Empowering Media That Matters
Home >> Future Public Media >> Public Media Showcase >> The Masculinity Project aims to redefine popular notions of masculinity

The Masculinity Project aims to redefine popular notions of masculinity

The National Black Programming Consortium has just released their Masculinity Project--a great new public media resource. The Website aims to redefine our notion of masculinity. It combines creative and provocative media with a chance to participate (via blogs, apps and a wiki) in a discussion about issues that profoundly shape and deform culture. There is a combination of professional and non-professional talents, and invites viewers to become part of the story.

One short, Byron Hurt's Barack and Curtis, makes unlikely connections between rapper 50 Cent and Barack Obama, which reveal common challenges facing African-American men. After viewing the film you can comment directly on the page (which has been the most commonly used tool for discussion) or go the forums and start or continue conversations there.

One participant of the Masculinity Project left a comment which said, "I really did find this video very interesting, in the sense that there are, in fact, very strong similarities regarding the manner in which these two very different figures exude their masculinity. Aggressiveness and strong will both come in to play in different degrees and are utilised to different extents."

How the Masculinity Project evolves will be one measure of how public media are changing with Web 2.0 from mass media serving a public to participatory media that creates publics.