A Straight White Men’s Officer at SOAS..?

I’ve always believed a fool has plenty to say and your over long, boring article proves me right.

3 months, 3 weeks ago by Johnny English on Wordpress

How about a JWSM officer. Now we are the only group that can be abused with impunity by all, left, right, liberal, islamists, women and any f****r else.

3 months, 4 weeks ago by Larry D on Wordpress

Oen- for your excellent suggestion to work, we would have to have a perfect world. (Something for which I wish, since I am not a straight, white male!).

3 months, 4 weeks ago by sarah on Wordpress

Excellent post Laurie. When majorities enter places where they are in the minority, they become minorities. Then they might just start to accept the fact that their treatment of minorities before may have been wrong. And they start sticking together, as minorities always have. Then this happens.

People interested in a similar role reversal in a very different situation may like to look up a post at my blog, Same Difference, titled Whose World Is It Anyway. ... See all content Hide content

3 months, 4 weeks ago by sarah on Wordpress

Some day, SOAS will make it into the media/blogs for something that isn't utterly retarded. Some day. But not today. http://bit.ly/33OtU

3 months, 4 weeks ago by robfahey on Twitter

You say:

“Indeed, whilst white, straight males are now in the minority at SOAS, no evidence has yet come to light of such students facing racist, sexist or heterophobic discrimination on campus. ”

But this:

“White males are also less likely to graduate with a first or upper second class degree and find immediate employment than their female classmates”

… is prima facie evidence of negative discrimination isn’t it? If one group consistently underachieves in an institution, we usually take that to mean that there are structural elements limiting their achievement, don’t we? ... See all content Hide content

3 months, 4 weeks ago by John Meredith on Wordpress

I’m straight, white and male. I attended SoAS in 07/08 for a one year masters. It was about the time there was a storm in a tea cup over an English Party.

An interesting place where the majority of students are kids from home and abroad trying to get ahead in life. In one of my seminars there was me and two girls from here, two malaysian girls, a girl from Brunei, a boy and girl from Thailand, one yank bloke and a girl from a small west african country. Oh and a guy from Japan.

The common thread amongst us all, is that we would all be considered working or lower-middle class in the countries we were from. Rich kids go to Oxford, Cambridge, LSE. We had no need of ‘diversity officers’. None of us voted in their silly elections or took part in their even sillier events. We ‘had’ to get the pass to get on in life. Human desires and needs are remarkably similar when you don’t have someone around emphasising difference all the time. Lucky for us, none of the student union bores were in our seminars.

Penny says I, as a SWM would find myself ”required to confront their roles as members of a privileged minority”. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact I had my faith in humanity restored, as boys and girls, from all corners of the world, rejected the aggresively noisy minority who sought to define everything in terms of difference, instead embracing the mundane: exams, certificates, jobs, homes, family. Beer. Sex. Crap TV.

As a SWM, who grew up in a council estate in Walworth, lives in another in Peckham and the son of parents who grew up in estates in Belfast and Vauxhall respectively, I find it amusing that you would think I would be confronted by anything at SoAS. SoAS is overwhelmingly conformist.

If you want to see the real breakdown of difference, visit an inner city council estate, go to Singapore, get on a Budget Airline, go to a gig, spend a week in a package holiday resort. But then there are no middle class diversity officers making these places the melting pots of humanity that they are. Spontaneous progress is anathema to those who seek to assert their own power.

If I were still at SoAS now this issue would get about as much attention as the SU activities got when I was there. Which is to say none. It’s something to keep the little rich kids happy (and warm up their CVs for high office) whilst everyone else gets on with their lives.

SOAS, MSc International Politics, 2008 ... See all content Hide content

3 months, 4 weeks ago by astateofdenmark on Wordpress

22 – Which is, of course precisely what I said. Having taken a sociology paper during my degree, I am aware of the theory. Having, however, read for a History degree, I am able to articulate the ideas in ways that don’t immediately slide into opaque pomo bollocks.

3 months, 4 weeks ago by Tim J on Wordpress

We trannies are sick of being shunted to the very end of LGBT, I can tell you.

And we want our own loos, too!

Here’s something newsworthy you may have missed:

http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/casualties_of_diversity/

chin chin !

3 months, 4 weeks ago by Fifi Throckmorton on Wordpress

Being one, I can understand the desire on the part of straight white men to have some kind of identity to cling to, analogous to the women’s movement, the LGBT movement or membership of a particular ethnic minority. After all, belonging to social groupings with something in common is part of the human experience. But I just don’t think this is a good idea.

