Historical Biography - United States - 20th Century, Gender Studies - General & Miscellaneous, Intellectuals - Biography, Sex Role - United States, Discrimination & Prejudice - General, Racial Discrimination, United States - Ethnic & Race Relations, Socia

Invisible Privilege

Name: Invisible Privilege
Author: Paula Rothenberg
ISBN: 9780700610044

by Paula Rothenberg

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Overview

Life began for Paula Rothenberg in a privileged home in New York City, but it took her to the battlefields of the culture wars on behalf of the underprivileged. Now this veteran of that cultural clash examines the subtle and complex ways in which issues of race, class, and gender impact people's lives.

A prominent figure in the creation of women's studies and multicultural studies as academic disciplines, Rothenberg is perhaps best known for her textbook Race, Class and Gender in the United States, which was widely attacked by conservatives defending traditional curricula. Now she shows how higher education upholds race, class, and gender bias, and, more generally, analyzes the ways in which many white people's unwavering belief in their own good intentions leaves them blind to their societal privilege and their role in perpetuating class difference.

In this candid look at social and academic realities, Rothenberg shares incidents from her own life and the lives of family and friends to show how privilege is constructed and to reveal the forces that make us unaware of it. Through recollections of her childhood in an upper middle class Jewish family and her college years in the early sixties, she tells how she discovered that the world one takes for granted as "everyday life" is in fact riddled with privilege of which we are unaware.

Reviewing the social upheaval of the seventies that challenged fundamental assumptions about gender roles, race relations, and even the nature of the family, Rothenberg tells how she gained a new understanding of what it meant to be an educator and activist. In sharing events surrounding the publication of Race, Class and Gender, she offers an inside look at the culture wars and brings her story into the '90s with a cogent discussion of hate speech and the "political correctness" controversy.

Rothenberg recalls the early mobilization against sexual harassment and recounts what it was like to create one of the first feminist philosophy courses. She also offers a hard-hitting critique of current teaching practices and a response to critics of multi-culturalism and feminism--as well as a look at how de facto segregation continues in American education in the form of tracking.

Both deeply personal and broadly social, this finely crafted memoir will capture the interest of anyone who cares about the future of education, race relations, feminism, and social justice.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Philosopher Rothenberg became a bogeywoman in the early 1990s PC wars when her textbook, Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, was attacked by conservatives. Now, in an episodic memoir, she aims to 'reflect in a more personal way on what it means to be a privileged white woman coming to terms with that privilege and acquiring some deeper understanding of the ways in which race, class, and gender difference is constructed.' Gender was her first frontier: in addition to growing up in a patriarchal family and enduring sexist taunts during adolescence, she faced discomfiting teachers at the University of Chicago and was sexually assaulted by a member of her dissertation committee. Later, anti-Vietnam War activism and a leftist study group awakened her to a broader critique of America's social structure. In 1980, she began co-teaching classes on racism and sexism at William Paterson University in New Jersey. . . . Rothenberg writes with refreshing candor: in one vignette, for example, she acknowledges that her family ties gave her the financial wherewithal to buy a home. She argues convincingly that a decision to 'teach tolerance' in response to the sometimes hostile relations between college students ignores 'the real differences in power and opportunity' that originally caused the divisions. And her criticism of the ways well-intentioned liberals 'jealously guard' privilege for their own children is often potent. . .

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Philosopher Rothenberg became a bogeywoman in the early 1990s PC wars when her textbook, Race, Class and Gender in the United States, was attacked by conservatives. Now, in an episodic memoir, she aims to "reflect in a more personal way on what it means to be a privileged white woman coming to terms with that privilege and acquiring some deeper understanding of the ways in which race, class, and gender difference is constructed." Gender was her first frontier: in addition to growing up in a patriarchal family and enduring sexist taunts during adolescence, she faced discomfiting teachers at the University of Chicago and was sexually assaulted by a member of her dissertation committee. Later, anti-Vietnam War activism and a leftist study group awakened her to a broader critique of America's social structure. In 1980, she began co-teaching classes on racism and sexism at William Paterson University in New Jersey. Despite some academic jargon, Rothenberg writes with refreshing candor: in one vignette, for example, she acknowledges that her family ties gave her the financial wherewithal to buy a home. She argues convincingly that a decision to "teach tolerance" in response to the sometimes hostile relations between college students ignores "the real differences in power and opportunity" that originally caused the divisions. And her criticism of the ways well-intentioned liberals "jealously guard" privilege for their own children is often potent, though her account of racism in New Jersey's educational "tracking" system leaves lingering questions about how and when such liberals should best make their sacrifice. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal

This book presents one woman's story of her life viewed through the lenses of gender, class, and race. Rothenberg examines the ways, both positive and negative, in which these three factors have shaped her experiences and opportunities. The purpose of this self-examination of privilege is to "uncover the forces that often render it invisible to those who benefit from it most." By turning the microscope on herself, she hopes to explore the unspoken privileges of the white middle class in the United States. Her previous work, the college text Race, Class and Gender in the United States, was one of the first contemporary texts on diversity and met with a firestorm of criticism, especially from the Right, which vilified her for starting the political correctness movement. Although she does shed some interesting light on the ways race, class, and gender influence life in the United States, sometimes the reader is left wondering whether she doesn't go overboard in her analysis. Recommended for academic libraries.--Roseanne Castellino, Arthur D. Little, Cambridge, MA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Booknews

Rothenberg, an educator and activist who is probably best known for her textbook , explores her perceptions and the realities of social and academic privilege over the course of her life. She begins with memories of her Jewish upper-middleclass childhood, then discusses her college years in the 60s, the social upheaval of the seventies, personal events surrounding the publication of her book, and the current controversies over hate speech and political correctness. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)