I Don't Fit the Stereotype

These past few weeks, our class has mainly discussed the topic of equality. This was viewed from the perspective of women, African-Americans, homosexuals, a combination of the three, and men who are considered to be feminine because of their interests and style. In most, if not all, of these articles, the antagonists were either men in general, white men, or men who were seen by the general public as 'masculine'. Being a white man that fits the stereotypical description of a man, I get mixed feelings from reading these texts.

First off, I understand in full why these different groups of society are saying what they're saying and why they're saying it. Since the Stone Age, white men have oppressed hundreds, if not thousands, of different groups of people; furthermore, it's because of this that equality is even an issue in the world today, so the reasoning behind these arguments seems completely valid. But if someone were to read  all of these articles with no bias whatsoever, they would probably get the impression that white men are discriminatory a-holes. Whether these authors are trying to say this or not, anyone who read these articles would see that the general view towards white men is negative, and I am insulted by this. Even though I'm a white male of the middle class who thoroughly enjoys sports and other 'masculine' things, I am in no way discriminatory. I treat everybody exactly the same no matter their race, religion, or sexuality. Incidentally,  I was put in quite a complicated position when forced to respond to these articles. If I agreed with them, I would be basically insulting myself, but if I disagreed, I would look like I was one of these discriminatory a-hole's the authors are talking about. 

All in all, I value equality with extreme significance in my life and believe that it plays a vital role in the success of our country; however, it was very unfair and very agitating to be compelled to discuss this topic for the entire month of February.