I think I’d have less trouble with this if it wasn’t attempting to shoehorn gender, race *and* sexuality into one monolithic identity. If the idea was for a men’s officer then there are problems, but it at least makes sense along with a women’s officer. Whereas a straight white men’s officer seems move defined by the groups that it excludes than anything else. At the very least, I’d be willing to bet that not only are an overwhelming majority of the students there straight, but that this is still overwhelmingly seen as the default position. It is only in conjunction with the other two that straight identity even makes sense… ... See all content Hide content

3 months, 4 weeks ago by Pejar on Wordpress

PS- Sorry if that seems a bit Marcus. But it all just seems a bit pointless to be reading the same things over & over.

3 months, 4 weeks ago by asquith on Wordpress

Laurie Penny makes the case for the Straight White Men’s Officer at SOAS: http://bit.ly/2MppcE

3 months, 4 weeks ago by randomvariable on Twitter

@Tim J, 4

“the appointment of officers to oversee this difficult process of recognition could well help the white, straight young men of today identify and position themselves in solidarity with women, queer people and other minorities.

Christ, must we? I’d always assumed that it was one of the benefits of being white, male and straight that one didn’t have to identify on a racial, sexual or sexuality basis.”

NB:

‘it is the dominant race that reserves for itself the luxury of dismissing racial identity while the oppressed race is made daily aware of their racial identity’ (bell hooks,1981 p.138) ... See all content Hide content

3 months, 4 weeks ago by stoat on Wordpress

Well now.

I first starting sucking cocks purely for fun but then found out I could get sweets and even money for my passion.

You wouldn’t believe the things I can now do with my asshole, even though it does need a restitching every month or so.

When I am having that done I make money by getting Eva-Jane to sit on my mummies face on the stage of my hilarious new play ‘Anal Parting’ financed by taxpayers money and I merely get daddy to wank me off to the tune of Das Kapital until I climax over the two most important skanks in my life.

Simples. ... See all content Hide content

4 months ago by DHG on Wordpress

on subject of discrimination in academe, I recently attended an economics seminar in which a male academic presented what i thought was a thoughtful if technically demanding attempt to answer an important research question, and afterward a female colleague dismissed all that maths as just “cock waving”* and her friends agreed and laughed.

What would be the mirror situation, gender wise? Perhaps a woman academic presenting some non-mathematical, qualitative research, being dismissed as just “fanny farting” (?!) by male academics?

Of course, we wouldn’t want men hearing such a comment to agree and laugh, but that’s life; things aren’t symmetrical, and I didn’t get upset to hear women saying something sexist about a man’s work.

If a “fanny farting” attitude toward qualitative research by female academics was prevalent in a male-dominated department, that’d be cause for concern today, right? [perhaps it is, and it is].

Is the day far off when a female dominated department might start being dismissive in a sexist sort of way about men doing maths-heavy research? In many ways, I hope not – I’d prefer it without the dismissiveness, but I think it might come with the territory.

I know it’s deeply silly to suggest white men get discriminated against in any important way today; the cards are still very much stacked in our favour. But as far as I can see human beings in institutions tend to act stupidly and be prejudiced against “others”, so if we do get into a situation where certain institutions are dominated by what are today’s minorities, I sort of expect them to start being unfair to everyone else. I’ve really not noticed any tendency for women to be less mocking of men than vice versa, for instance, even though the power relationships today are clearly not nearly equal. So maybe this SOAS idea has its merits, without Laurie’s hope it’ll teach us the arts of listening, sharing and solidarity**.

this is off the cuff thinking, and if I give this topic a bit more thought, I may be deeply embarrassed by the above … this is why I prefer to comment anonymously

* dsquared can tell you about the infamous maths cock. What’s does saying male economists use maths as a cock display count as … “sexist but true”? what else goes in that category?

** because, right, men don’t know how to do those already, you sexist pig. ... See all content Hide content

4 months ago by Luis Enrique on Wordpress

Penny:

That white, straight males are finally recognising themselves as the minority group they have always been in reality is a positive development, and the appointment of officers to oversee this difficult process of recognition could well help the white, straight young men of today identify and position themselves in solidarity with women, queer people and other minorities.

Or they will just continue to be the ‘default group’ against whom everyone else defines themselves.

The gradual movement of today’s young, white, straight men towards a positive identity model deserves all the support it can garner. Last week, Courtney Martin reported in The American Prospect on a recent conference, led by men, on the fight to build a new ‘feminist masculinity’: “There are legions of progressive men … who are struggling to redefine masculinity and live that redefinition every day. They have the opportunity to shed their socialized skin and all the anxiety that comes with trying to be a ‘tough guy’ and make a happy life defined, not by their paycheck or their size, but by their humanity. Fighting against the world that we don’t want is a critical first step, but fighting for the world that we do want is where liberation truly begins.”

