THE BLACK AMERICAN MARRIAGE CRISIS – LACK OF GENDER ROLES TO BLAME?
Written by Michael Thervil
[BLACK AMERICAN MARRIAGE CRISIS GENDER ROLES] Judging by the marriage rate between American Black Women and America Black Men which currently stands at 31% of the total American population with 34% of Black men declaring to be married compared to 27% of Black Women claiming to be married according to the U.S. census bureau, the question that’s on the minds of Sociologists across America is “is marriage between American Black Men and Women dead?" What is being called a “Marriage Crisis” with the American Black Community appears to be taking a dramatic toll on the future of Black Americans within the United States.
According to Sociologists and Economists alike, marriage has historically been the main driver for married couples to obtain the social mobility needed to climb the socio-economic ladder in America which is dominated by various forms of social stratification (race, ethnicity, class, and economic status). Yet, it seems as if both Black American Men and Women who can be considered statistically despite socio-economic growth and development are choosing to either choose to stray away from and/or ignore the most time-tested social tool that could give them a much boost in representation in all sectors of American society.
While many point to racial discrimination and ethnically based disenfranchisement, there is a culprit that appears to play a bigger role than expected when it comes to Black Americans' ability to aspire, become, and stay married. That silent culprit is the disavowment of gender roles. Many Americans, especially in the Hispanic/Latino and Asians, tend to adhere to gender roles more so than working/middle class white and Black Americans who are significantly egalitarian in approach in terms of adhering to gender roles.
Although many white and Black Americans tend to cringe at the notion of adhering to gender roles, it's been highly suspected by Sociologists that they may not fully understand the purpose of gender roles and why other ethnicities in America tend to do somewhat better socio-economically than them. Gender roles as a socially constructed means of control expresses the social expectations of what is masculine and what is feminine as well as it serves as the social marker for the social conditioning required for both Men and Women to learn and practice assigned behaviors which are learned and reinforced from birth.
According to Sociologists, when the gender roles between Women and Men become lost or unenforceable, instability occurs and social chaos tends to follow despite the attempt to bring about fairness and equality amongst the people who make up that society. In the case of Black Americans, the loss or ignoring of gender roles has appeared to have led to a lapse in what is expected of Black American Women and men as gender roles dictate how they, like any other ethnic group in America should conduct themselves within the greater society based upon their sex from birth.
Because of this being the case, it's been noted by various critics of Black Americans that they will accept anything and anyone and will not enforce or regulate anything amongst themselves that require that those that fall in the demographic of being a Black American to “stay in line” or abide by the status quo for the greater good of their ethnicity. Variables of Black American Women making more than their Men and their requirements for suitable mates or they being more educated than their male counterpart appears to have nothing to do with why marriage between Black Men and Women seems to be disappearing out of sight.
The question of “is marriage between American Black Men and Women dead?" appears to be the wrong question being asked by millions. The more formidable question may be “is the lack of enforcing gender roles between Black American Men and Women the reason why marriage is dead amongst them?”
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