Locker Room Talk by Stephen Dunn

In “Locker Room Talk”, Stephen Dunn makes the argument that locker room talk, rather than be the demonstration of power and self-worth, is about the bonding of men over not relinquishing power to women. I found Dunn’s choice of word, “complicitous”, to be intriguing: part of his embarrassment towards the man in the locker room was from being an accomplice to the story. Whether Dunn liked it or not, he was a member of a particular group of people, locker room men. The idea that people belong in groups and inherit stereotypes and expectations from these groups is shared between this story and the previous story, “Black Men and Public Space”. It is interesting how this story highlights how the “us” versus “them” mentality can bring a group of people together, even when its members might no want to be associated in the “us” group.
When I was still in the architecture program, I remember how embarrassed I felt during Dragon Day week. The mentality the first year architecture students place themselves in during this week is one of “us versus engineers”. The architects build a dragon; the engineers build a phoenix. The architects make fun of engineering students by dressing up like nerds; the engineers…work. I felt awkward for being a part of the architects group when in actuality I felt that there ought not be a separation between the two, and if anything, the engineers were superior.