Masculinity and Race Historically, masculinity in the United States has been constructed as white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, also heterosexual, and in charge of all matters, and this definition establishes the standards against which others are measured men a valued. Michael Kimmel provides a good definition:[…], young, married, white, urban heterosexual, college-educated Protestant father, fully employed, of good complexion, weight and height, and a recent record in sports(271). This definition refers to a so-called “hegemonic masculinity” because it describes a man of power, in power and with power (272). Racially and ethnically, other men have always been equated with characteristics that symbolically effeminate and disempower them. Those other men are African Americans and Asian Americans as well as Latinos and Native Americans, who are not the subject of this essay. I want to argue that race and masculinity cannot be considered distinct issues but are closely linked and intertwined with each other because hegemonic masculinity by definition is only valid for Caucasians and is also constructed by them. Ethnically and racially other men can never become fully masculine according to this definition, they must be content with the role of a marginal other. To underline its importance and historical significance I like to quote Dollimore: “No consideration of cultural and/or racial difference should ever overlook the pure negativity, evil and inferiority with which the “other” of such differences has been associated throughout history” (Dollimore 18).These Others have the opportunity to approach masculinity……middle of paper……a. However, the "Blaxploitation" era period was an exception, but that was mostly due to Hollywood's fiscal problems and those characters were always floating in a hyperreality and doing things that could be attributed more to superheroes than humans. works cited: Brod, Harry and Michael Kaufmann, ed. . Theorizing masculinity: Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, shame, and silence in the construction of gender identity. Michael S. Kimmel. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1994. Ross, J. Steven, ed. . Cinema and American society. From Framing Blackness: The African American Image in Cinema. Ed Guerrero. Oxford/Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 2002Stecopoulos, Harry and Michael Uebel, ed. . Race and the subject of masculinity: Desire and difference. Jonathan Dollimore. Durham and London: Duke University Press , 1997