Thanks for posting this, Shiquise. I think I am a sucker for these sensitive boys as I find this and the Backstreet Boys' "I Want it that way" to be way endearing. There does seem to be a more overt heterosexualization here than in the BB video, at least in terms of the woman who is the focus of the song. But I still think that the different social and cultural expectations we hold about differently raced masculinities shape how we read each of these. Perhaps a society dominated by white privilege sees black men as more emotional, more in touch with feelings than white men, and because there is an assumption that this is "natural" it does not detract from their heterosexuality in the same way?
Thanks for posting this, Shiquise. I think I am a sucker for these sensitive boys as I find this and the Backstreet Boys' "I Want it that way" to be way endearing. There does seem to be a more overt heterosexualization here than in the BB video, at least in terms of the woman who is the focus of the song. But I still think that the different social and cultural expectations we hold about differently raced masculinities shape how we read each of these. Perhaps a society dominated by white privilege sees black men as more emotional, more in touch with feelings than white men, and because there is an assumption that this is "natural" it does not detract from their heterosexuality in the same way?
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