This thesis takes a critical look at the representation of the black male body in American popular culture throughout the twentieth century, intending to examine the meanings ascribed to this body and analyze the ways that these meanings are communicated to the consumers of these cultural productions. The focus will be on visual examples of popular cultural productions, with the intention of examining representations of the black male body in film, photography, and television, and the viewer. In looking at these cultural texts, the thesis will seek to examine the relationship between visual text and spectator, in terms of how these contribute to understandings of black masculinity. Because of the impact of cultural productions upon conceptions of the world, the self, and the relationship between the two, this thesis will seek to develop an understanding of the way that black masculinity is depicted visually, and what the implications of this are for American culture.

This thesis presents constructions of masculinities in Islamic traditions, societies and cultures with a specific focus on India and Pakistan between the 18th – 21st century. The basic premise of this thesis is through an understanding that masculinity, femininity, gender and sexuality are socially constructed yet interlinked and often shaped through biology. The focus of this thesis is exploring the many colourful and diverse images of masculinities in India and Pakistan. A key finding is that their appreciation or rejection within Islam is dependent upon idealized notions of masculinity, femininity, morality and ethics that are essentially derived from patriarchal structures, such as the ‘family’ and ‘procreation’. Through an elaboration of the Qur’ānic concept of Islamic spirituality, piety and submission to none other except God, using the prophet’s lives as examples, it becomes apparent that varieties of masculinities and femininities – including flawed and imperfect forms – need not be seen as a weakness but a strength, as multiplicity in all matters is presented as a means to strengthening individual relationship with God. At a time when there is much debate about the necessity of a reformation in Islam, it may just be the case that one finds the buried treasures that reformers seek through unveiling and appreciating the rich diversity of Islamic traditions, societies and cultures.

This thesis considers how second generation British Asian Muslim males negotiate arranged marriage, religion and leisure, and how this negotiation is a means to achieve a culturally prescribed goal. The culturally prescribed goal will be demonstrated to be the attainment of wealth and the maintenance of family bonds. An ethnographic study of thirty second generation British Asian Muslim males was conducted in order to understand how decisions regarding marriage and leisure are made. The modes of negotiation of marriage, leisure and religion are analysed using Merton’s (1938, 1957) Anomie and Strain theory as well as Murphy and Robinson’s (2008) concept of the maximiser. Empirical research is used to describe and analyse how the maximiser achieves the culturally prescribed goal mentioned above. It is argued that the maximiser uses both legitimate and illegitimate means in order to achieve a culturally prescribed goal. The legitimate means in this study are having an arranged marriage and abiding by rules of Islam and the family. It will be argued that through a process of intense socialisation, the means to achieve the culturally prescribed goal are learnt from childhood for some British Asian Muslims. It will be argued that culture is misrepresented as religion in order to facilitate this process of intense socialisation in some British Muslim communities which creates a pressure to conform. The modes of adaptation to this pressure including the conformist, the innovator, the Ritualist, the Retreatist and the Rebel are explored. The focus of the study is on the maximiser as it is argued that the maximiser reproduces a system of transnational consanguineous arranged marriages. The methods of negotiation are analysed using symbolic interactionist perspectives, namely Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Goffman 1959) and Delinquency and Drift (Matza 1964). This process of negotiating marriage particularly when considering transnational consanguineous marriages, is referred to as the lifelong Business of Marriage. The Business of Marriage is defined as: a system in which transnational consanguineous marriages are taking place under the following conditions: (1) There is a process of intense socialisation where respect for parents and cultural practices are internalised (2) where British nationality is given to the incoming spouse (3) where financial and social support is given to the British husband. This thesis will demonstrate that British Asian Muslim males who fall under the category of the Maximiser are willing to forgo the opportunity of choosing their own spouses in order to inherit the family wealth and to keep bonds between families strong. It is also demonstrated that when a transnational marriage fails within the period required in order for the transnational wife to apply for a British visa, the British husband will stay legally married to his spouse in order to ensure the attainment of a permanent British visa. Finally, this research explores the future generations and argues that the Business of Arranged Marriage will end with the fourth generation of British Asian Muslim males. It is argued that this is the case because at this time, the first generation of south Asian Muslim immigrants into this country will not be present and the wealth of the families would have been passed on to the next generation. This thesis concludes by recommending further research into British Asian Muslim males and marriage, specifically around the areas of forced and arranged marriage.