Straight White Men And Identity

Dr. Harry Brod, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at the University of Northern Iowa, delivered a lecture on the evening of 3/28/07 at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, titled, “White Male Identities: Privilege, Pain, and Pride.”

It posed questions such as, what are white male identities? How many are there? What is behind the power structure of patriarchy and how is it perpetuated?

As reported by Wabash undergrad Brandon Stewart,

The lecture began with the bold assertion that men have multiple identities. ‘Other groups’, said Brod, ‘have already realized this, but white men haven’t had to face this fact because those who are in power have the privilege of not being reflective about themselves.’ As he put it, ‘men have a gender, whites have a race, and straights have an orientation. Too often…white males tend to “other” everyone who is not like them without including themselves in a category. Everyone else is defined in their relation to straight white men.’ “

One can absorb this observation and find it perfectly apparent, at least in previous eras, but the question arises: is this standard still relevant across the board? Are straight white males not growing, as a group, more socially conscious and aware of the “other” groups surrounding them?

It must come down to economics and power. Straight white males in extremely strong economic stratas, who hold positions of power in both their professional and personal lives, are certainly far more able to isolate themselves from interacting with the greater world, and hence, are less prone to observe and learn from said “other” groups’ experiences and lives. Subsequently, the postulate that Dr. Brod offers does seem to hold up, at least in that regard.

For the rest, it seems to me as though this is breaking down, more and more. I do feel as though we’re all becoming more socially conscious, more globally aware, relating more to each other across gender, sexual orientation, and race divisions. I recognize how, for example, when racial integration first became a major issue in this country, the overwhelming push was to suppress the qualities that individualized other races from the dominant white culture. In effect, turning everyone into a marginalized version of itself was how the white culture was able to accept them.

Today it seems clear that these “other” cultures and races are less and less so suppressed. Racial pride is celebrated and respected, particularly when animosity and exclusivity is removed (though it can be argued that a certain amount of hostilities are still a fundamental part of many cultures in respect to the still arguably dominant S.W.M. culture). The differences between the races and gender preferences, as well as the genders themselves, are being increasingly acknowledged, appreciated, and respected by all parties, which allows for a greater and more meaningful integration now than ever before. Moreover, this does seem to be out of any sense of political correctness, but rather an earnest desire for understanding and unification.

Perhaps my perspective is not an accurate representation of the way things are on the larger scale; my vision is perhaps rose-colored because I live in one of the most culturally diverse cities on the planet, and we have had to learn to live amongst each other, with greater tolerance and respect than most of the rest of the country, and for longer to boot.

I’m interested to learn if anything resembling this kind of progress has taken hold in other parts of the country, or within said “other” races. I’d like to think so; it’s about time.

Professor Asserts Men have Multiple Identitites [wabash.edu]
(Image:Dr. Harry Brod)