<p>B-Boy is short for Beat Boy. Laymon reflects on the B-Boys with whom he went to school, particularly the leader of his B-Boy group, B. Dazzle. While the term usually refers to the break dancers, often young men, who danced to nascent hip-hop in New York City in the early 1980s, the term also refers to those who improvised rap rhymes (MC-ing) or music (DJ-ing). The B-Boy subculture emerged from Black and Latinx communities in the South Bronx, which explains Laymon’s acknowledgment of the debt that the world owes New York for giving birth to the global phenomenon that became hip-hop. He deals, too, with how deeply gendered the term is by describing how his group of B-Boys used the restrictions of boys’ and girls’ restrooms as a barrier to exclude Black girls while also desiring them as an <a data-internal-link data-link-type="Literary Device" href="https://www.supersummary.com/audience/">audience</a>.</p>

B-Boy

<p>Femiphobia is a term that was coined by the late poet and psychology professor Denis O’Donovan to describe a man’s fear of becoming a woman or being socially feminized. He discussed the term on the Phil Donahue Show in 1998. Laymon uses the term to criticize the American cultural insistence that Black boys need the presence of Black men as role models to become well-adjusted.

Femiphobia

Gender-Maneuvering

Heteronormativity

Misogynoir

Patriarchy

Queer

Literary Area of Study

African American Literature

Gender

Books that Feature the Theme of Masculinity

College

Common Reads: Freshman Year Reading

Social Issues

Contemporary Books on Social Justice

Nonfiction

Creative Nonfiction

Essays & Speeches

Inspiring Biographies

Government & Business

Politics & Government

Sexual Harassment & Violence

Kiese Laymon

Adult

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Guide

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How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America Summary and Study Guide

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Essay 1

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Essay 2

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Essay 3

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Essay 10

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Essay 12

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Essay 13

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How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays

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