Synopses & Reviews
Innovative and thought-provoking, this timely anthology expands the concept of privilege in America beyond the traditional limiters of being white and male. In addition to readings from well-known authors in the field, this edition includes pieces from contemporary scholars breaking new ground in superordinate studies. Seventeen carefully selected essays explore the multifaceted aspects of privilege: how race, gender, class, and sexual preference interact in the lives of those who are privileged by one or more of these identities. Written from a variety of viewpoints, personal and analytic, the essays in this volume help students understand that “race” can mean white people, “gender” can mean men, and “sexuality” can mean heterosexuals.
I. MAKING PRIVILEGE VISIBLE 1. McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege and Male Privilege.” 2. Woods, Jewel.“Black Male Privilege.” * 3. Larew, John, “Why are Droves of Unqualified, Unprepared Kids Getting Into our Top Colleges?” 4. Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. “On Being Okie.” 5. Messner, Michael A. “Becoming 100% Straight” 6. Rochlin, M. “The Heterosexual Questionnaire.” II. UNDERSTANDING PRIVILEGE 7. Johnson, Allan. “Privilege Power and Difference and Us,” from Privilege Power and Difference.* 8. Brodkin Sacks, Karen. “How Jews Became White” 9. Kimmel, Michael S. “Masculinity as Homophobia.” 10. Wise, Tim. “Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male.” * 11. Kendall, Diana. “Class in the United States: Not Only Alive but Reproducing.” * III. EXAMINING INTERSECTIONS 12. Redding, Maureen T. “Invisibility/Hypervisibility: The Paradox of Normative Whiteness.” * 13. hooks, bell. “Class and Race: The New Black Elite.” 14. Bérubé, Allan. “How Gay Stays White and What Kind of White it Stays.” IV. MOVING FORWARD 15. Thompson, Becky. “Subverting Racism From Within.” 16. Hill Collins, Patricia. “Toward a New Vision.” 17.Ferber, Abby. “Dismantling Privilege and Becoming an Ally.” *
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Praise for the First Edition
“The diverse voices found in this book would add a unique and thought-provoking perspective to any undergraduate course examining the many aspects of oppression.” —MultiCultural Review
“This is a superb collection of work at the vanguard of a resurgent interest in how privilege works across a wide range of human experience. Kimmel and Ferber have skillfully knit together a coherent picture of otherwise unexamined and under-theorized ‘connections’ in a dauntingly vast and fragmented literature.” —Troy Duster, New York University
“This excellent anthology forcefully illustrates how bigotry based on ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual stereotyping confines and blights the lives of those deemed ‘inferior.’ I’d like to see this book assigned in every high school and college campus in the country.” —Martin Duberman, Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus, CUNY
“Finally a book on how the other half (or less) lives, and how their status, power and way of life is related to the debasing and suffering of others. This volume will start to bring some semblance of balance to the study of inequality and injustice in the United States.” —Pedro Noguera, Harvard University
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Synopsis
In this new and timely anthology on the experience of privilege in Americaas it relates to holding the identity of the dominant gender, class, race, and sexual preferencesociologists Michael Kimmel and Abby Ferber, along with a wide range of contributors, challenge students to think more critically about the myriad inequalities in society and especially to become more aware of how the dynamics that create inequality for some also benefit others. Designed to be used in both introductory sociology and race, gender, and class courses, this exciting volume asks that privilegeand students’ own role in itbecome more visible. With both well-known and previously published pieces as well as new contributions, Privilege uses an intersectional approach” to explore the ways in which race, class, gender and sexuality interact in the lives of those who are privileged by one or more of these identities. Kimmel and Ferber have brought together leading thinkers and writers on all of these dimensions, to examine both the parallels and the ruptures among these different but connected relationships. Writing both personally and analytically, these essays can bring students inside the experiences, and enable us all to begin to theorize our own lives, as well as to explore the ways in which these systems intersect in people’s lives.
Synopsis
Essays which bring the reader inside the experiences of privilege in America and explore the intersection of social systems in people’s lives
Synopsis
This innovative anthology expands the concept of privilege, exploring how gender, class, race, and sexual preference interact and create multifaceted conditions for privilege.
About the Author
Michael S. Kimmel is professor of Sociology at the State University of New York, Stonybrook. His books include Changing Men, Men Confront Pornography, Men's Lives, Against the Tide, The Politics of Manhood, Manhood, and The Gendered Society. He edits Men and Masculinities, an interdisciplinary scholarly journal, a book series on Men and Masculinity at the University of California Press, and the Sage Series on Men and Masculinities. He is the Spokesperson for the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS) and lectures extensively on campuses in the U.S. and abroad. Abby L. Ferber is Director of Women's Studies and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She is the author of White Man Falling: Race, Gender, and White Supremacy, co-author of Hate Crime in America: What Do We Know? and Making A Difference: University Students of Color Speak Out. She has been widely interviewed about her work on hate crimes and white supremacy.