Critical Analysis Of White Guy Habitus In The Classroom

As a male student taking a women’s gender and sexuality studies class with an open mind, I was caught off guard with the article “White Guy Habitus in the Classroom” by Michael Messner. He argues in it that female professors and professors of color are in a double bind with respect to their status as professionals, and also gives reasoning as to why an unpacking of straight white male privilege is important towards the move for social justice. Prior to the reading, I had no idea what to expect because the language in the title was unfamiliar to me, i.e. I did not know what habitus meant. Suddenly, I realized my perception of what a teacher is “supposed to look like” was being addressed and challenged. It was a shock to my psyche because there

The preconceived notions we tend to burden can have a snowball effect, ingraining the same potentially damaging ideas into our children, grandchildren, and so on , especially because there is likely no recognition of an issue present in the first place. The white guy habitus we carry in our mind, generally unbeknownst to us, impairs the learning environment and too easily discredits qualified professionals that are women or of color. The bias we have towards white men in the classroom only contributes to the structural gender disparity that is apparent in the world, and particularly in the United States. Messner points out that nonwhite male professors are not only judged by students comparatively worse, but that judgements of white male professors are simultaneously boosted up in the student’s mind without their awareness. White male professors can easily capitalize on the advantage affecting their quality of teaching because their class

We live in a progressive society so I am not worried about the change not occurring and the social justice not developing. The worry is that we may never recognize largely important issues because they are so ingrained in the way we think, much like a racist does not know any better because they were raised in an environment where racism was accepted and probably was the norm. In the same way, conceptions by students of what a professor is “supposed to look like” decreases the richness of the learning environment in classes taught by professors that are women or of color. Furthermore, it disadvantages these professors by reducing their chances of gaining tenure or getting a raise, and ironically reproduces, in the classroom, the race and gender inequalities that education aims to