ABSTRACT
In its cross-dressed caricatures, blackface minstrelsy emasculated Black men through a process of ‘feminization’ in defence of white male authority. This provides the backdrop to the exploration of Michael Jackson's own cultural emasculation that came in the form of the systemic media attack on his masculinity through processes of ‘feminization’, effeminization and desexualization. It is argued that this was in response to the various threats Jackson posed to white male hegemony, which peaked at the height of his fame. The chapter examines how Jackson responded to this treatment through the construction and evolution of a ‘feminized’ masculinity, on stage and off, and how that worked effectively for his own commercial, political and personal gain.
