New Student Group at UChicago: Men in Power

next quarter will feature a number of events aimed to raise the profile of Men in Power on campus. Firstly, we will be hosting weekly study breaks/screenings of movement-oriented films, including: A Few Good Men, 12 Angry Men, Men of Honor (and many other Cuba Gooding Jr. masterpieces), All the President’s Men, and–of course–X-Men.
Additional upcoming events will include an open-mic night on issues concerning body image, a tutorial on barbecuing, and our much-anticipated workshop “Protecting What’s Yours: Drafting a Prenuptial Agreement.” Given the lack of similar groups on campus, MiP will have to establish a broad base, merging social issues and activities with a pre-professional slant. Through our fishing, hunting, and flag-football retreats, we hope to cultivate close relationships with many individuals and organizations in different sectors of power–including business, politics, and academia.

But then ol’ Steve started to get emails from people actually interested in joining and he decided–gosh darn it–there was a need for such a group on his campus. Many of our readers have sent us the article, wondering what we think here at feministing. I can’t speak for my co-editors, but I can tell you what I think.
I think Steve would be totally radical if he would spend less time providing networking opportunities for men on his campus (one of the goals of Men in Power) and more time deconstructing what “power” actually means. You see, that was the analysis always missing from that old Columbia blowhard bully’s repertoire.
The reality is that a certain kind of power still rests squarely in the hands of a very small number of white people, usually white men, usually Western white men. I’m talking about power that comes in the form of college degrees from fancy schools, inherited wealth, access to other wealthy people who can fund/employ/encourage you, the capacity to walk into a job interview and not have any of the following questions going through a potential employer’s mind (Will she have babies and leave the company? Will her looks be distracting? Will s/he fit into this environment given that we don’t have many people “like” him/her?), a childhood home far from toxic chemical plants and/or gang violence etc. etc. etc.
Chances are that Steve has a lot of the kind of power I just described. Maybe not, but I’d put money on it. My guess is that Steve doesn’t have a whole lot of another kind of power: one born of authenticity, wisdom, humility, empathy.
This whole group seems like a pretty hair-brained scheme to get himself some attention and test out how the world will react to a reactive group. And he’s getting attention, indeed. But he’s not gaining wisdom if he thinks that putting his energy into organizing networking opportunities for already privileged dudes is where his happiness is going to take root. As those of us who have been around the block a few times, met our share of blowhard Ivy Leaguers, faced them down with tears in our eyes, know: happiness comes from getting to be who you truly are while owning the privilege you come from, and working to dismantle it because you want to be part of a more just world, not a cog in the wheel of the current broken system.
Steve didn’t ask for my advice, but if he did, I would tell him to take a step back and use some of that energy, humor, conviction, and creativity to start an organization that gets men and women to think together about ways to make the world more equal, more just, and a more hospitable place for all of us. I’ll give my guru Audre Lorde the last word on this one:

The true focus of revolutionary change is never the oppressive situations which we seek to escape, but that piece of the oppressor which is planted deep within us.

Thanks to all the readers who wrote in asking for our take on this issue.