One of the defining aspects of D. Watkins’ memoir Black Boy Smile is the discussion of toxic masculinity, its effects on young men, especially in East Baltimore during the 1980s. Society’s expectations of masculinity have been one of the key factors in shaping male identities and behaviors throughout history, and this was no less true for the youth growing up in East Baltimore during D. Watkins’ childhood and adolescence. Through his writing, Watkins reflects upon how these societal expectations influenced his own life, from his teenage years spent engaging in violence and drug-dealing to navigate a reality that seemed both out of reach and oppressive at once, to choosing “love over hate” as an adult when presented with a similar situation. In doing so, he paints a vivid picture of how the effects of toxic masculinity can manifest in various ways, from physical to psychological, and the power it has to shape people’s lives. In East Baltimore, toxic masculinity was a societal expectation that affected the self-expression and conformism of youths like Watkins in the 1980s.
The discussion of toxic masculinity in D. Watkins memoir is particularly timely given its prevalence in contemporary society across cultures and classes. One key example is that of “thug culture” which has become an increasingly popular notion among young men today as a way to display toughness and assert dominance over others. The same societal expectations at work here are also seen in D Watkins’ story, only he experienced them in a harsher environment with far fewer resources available for him to fall back upon if things went wrong, which they often did. The first manifestation of the effects of societal expectations of toxic masculinity in east Baltimore, as seen through D. Watkins’ memoir, is physicality, which is the idea that a man must be strong and aggressive in order to prove himself as “real” or “valid.”
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