All Buzzed Off: The Ambiguities of Black Masculinity in Pelo malo (2013) and La playa D.C. (2012).

This article argues that hair modification by Black males in Latin America is both a resistance and reinscription of white cultural hegemony. Using the films Pelo malo (2013), by Mariana Rondón, and La playa D.C. (2012), by Juan Andrés Arango García, I demonstrate how socially constructed notions of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista de Estudios Hispánicos Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 51 - 77
Main Author: Ramos Flores, Nicolás
Format: Article
Published: Washington University mar2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=156948776&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 156948776
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        0034818X
        2BR
      jtl: Revista de Estudios Hispánicos
      issn: 0034818X
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: mar2022
      vid: 56
      iid: 1
      pid: 11468
      pub: Washington University
    artinfo:
      ui:
        156948776
        10.1353/rvs.2022.0002
      ppf: 51
      ppct: 26
      formats:
        fmt:
          @attributes:
            type: P
            size: 962KB
      tig:
        atl: All Buzzed Off: The Ambiguities of Black Masculinity in Pelo malo (2013) and La playa D.C. (2012).
      aug:
        au: Ramos Flores, Nicolás
        affil: COLBY COLLEGE
      su:
        Black men
        Pelo Malo (Film)
        La Playa D.C. (Film)
        Masculinity
        Arango, Juan Andres
        Social defeat
        Race
        Rondon, Mariana
        Cultural hegemony
        Hairdressing
      sug:
        subj:
          Black men
          Pelo Malo (Film)
          La Playa D.C. (Film)
          Masculinity
          Arango, Juan Andres
          Social defeat
          Race
          Rondon, Mariana
          Cultural hegemony
          Hairdressing
      keyword:
        América Latina
        Black/Blackness
        hair
        Latin America
        masculinidad
        masculinity
        negridad
        pelo
        race
        raza
        América Latina
        masculinidad
        negridad
        pelo
        raza
      ab: This article argues that hair modification by Black males in Latin America is both a resistance and reinscription of white cultural hegemony. Using the films Pelo malo (2013), by Mariana Rondón, and La playa D.C. (2012), by Juan Andrés Arango García, I demonstrate how socially constructed notions of race and masculinity imposed on Black males are both reproduced and resisted as natural survival mechanisms. While Pelo malo's Junior is ultimately defeated by social expectations that subjugate Blackness, La playa D.C.'s Tomás triumphs in socially oppressive systems and becomes a barber through his hair. By evaluating the two films together, this article shows how hair for Black males can be both an object of oppression and a source of pride. In this examination, we see how Black males straddle an in-between existential reality that pushes against the one-dimensional subjectivity often imposed by hegemonic identity rhetoric. In the end, this analysis exposes how Black men use hair to dismantle racially imposed subjugations and masculinist definitions in order to decolonize toxic constructs of Blackness and manhood.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      custom: Copyright of Revista de Estudios Hispánicos is the property of Washington University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
      item: Revista de Estudios Hispánicos
      holder: Washington University
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 2022
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N