BBC (sexual slang)

Big Black Cock, usually shortened to BBC, is a sexual slang and genre of ethnic pornography, that focuses on Black men with large penises.[1][2][3] The theme is found in both straight and gay pornography.

Description

Most commonly, black men are expected to be hyper-masculine and hyper-sexual, and their fetishization is seen predominately throughout porn and the "BBC" (big black cock) category, which reinforces the idea that they should have a large penis.[1][4][5][6] As the word "dick" is used much more frequently than "cock" in African American English, the phrase BBC, which ranks among the most searched categories on PornHub as of 2019,[7] is asserted to have originated from white fetishization of interracial pornography involving black males.[4]: 294 [6] (The largest scientific studies find no correlation between human penis size and race.)[8] Furthermore, within porn videos, the black male is expected to be rough and sexually dominant, acting in almost a primitive manner.[9] This reflects the prominent "Mandingo" stereotype of black men, dating back to the time of slavery.[10] Black actors in porn have been calling out issues with filming on social media, bringing attention to the common but outdated practice whereby a white performer charges a higher rate for interracial (IR) scenes, to which Isiah Maxwell states "IR is a smokescreen for what you're really trying to say ... it doesn't mean Asian or Latino. It means, 'Are you willing to have sex with a black guy?'"[11] Reference to the trope is typically used specifically with respect to scenes filmed between a black male performer and a white (or Asian) performer.[12]

The aspect of the black male being a performer under the "white gaze", according to a psychiatrist and political philosopher Frantz Fanon, can be manifested through the sporting body and its representation within the sphere of athleticism. Ben Carrington further elaborates on this in his article Race, representation and the sporting body whereby "Blackness itself was pathologized as a deviant identity, and the black male was stereotyped (and subsequently mythologized) as a hyper-sexed, almost animal-like, entity."[13] (Carrington, 2002). This idea that the black man has to possess animalistic behaviour is explained in more detail by Carrington, explaining that "Black athletes – female and male ─ are invariably described as being strong, powerful and quick but with unpredictable and "wild" moments when they supposedly lack the cognitive capabilities – unlike their white peers – to have 'composure' at critical moments".[13] Just as Fanon talks about the white gaze, Carrington presents the view that representation in the media (both in sports and pornography) leaves the black male body vulnerable and exposed to inspection.

The stereotype appears in gay, bisexual, and straight media,[1] with the "BBC" acronym also being "ubiquitous among gay men on dating sites, in pornography, and in other gay sexual spaces. Its use extends beyond penis size itself to encompass a number of sexual traits that would establish Black men as prized sexual partners. It often includes specific mention of dominance, aggressiveness, and submission of the White partner".[4] The term also appears in connection with cuckoldry fetishism.[2]

History

In America during the time of slavery evolved the prominent "Mandingo" stereotype of black men.[10] The image of Mandingo is often linked to slavery but historian of the Roman art, John R. Clarke, argues that this hypothesis fails historical comparative analysis.

Reception

The term is considered by some to carry racist connotations, to embody the fetishization of black men, and to perpetuate harmful stereotypes about the physical features and sexual appetites and inclinations of black men.[1][14]

Writer and activist Rhammel said he had found that "my worth is often only perceived sexually. There are always references to me having a 'BBC' (big black cock)".[15]

The Gay Times reported that "seeing Black men in porn labelled as 'Thugs' or, 'BBC' (to name but two harmful categorisations) or 'Black [insert search term] has off-line and real-world psychological consequences".[16]

Jason Okundaye, writing for GQ, said that "the problem of fetishising black masculinity goes beyond being treated as a walking black dildo by overzealous white people", asserting that "the over-sexualisation of black masculinity has, historically, led to intense surveillance and intervention over our bodies".[17]

See also

References
  1. Lester, Neal A. (2014). "Race". In Kimmel, Michael; Milrod, Christine; Kennedy, Amanda (eds.). Cultural Encyclopedia of the Penis. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 179–183. ISBN 9780759123144. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  2. "BBC", in Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2015), p. 124 Archived February 16, 2023, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. "BBC » What does BBC mean? » Slang.org". Slang.org. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  4. Logan, Trevon D. (2017). Economics, Sexuality, and Male Sex Work. New York, NY. pp. 129, 208, 221, 224. ISBN 9781107128736.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. Bury, Rhiannon; Easton, Lee (October 5, 2020). "Life with Dick and Dick: Race and Male Pornographic Self-Representation on Reddit". AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research. doi:10.5210/spir.v2020i0.11187. S2CID 225166505.
  6. Street, Mikelle (September 11, 2017). "'Big Black Cock,' 'Big Black Dick': Men Living With the Myth". MEL Magazine. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  7. "The 2019 Year in Review". Pornhub Insights. December 11, 2019. Archived from the original on December 11, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  8. Morris, Wesley (October 27, 2016). "Why Pop Culture Just Can't Deal With Black Male Sexuality". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  9. Williams, Linda (2004). "Skin Flicks on the Racial Border: Pornography, Exploitation, and Interracial Lust". In Williams, Linda (ed.). Porn studies. Durham: Duke University Press. pp. 271–308. ISBN 9780822333128.
  10. Poulson-Bryant, Scott (2005). Hung: A Meditation on the Measure of Black Men in America. New York. ISBN 9780385510028.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. Dickson, E. J. (June 10, 2020). "Racism in Porn Industry Under Scrutiny Amid Nationwide Protests". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  12. Gail Dines, Bob Jensen, Ann Russo, Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality (2013), p. 85.
  13. Carrington, Ben (May 2002). "'Race', Representation and the Sporting Body" (PDF). Goldsmiths College. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  14. Song, Sandra (November 5, 2020). "Meet the Couple Fighting Porn's Race Problem". Paper. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  15. Ali, Mishti (March 26, 2021). "How queer people of colour are responding to racism in LGBTQ+ 'safe spaces'". Metro. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  16. Clarke-Oliver, Lerone (March 30, 2021). "Great (Black Gay) Expectations: Racism, hypersexualisation, stereotypes and tired tropes". Gay Times. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  17. Okundaye, Jason (October 13, 2020). "The fetishisation of black masculinity". British GQ. Archived from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
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