This is welcome, but gives the impression of the same ‘male feminist’ strategies of the 1980s (not that women were convinced by them then). It boils down to the problem of being members of a group who will have to somehow turn ‘don’t be a dickhead’ into a functional identity politics and alternative idea of masculinity. I’m sure such solidarity with women, LGBT communities, etc.would be welcome, but I’m not sure what causes such groups would be in solidarity with SWM over in return. ... See all content Hide content

4 months ago by redpesto on Wordpress

12 – I wasn’t at Stans! And ours was a ‘men’s officer’ tout court, rather than specifically being for white straight ones. If we had had a white straight men’s club, I would have scorned it as utterly as I did our SU rep, or for that matter our JCR as a whole.

I was never a fan of student identity politics anyway. If you like rugby/cricket/early medieval drama then go and join a society that lets you do them. I don’t need a club to be a white straight man (and if I do, there’s always the Carlton…). ... See all content Hide content

4 months ago by Tim J on Wordpress

Richard @ 11:

I’m not quite sure why you keep saying that straight white men are “privileged”

The notion is that they are privileged all other things being equal. So a working class SWM is privileged compared to a working class gay white male, or a working class straight white woman, etc. Personally I think this falls into a category of ‘true but useless’ statements, since all other things very rarely are equal; people are individuals and cannot be analysed purely through the prism of sexuality, gender or ethnicity.

I’d regard the appointment of a SWM officer as a backwards step, since it would seem to move us further away from the point where such officers are no longer necessary. I’ve always thought that the goal should not be to reduce straight white men to a minority (note: they’re already a numerical minority, of course, but I believe that in these contexts ‘minority’ relates more to status than to numbers, cf. women as a ‘minority’) but to promote equality, such that nobody is in a minority or, if they are, they’re in a minority of one, same as everyone else. ... See all content Hide content

4 months ago by Rob on Wordpress

Now, should all universities have straight, white male officers, or just those where SWMs are the minority? I say, they all should. As it stands, as a SWM, I’m the only gender/sexuality/race not catered for by a Union officer at my university. Is this fair? Or am I being picky and missing the bigger picture?

Really? So they have separate union officers for straight white females, gay white females, gay white males, gay black males, gay black females, straight black males, straight black females, gay arabic males, etc, etc, ad nauseum?

If you define your identity as the intersection of all your possible group identities, it’s no wonder you’re in the minority.

I’m the only straight, white, male, 35-45, AB1, long-haired, beardy, allotment-holding, mandola-playing, computer-programming craft brewer in the village. ... See all content Hide content

4 months ago by Dunc on Wordpress

I’m not quite sure why you keep saying that straight white men are “privileged”? Aren’t any straight white men at SOAS from working class backgrounds at SOAS? If not, then the lauded reasons for introducing tuition fees (”gets more working class kids into university” etc) have failed.

4 months ago by Richard Blogger on Wordpress

As a white straight male I think this is a barmy idea. I do not need a bunch of self-appointed do-gooders to represent me. For all I know we have nothing else in common.

4 months ago by Richard on Wordpress

I like the piece. Pedantically though:

No evidence has yet come to light of such students facing racist, sexist or heterophobic discrimination on campus. James, 25, who studied Arabic at SOAS, told me that “as a white male in an aggressively diverse environment, I never felt anything other than welcome, really.”

…I’m not sure you’d be willing to accept one anecdote from a black female student who had a great time and felt welcome at Oxford as proving the university’s assertion that “there isn’t any discrimination”. ... See all content Hide content

4 months ago by john b on Wordpress

Great article. Can’t believe it’s the same Penny Red.

Bravo!

4 months ago by Clarice on Wordpress

I seem to remember that my college appointed a men’s officer for the JCR. Unfortunately, no-one seemed to have the faintest idea what he was supposed to do. On the other hand, I never felt remotely represented by the University Student Union but hardly felt it as a terrible gulf in my university experience.

the appointment of officers to oversee this difficult process of recognition could well help the white, straight young men of today identify and position themselves in solidarity with women, queer people and other minorities.

Christ, must we? I’d always assumed that it was one of the benefits of being white, male and straight that one didn’t have to identify on a racial, sexual or sexuality basis. ... See all content Hide content

4 months ago by Tim J on Wordpress

Something similar was proposed at St Anne’s College, Oxford last year – http://bit.ly/9R0IN

I think there is a serious issue about representation and minorities here, but unfortunately (especially in the guardian article on the matter) it got buried in yet another discussion of state vs privately educated students at Oxbridge. They’re not the same issue, surely?

4 months ago by Caroline Crampton on Wordpress

RT @libcon: :: A Straight White Men's Officer at SOAS..? http://bit.ly/4hxHi7

4 months ago by Hannah Mudge on Wordpress

SOAS are debating a straight white male union officer. http://bit.ly/1dA4YQ

4 months ago by duncanrobinson on Wordpress

Rather a good article on a potential SOAS 'Straight White Men's Officer' at @libcon: http://bit.ly/2MppcE

4 months ago by ralasdair on Wordpress