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We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.38896073
EAN: 9780415969277
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0415969271
Label: Routledge
Manufacturer: Routledge
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 184
Publication Date: November 12, 2003
Publisher: Routledge
Studio: Routledge
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Editorial Review:
Black men are cool. But most books about black men miss the mark, making the same points-difficult childhood, white racism, poverty-they describe without meaningful explanation. bell hooks' brilliant new book We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity goes where everyone else has been unwilling to go. Without casting blame, hooks tells hard truths: black men are feared, admired, made the objects of sexual fantasy, envied, but rarely loved. Black men are hated, and hooks tells us why. In these critical essays, hooks examines what black males fear most (maternal sadism, loss, emasculation) and probes the depths of their longing for intimacy, for fathers, for meaningful relationships. Highlighting the value of a feminist approach to understanding black masculinity, hooks looks at the way patriarchal thought and action undermine black male self-esteem. With compassion and generosity, bell hooks contends that black men become loving individuals only as they accept full accountability for shaping their destiny. Taking as her starting point powerful writing on black masculinity from the sixties and seventies, bell hooks looks seriously at the problems black males face - both the ones not of their own making and the ones they create for themselves. In ten clear and provocative chapters, hooks offers a thorough examination of issues ranging from the trauma of childhood abandonment, parenting and black male violence, to work, education, sexuality, self-esteem, and spiritual recovery. We Real Cool offers a redemptive vision of black men and masculinity, one that is complex and multi-layered. This is the book that everyone seeking to understand black male identity must read.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Biased But Good
While I thought many of the points in the book were good I was troubled at how she transferred her personal familial experiences to all AA males. While her experiences are obviously credible I'm not sure her family experience can be aplied to to all AA men.
Otherwise a good book
Rating: - All bad things go together?
I found the lumping of negative influences on Black mens senses of their masculinity "racism, colonialism, sexism..." a bit simplistic and tiresome to have to read over and over again. Dr. Hooks may as well have created a term for the whole set of factors, maybe an acronym. And you had to buy the adverse impact of the (entire?) set of factors, otherwise her arguments were considerably weakened. I would have liked a more convincing explanation for why Black men are singularly harmed by the adverse ... Read More
Rating: - A strong insight
As a black woman I enjoyed reading this insight into how people see black men and how they see themselves.
There are not enough positive role models in the form of Black fathers for young black men to look up to.
There can be a very strong critical element in Black families that could sometimes make me cringe as a child growing up.
You felt as if you constantly had to explain yourself and be walking on egg shells with not a positive encouraging comment in sight.
My Step-father ... Read More
Rating: - interesting
This book was very enlightening for me as I always wondered how and why African African men seem to be so shackled down especially under a system that is keen to so so. It definitely helped to read Hook's view as someone who had an emotionally distant father and as an African American woman who yearns to see Af Am males succeed. It is debatable as to whether her endless quotations from other books watered down her analysis but for me it helped because I did not know some of the authors and their viewpoints. ... Read More
Rating:  - Definetly a Great Potential Buy!
I have never reviewed online, despite my knowledge of books that appeal or cater to Black Culture. However, I could not pass up an opportunity to encourage someone to purchase this book! This is definetly a book that every Ebony American should have on his or her shelf. Of course, since that's not possible, I encourage you, Amazon customer, to buy this book! I borrowed it from the library on an attempt to browse through books which would be a potential addition to my own private library. Ms. Hooks addresses ... Read More
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