Sociologist Michael Kimmel, author of “Angry White Men,” offered an optimistic approach to combating “white male rage” at Sunday’s Monadnock Summer Lyceum at Peterborough Unitarian Universalist Church, arguing the case that gender equity holds the key to a stronger, more-peaceful society.  

Kimmel, who is also the author of  “Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men,” is an international consultant in gender studies. Kimmel said the reasons for white male rage, including isolation, depression and loneliness, are well documented, but the solutions are harder to pin down.

“White male rage has led to events like the shooting in Charlottesville and Jan. 6; the anger is a symptom of isolation,” Kimmel said in the introduction to his speech.

Kimmel was introduced by Adar Cohen, an internationally known lecturer and consultant in conflict resolution and author of “Jimmie Lee and James: Two Lives, Two Deaths and the Movement That Changed America,” about the Civil Rights Movement. Cohen, who lives in Peterborough, is also known for his Ted Talks on collaboration and communication. 

According to Kimmel, most men are “not aware that they have a gender.”

“For many white men, race and gender are things that other people have. They do not realize how their race and gender impacts their life, because people cannot see their own privilege. Privilege is invisible to those who have it,” Kimmel said. “If we are bringing men into the gender conversation, we have to understand how gender matters to them.” 

Kimmel described a panel between a Black woman and a white woman in which the white woman said that “all women have the same experiences as woman; all women are treated the same way.”

“Then the Black woman said, ‘I’m not so sure about that. I’m a Black woman, but you don’t see it,’” Kimmel recalled. “That was the day I realized class, race and gender are also about me. I joke that that was the day I became a middle-class white man.” 

Kimmel believes the  solution to white male rage  “is very simple -- it’s gender equity.” 

Kimmel cited data indicating that men in equitable relationships, in which both partners share responsibilities, are happier and healthier, and that children and women also benefit from more equally shared responsibilities. Kimmel noted that when men help with housework, it is often stated that they are “helping out” or “pitching in,” when in fact, they are sharing in responsibilities with their partner. 

Kimmel added a caveat that while men are “more involved on their children’s lives than any men in the history of the world,” women still bear more of the burden of housework.

Kimmel also spoke to the road of unconscious bias in society.

“We all have bias. We’re not doing it on purpose, which is what the ’unconscious’ means, and it goes both ways, but it has a major impact,” Kimmel said.

Kimmel cited a sociological study on gender which provided identical resumes to human resources professionals, with the only difference being a male name or a female name. In the study, 75% of the professionals ranked the “male” resume higher than the “female” resume.

“And it was a female resume,” Kimmel said. “That is unconscious bias. The reviewers were perceiving that the male candidate was stronger, based only on the perception that they were male. 

Kimmel also described the experience of being on a talk show with the topic “A Black Woman Stole My Job,” featuring a panel of white men who felt they were being unfairly discriminated against due to their race and gender.

“The question was, why did they think it was ‘their’ job?”  Kimmel said. “It is ‘a’ job. That is privilege.”

According to Kimmel, there is extensive data indicating the benefits of gender equity from the personal level to the corporate and professional. 

“It is proven that the more gender-balanced a company is, the more profitable it is, the more stable. There is lower turnover; companies do not have to waste resources constantly bringing in new people. Gender equity is good for business,” Kimmel said. 

When a member of the audience asked Kimmel how he got interested in gender studies, he described the experience of driving women in crisis to a safe house and hearing their stories. 

“I was only in that situation because my girlfriend at the time could not drive a stick shift, so I was the driver. I was so inspired by these women that I wanted to work with them but my girlfriend said, ‘You can’t. There are no men allowed at the shelter. Why you go talk to the men who do this to them?’ So I did.” 

Singer Amy Connolly provided music for Sunday’s event. The Aug. 4 speaker is Laurie R. Shaffer, who will present “The Deaf Community: Repaving the Road of Good Intentions” at 11 a.m. For information about the Monadnock Summer Lyceum, go to monadnocklyceum.org.