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ANGRY WHITE MEN
AMERICAN
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MICHAEL
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“[W]e can’t come off as a bunch of angry white men.”
Robert Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party
O ne of the enduring legacies of the 2012 presidential campaign was the demise of the white American male voter as a dominant force in the political landscape. On election night, after Obama was announced the
winner, a distressed Bill O’Reilly lamented that he didn’t live in
“a traditional America anymore.” He was joined by others who
bellowed their grief on the talk radio airwaves, the traditional
redoubt of angry white men. Why were they so angry? Sociologist
Michael Kimmel, one of the leading writers on men and
masculinity in the world today, has spent hundreds of hours in
the company of America’s angry white men—from men’s rights
activists to young students to white supremacists—in pursuit of
an answer. Angry White Men presents a comprehensive diagnosis
of their fears, anxieties, and rage.
Kimmel locates this increase in anger in the seismic
economic, social, and political shifts that have so transformed
the American landscape. Downward mobility, increased racial
and gender equality, and a tenacious clinging to an anachronistic
ideology of masculinity has left many men feeling betrayed and
bewildered. Raised to expect unparalleled social and economic
privilege, white men are suffering today from what Kimmel calls
“aggrieved entitlement”: a sense that those benefi ts that white
men believed were their due have been snatched away from them.
Angry White Men discusses, among others, the sons of small
town America, scarred by underemployment and wage stagnation.
When America’s white men feel they’ve lived their lives the “right”
way—worked hard and stayed out of trouble—and still do not get
economic rewards, then they have to blame somebody else. Even
more terrifying is the phenomenon of angry young boys. School
shootings in the United States are not just the work of “misguided
youth” or “troubled teens”—they’re all committed by boys. These
alienated young men are transformed into mass murderers by a
sense that using violence against others is their right.
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CURRENT EVENTS / SOCIOLOGY
ADVANCE P
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ANGRY WHITE MEN
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MICHAEL KIMMEL is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Stony Brook
University in New York. An author or editor of more than twenty
books, including Manhood in America, The Gendered Society,
The History of Men, and Guyland, he lives with his family in
Brooklyn, New York.
The future of America is more inclusive and diverse. The
choice for angry white men is not whether or not they can stem
the tide of history: they cannot. Their choice is whether or not
they will be dragged kicking and screaming into that inevitable
future, or whether they will walk honorably alongside those
they’ve spent so long trying to exclude. By explaining their rage,
Kimmel is able to point to a possible future that is healthier,
happier, and much less angry.
“Being white and male has brought unfair power for so long that some think it’s natural, both among those
claiming it and those suffering from it. Michael Kimmel has done us the life-saving favor of naming this delusion
that may endanger us more than any other. From executives for whom no amount of money is enough to white
supremacists for whom no amount of power is enough, from U.S. wars in which men die to U.S. domestic violence
in which even more women die, this illness is lethal for us all. Angry White Men is a brave, sane, compassionate,
and rescuing book.” —G L O R I A S T E I N E M , feminist activist and author
“White men still have most of the power and most of the money, so why do so many of them feel so victimized?
In this fascinating guided tour of the world of angry white men—Glenn Beck fans, white supremacists, school
shooters, men’s rights activists—pioneer sociologist of masculinity Michael Kimmel shows how ‘aggrieved
entitlement’ leads them to blame people of color, immigrants, liberals, intellectuals, the government, and above
all, women, for a society that is changing fast and, they fear, leaving them behind. No dry academic study, Angry
White Men is full of shrewd political analysis, empathy, and humor.” —K A T H A P O L L I T T , columnist for The Nation
“Michael Kimmel has written a comprehensive study of working and middle-class white men and described
their collective grievances with insight and compassion. In regard to those among them who ally with the far
right, he is equally insightful but justifi ably more critical; his analysis of their misdirected rage at minorities
and women is entirely persuasive. I enthusiastically recommend Angry White Men to the wide readership it has
amply earned.” —M A R T I N D U B E R M A N , professor of history emeritus at the Graduate School of the
City University of New York
“Men and women should read Angry White Men. Women will gain insights into the sources of male anger
and men will learn that increasing gender equality does not pose a threat to their masculinity. Rather, in this
rapidly changing society, Kimmel believes that women and men will be able to lead more satisfying lives.”
—M A D E L E I N E K U N I N , former governor of Vermont, author of The New Feminist Agenda: Defi ning the Next
Revolution for Women, Work, and Family and Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead
“In this timely book, Kimmel shows us that in these times, even those who have historically been powerful and
dominant are becoming victims as they fi nd themselves slipping between the cracks and falling behind. Kimmel
has his fi nger on the pulse of their anger and by revealing their fears and growing desperation, he reminds us
that their problems are ours as well.” —P E D R O N O G U E R A , Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education
at New York University
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ANGRY WHITE
MEN
9781568586960-text.indd i9781568586960-text.indd i 8/16/13 12:30 PM8/16/13 12:30 PM
Also by Michael Kimmel
The Guy’s Guide to Feminism (with Michael Kaufman)
Misframing Men: The Politics of Contemporary Masculinities
Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men
The History of Masculinity: Essays
The Gender of Desire: Essays on Masculinity and Sexuality
The Gendered Society
Manhood in America: A Cultural History
The Politics of Manhood
Against the Tide: Pro-Feminist Men in the U.S., 1776–1990
Men Confront Pornography
Men’s Lives (with Michael Messner)
Changing Men: New Directions in the Study of Men and Masculinity
Absolutism and Its Discontents: State and Society in 17th Century France and England
Revolution: A Sociological Interpretation
9781568586960-text.indd ii9781568586960-text.indd ii 8/16/13 12:30 PM8/16/13 12:30 PM
ANGRY WHITE
MEN AMERICAN MASCULINITY AT
THE END OF AN ERA
Michael Kimmel
New York
9781568586960-text.indd iii9781568586960-text.indd iii 8/16/13 12:30 PM8/16/13 12:30 PM
Copyright © 2013 by Michael Kimmel
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