White Men Aren't

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Men&
Cover of the book White Men Aren't by Thomas DiPiero, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Thomas DiPiero ISBN: 9780822383949
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: September 9, 2002
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Thomas DiPiero
ISBN: 9780822383949
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: September 9, 2002
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

Psychoanalytic theory has traditionally taken sexual difference to be the fundamental organizing principle of human subjectivity. White Men Aren’t contests that assumption, arguing that other forms of difference—particularly race—are equally important to the formation of identity. Thomas DiPiero shows how whiteness and masculinity respond to various, complex cultural phenomena through a process akin to hysteria and how differences traditionally termed “racial” organize psychic, social, and political life as thoroughly as sexual difference does. White masculinity is fraught with anxiety, according to DiPiero, because it hinges on the unstable construction of white men’s cultural hegemony. White men must always struggle against the loss of position and the fear of insufficiency—against the specter of what they are not.

Drawing on the writings of Freud, Lacan, Butler, Foucault, and Kaja Silverman, as well as on biology, anthropology, and legal sources, Thomas DiPiero contends that psychoanalytic theory has not only failed to account for the role of race in structuring identity, it has in many ways deliberately ignored it. Reading a wide variety of texts—from classical works such as Oedipus Rex and The Iliad to contemporary films including Boyz 'n' the Hood and Grand Canyon—DiPiero reveals how the anxiety of white masculine identity pervades a surprising range of Western thought, including such ostensibly race-neutral phenomena as Englightenment forms of reason.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Psychoanalytic theory has traditionally taken sexual difference to be the fundamental organizing principle of human subjectivity. White Men Aren’t contests that assumption, arguing that other forms of difference—particularly race—are equally important to the formation of identity. Thomas DiPiero shows how whiteness and masculinity respond to various, complex cultural phenomena through a process akin to hysteria and how differences traditionally termed “racial” organize psychic, social, and political life as thoroughly as sexual difference does. White masculinity is fraught with anxiety, according to DiPiero, because it hinges on the unstable construction of white men’s cultural hegemony. White men must always struggle against the loss of position and the fear of insufficiency—against the specter of what they are not.

Drawing on the writings of Freud, Lacan, Butler, Foucault, and Kaja Silverman, as well as on biology, anthropology, and legal sources, Thomas DiPiero contends that psychoanalytic theory has not only failed to account for the role of race in structuring identity, it has in many ways deliberately ignored it. Reading a wide variety of texts—from classical works such as Oedipus Rex and The Iliad to contemporary films including Boyz 'n' the Hood and Grand Canyon—DiPiero reveals how the anxiety of white masculine identity pervades a surprising range of Western thought, including such ostensibly race-neutral phenomena as Englightenment forms of reason.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Nation Within by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Transforming the Public Sphere by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Recognition Odysseys by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Exile and Pride by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Nature in the Global South by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book The Unvarnished Doctrine by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Mohawk Interruptus by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Greening Brazil by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Subject to Colonialism by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Blood and Culture by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Sexuation by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book How Nature Speaks by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Expecting Pears from an Elm Tree by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Shows of Force by Thomas DiPiero
Cover of the book Insurgent Encounters by Thomas DiPiero
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy