BBC (sexual slang)

Big black cock, usually shortened to BBC, is a sexual slang term and a genre of ethnic pornography that focuses on black men with large penises.[1][2][3] The theme is found in both straight and gay pornography. The genre is based on the debunked idea that black men have lager penises on average than white men.

Description

The designation refers to the stereotype of black men having large penises, and has been described by some critics as portraying black men as animalistic and aggressive.[1][4][5][6] The trope is typically invoked in the promotion of pornography featuring a black male performer and a white or Asian female performer.[7]

The stereotype appears in gay, bisexual, and straight media,[1] with the "BBC" acronym also being "ubiquitous among gay men on dating sites, in pornography, and in other gay sexual spaces. Its use extends beyond penis size itself to encompass a number of sexual traits that would establish Black men as prized sexual partners. It often includes specific mention of dominance, aggressiveness, and submission of the White partner," according to sexuality studies scholar Logan D. Trevon.[4] The term also appears in connection with cuckoldry fetishism.[2]

Reception

The term is considered by some to carry racist connotations, to embody the fetishization of black men, and to perpetuate harmful stereotypes about the physical features and sexual appetites and inclinations of black men.[1][8]

Writer and activist Rhammel Afflick said he had found that "my worth is often only perceived sexually. There are always references to me having a 'BBC' (big black cock)".[9]

Lerone Clarke-Oliver opined in The Gay Times that "seeing Black men in porn labelled as 'Thugs' or, 'BBC' (to name but two harmful categorisations) or 'Black [insert search term] has off-line and real-world psychological consequences".[10]

As of 2022, the term, "BBC", was the 20th most searched category of pornography on Pornhub. This was noted to be a decrease from previous years.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Lester, Neal A. (2014). "Race". In Kimmel, Michael; Milrod, Christine; Kennedy, Amanda (eds.). Cultural Encyclopedia of the Penis. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 179–183. ISBN 9780759123144. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "BBC", in Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2015), p. 124 Archived February 16, 2023, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ "BBC » What does BBC mean? » Slang.org". Slang.org. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Logan, Trevon D. (2017). Economics, Sexuality, and Male Sex Work. New York, NY. pp. 129, 208, 221, 224. ISBN 9781107128736.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ Bury, Rhiannon; Easton, Lee (October 5, 2020). "Life with Dick and Dick: Race and Male Pornographic Self-Representation on Reddit". AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research. doi:10.5210/spir.v2020i0.11187. S2CID 225166505.
  6. ^ Street, Mikelle (September 11, 2017). "'Big Black Cock,' 'Big Black Dick': Men Living With the Myth". MEL Magazine. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  7. ^ Gail Dines, Bob Jensen, Ann Russo, Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality (2013), p. 85.
  8. ^ Song, Sandra (November 5, 2020). "Meet the Couple Fighting Porn's Race Problem". Paper. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  9. ^ Ali, Mishti (March 26, 2021). "How queer people of colour are responding to racism in LGBTQ+ 'safe spaces'". Metro. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  10. ^ Clarke-Oliver, Lerone (March 30, 2021). "Great (Black Gay) Expectations: Racism, hypersexualisation, stereotypes and tired tropes". Gay Times. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  11. ^ "The 2022 Year in Review". Pornhub Insights. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023.