Being a White Male in America: what the F**** does it mean?

What does it mean to be a white male in America? The words ignorant, racist, sexist, macho and unintelligent come to mind. We think of the Anglo-Saxon, protestant image that our country was founded on. We think of Nascar  watching, cheap beer drinking rednecks. We think of working class baffoons that we enjoy laughing at on our nightly sitcoms. We think middle class, white priviliged and biased. These negative stereotypes are not only offensive, they are often true. Is this because of the portrayal the media makes, or is the media simply portraying something true?

Other races in America, such as African American, Hispanic, Asian and Middle Eastern all have their own social constructions of what it means to be a man and they celebrate these constructions here in the United States. There is no true tradition or definition besides the portrayals that the media show us and that we subconsciously mimic, on what being a white male in America is. America's version of what being a man is has become muddy and confusing.




There's always been the notion of violence when it comes to being a white male, as well as for men in particular. There is the belief that men have to be dominant in any situation. Whether dominant towards women, towards people of a lower class or towards people of a different skin color, pride and violence are almost always associated with being a white male. On the other hand, there is the idea of the white male as being more intelligent then others, therefore not needing to solve things with his fists, but with his intellect.
There is also the idea of manliness being associated with not caring for finer things in life. This idea is enforced by sitcoms where the white, working class husband is always represented drinking cheap beers, versus micro brews, as if trying anything better would be silly. Often times, they have little appreciation for art or for anything fancy. They are shown as loving simplicity versus complexity.

I find that this stereotype makes sense for men who work manual labor jobs or trade jobs, but not for working class men in general. Professors and most salesman are considered a part of the working class and they are expected to look presentable. I've known a number of men who don't work high income jobs but still hold themselves to high standards when it comes to fashion, art and food. The media has brought upon the term "metrosexual" to describe men like that. 

But even before men were openly gay in America, fashion was still a standard. If you watch the show Mad Men, you can see how during the 1950's and 60's men were expected to look presentable, clean cut and wear suits almost every day. Nowadays, if your male and hold yourself to this same standard, you are considered queer.






The emergence of gay men onto television hasn't helped this stereotype. With shows like Queer Eye For the Straight Guy, men are shown as knowing nothing about hygiene or fashion, while all the gay white men do. The emergence of gay characters onto prime time is of course important, but nearly all of them are white, while homosexual's in other races are often overlooked.

With all the different stereotypes and representations on television nowadays, what is the next generation supposed to look up to? There are also plenty of good stereotypes out there. If we supposedly learn how to be a man from our fathers, then the idea of being a good father is a stereotype I don't mind. The concept of being a father who does nothing but work and let the wife take care of the household is one that needs to be gotten rid of. The old ideas of having a good work ethic and Christian ideals, like being kind to everybody no matter what, need to be brought back into our regular thinking.

While there are so many things wrong with the image of the white male in America today, there is obviously nothing wrong with being working class, poor, gay, unfashionable or fashionable. But the truth is that we, as in white men, can do a lot better.