 0.79)
• Male freedom is incompatible with advocating the subjugation of women (similarity 0.79)
• Slavery stripped black men of patriarchy but not of masculinity. (similarity 0.79)
• The matriarchy myth built white-male and Black-male solidarity on shared sexism (similarity 0.78)
• Black men asserted patriarchy to compensate for losing status to white men (similarity 0.78)
• The matriarchy myth discredited black women and black men simultaneously (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Gender is a social power structure rather than a genetic trait. #corroborates (0.55)
• Roman concepts of manhood depend on sexual role rather than partner gender #corroborates (0.45) — Stephen Kershaw, A Brief History of the Roman Empire, 685
• Male bonding is how patriarchy confers and preserves male power. #corroborates (0.35) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 282