How America Continues to Suffer the Male Rage of the 'White Wing'

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/culture/how-america-continues-suffer-male-rage-white-wing

***SNIP

Truthout recently interviewed Kimmel, who is a sociology professor and executive director at the Center of the Study of Men and Masculinities at Stony Brook University in New York.



Mark Karlin: What is the demographic you refer to as angry white males in the US. The stereotypes are that they are generally Southern, or rural, or less educated or residents of exurbia? What is your breakdown?



Michael Kimmel: Angry white men are everywhere geographically! I look at some groups, like the extreme right wing, who might tend to be more small-town, exurban. Many are suburban, from those sprawling suburbs that extend far into what used to be "rural America." But many of the men I discuss - say men's rights activists or fathers' rights activists, or the men who are violent against women, or guys who go postal - come from all over the country.



You talk about the transition from anxiety to explosive emotional anger among the actual and perceived growing loss of entitlement and privilege among white males. You use the phrase, "the cultural construction of aggrieved entitlement." Does that translate to, "white males are mad as hell that women and minorities aren't kept in their place anymore by white men, and the white men are losing their jobs and patriarchal status as a result"?



Nicely put! Some white males are mad as hell not that minorities or gays or women aren't "kept in their place" anymore, but more that they feel that "they" are taking places that were "rightfully ours." Race (being white) and gender (being men) are the frameworks they use to describe what I think is actually a phenomenon that has more to do with class.

[Volaris]

1. that "...cultural construction of aggrieved entitlement.."?,

I've found that it exists largely among the wealthiest of whites, and then gets FED to the rest of us via the constructs of Modern Republicanism and Hate Radio.
Believe me, poverty doesn't care one whit what color you are, or what sex, or which kind of pie you like to eat. Only those who care about maintaining the class distinction between "themselves" and "the rest of us" give a damn, and then ONLY because those
distinctions are a useful tool used to keep the rest of us maligning each other, rather than focusing on what we SHOULD be doing...

Stripping these fuckers of their undue (and mostly unEARNED and totally unnecessary) wealth and Power. And yes, that IS their fear, and no, I don't give a damn if that keeps them up at night.

[n2doc]

2. Republicans would hold no power if it wern't for a lot of white women voters too

Just sayin'

[kelliekat44]

5. And you are rightly saying. It's mentality of "white privilege" that pervades their thinking no

matter what their economic status...from the poorest to the richest. Remember the moms that used to bring their children to witness the lynchings, the white women with vicious looks of rage and venom dripping from their mouths as the screamed and spit on black children entering formerly segregated schools.
Some hate, only a mom can teach and it has more impact than the hate daddy teaches because mom's influence is deeper and long-lasting.

[Eleanors38]

12. One of the flawed outlooks in the OP, but slapping "male" on it concentrates the mind,

so to speak. If women are increasing their economic, cultural, and political power in the U.S., then pro forma, they are part of that which holds power. It ain't all white men-are-a-decreasing demographic™ that sets the tone of the far right.
But it sounds better.

The subject of the OP seems to throw fathers' rights & male rights groups into the mix of white ragers as well. Makes for a nice homogeneous study model. And that sounds good, too.

[maddiemom]

11. Calling to GOTV in 2012 in the suburban Pittsburgh area, I was totally floored

by one woman I talked with. We were asking which presidential candidate they favored and how strongly they supported him. This woman replied that she always voted the way her husband and father told her to vote. She was obviously White and sounded completely sincere. I discussed this later with other volunteers and most said that this was all too common, even in this day and age.

[Nye Bevan]

3. As a white male,

I try to spend at least 30 minutes, 3 times a week, wallowing in collective guilt.

[trumad]

4. snarf

That made me chuckle.

[7962]

6. Same here! As another one, I'm tiring of these stories

Same song, different verse. Are there "angry white males" out there? Sure. Just like there are angry black males, angry hispanic males, etc. This isnt some epidemic. I'm sure 50 yrs ago it was a different story; I saw it growing up in some folks back then. ANd saying the TeaPup women are angry because they are forced to work? Were the hell have I ever heard that complaint?
But then it IS from Alternet......

[trumad]

8. I honestly can say...

I have never sat and stewed with errr angry white man issues. And I mean Never.

[maddiemom]

13. LOL

[whistler162]

17. If you are Catholic or Jewish you are entitled

to even more wollow time!

[grilled onions]

7. They Are Losing Control

and that is what angers them most. They used to control minorities by threat,by a rope or simply running them out of town. They controlled women for the most part. Women were of two types, the quiet walk-behind-me variety or the tramp variety which they lashed their hatred of women on even though many secretly had girlfriends or secret dates with such women. The gay community was virtually underground and they made sure they stayed that way. Everything they disliked or didn't understand was kept at a distance. However here we are today. Things are not what they used to be. While we still have a long way to go many are accepting the gay community. Women working and having some control over their life,their body has arrived, but much less so in some states. Minorities are no longer silent as they once were. They object to shoddy housing,poor working conditions. They refuse to stay silent and many of the complaints trickle back to the very same angry white males--some who are the same ones who helped cause the hatred against so many, the fear in others and kept so many "in their place". Now that their world is changing they discover they don't like it and they are lashing out much like a toddler who has been told no for the first time.

[trumad]

9. Which is weird...because

most are middle class men who never really had control.

Personally I think they're a bunch of whining douchebags.

[Sheldon Cooper]

16. But I think they had the illusion of control.

And this enabled them to keep everyone else in line, behind them. And yes, they are whiny d-bags.

[99Forever]

10. Oh goody.

Another broadbrush, shotgun put down attempt at a guilt trip.

Very attractive.

[redgreenandblue]

14. The author equates men who want the right to see their kids with men who go postal.

That is a pretty strong expression of bigotry and kind of discredits the rest of the piece.

[Eleanors38]

15. You & I share the gift of understatement.