Brené Brown describes herself as a studier of “courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy” (About, Brown). She currently is a research professor at the University of Houston and a visiting professor in management at the University of Texas. Over the past 20 years, Brown has written five #1 New York Times bestsellers, hosted two Podcasts, given one of the top five most viewed TED talks (ever), and became the first researcher to film a Netflix lecture. She believes that vulnerability is the path to courage, and while discomfort is to be expected, we are capable of arriving at our bravery.
Professor Stephen Mack writes to redefine our contemporary conception of the public intellectual. He focuses on the idea that “we need to be more concerned with the work public intellectuals must do, irrespective of who happens to be doing it” (Mack, Are Public Intellectuals a Thing of The Past). We need to prioritize the ‘function’ of an individual’s work, instead of their credentials. The ‘function’ of all public intellectuals, according to Mack, is to criticize some aspect of society. Brown is the epitome of a public intellectual that is merited for her accumulation of knowledge by means of hard work and passion. She was not born into a situation that called on her to share her wisdom, in fact, her life leading up to her successes appears average. She is a white, Catholic woman from San Antonio, Texas. She was born into a middle-class family, is the oldest of four children, graduated with a BSW from the University of Texas Austin, and received her Ph.D. and MSW from the University of Houston. Of course, Brown faced a handful of challenges over the years, mostly having to do with addictions to alcohol, smoking, emotional eating, and control. However, we all have personal battles, and Brown, overall, experienced an ‘ordinary’ upbringing and early adulthood.
Our society has developed an expectation that the people who hold the most valuable wisdom are those who survived the dramas and are guided by an existential duty to share their stories. While life-altering experiences are compelling and often invite a change in perspective, not all sagacity is a consequence of trauma or destiny. ‘Enlightenment’ may occur through a commitment to studying and enthusiasm to serve the public. Brown is the type of person that did not have a defining moment of clarity. Her lessons are rooted in stories that are relatable to people leading standard lives, and therein lies the appeal to her audience. Her reader is able to swap out the characters in her scenarios with the people in his own life. Her viewer will implement the parenting tips or marriage enhancers into her own home without panic; if Brown, a woman so simplistic in nature can do it, so can I. Brown is a universal figure who resonates with people because she is speaking from a place of unextraordinary reality. She defies the notion that great knowledge comes only from those with honorary titles or phenomenal experiences.
The other component of Mack’s argument is that the public intellectual is tasked with criticism. On the surface, Brown’s lectures do not sound like an explicit form of criticism because her intent is to uplift her audience, not to sound cynical. However, the premise of her arguments involves an acknowledgment and dissection of the troubles of life. In providing examples of the nuances that challenge us every day, she is criticizing the true essence of being human. However, the conversation does not stop with the breakdown of our day-to-day obstacles, Brown is so beloved because she volunteers solutions or helpful tactics to make these hardships less tolling. The criticism does not unfold without a silver lining.
Brown has tips on how to manage the anxiety that arises from a variety of circumstances. I am a frequent listener to both of Brown’s Podcasts, and I most recently listened to the episode ‘Brené on Shame and Accountability” in Unlocking Us. This was a very dynamic show that covers a lot of material, but let us hone in on the topic of shame, and to use the assumption that Brown’s objective is to criticize a ‘shame’ as a social reality, then reimagine shame to improve our experiences when we encounter it. Brown begins by identifying shame as something we all have and that we do not want to address. The definition of shame which she stands by is “shame is the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love, belonging, and connection’”(Brown, Brené on Shame and Accountability). Once she establishes shame as an oppressive, shared human sentiment, she jumps into her criticism. Shame, she explains, is dehumanizing and terminates our ability to feel empathy; it is not a beneficial social justice tool. She gives examples of why we should not use shame as a form of retaliation and how it limits our emotional capacity to connect with others. As a listener, I have joined Brown in realizing my own moments of shame and understanding the ways it does not serve me or society. She categorizes the problems surrounding shame to which we are blind because our engagement in both feeling shame and practicing shaming is so frequented and normalized. We do not even realize the detriments of this construct because we have never known life without it.
After identifying how shame manifests itself negatively throughout our culture, Brown describes how we can combat its effects. As Brown provides alternative courses of action to avoid getting caught up in the turmoil of shame, her justification for critiquing it in the first place is furthered because an existence without the harsh rule of shame seems dramatically more fulfilling than a life weighed down by its tyranny. Brown recommends that we regulate our response to shame by reorganizing our thoughts and taking action; we need to ask ourselves “‘What am I going to do differently? How am I going to show up differently? What choices, different choices, am I going to make moving forward? how am I going to think about the language that I’m using? And how am I going to think about how I’m showing up”’ (Ibid, Brown). Continuing, she recommends that we know our physical symptoms of shame, the way our body reacts before we have mentally processed the feeling; “label what’s happening, acknowledge what’s happening, so [you] can regulate and appropriately feel [your] way through what’s happening” (Ibid).
To some, this self-talk may seem like a scam, but to others, like myself, who believe in the power of our internal dialogues, this advice is priceless. The reason that Brown has reached her level of success and influenced so many across the world is that her solutions are accessible. Her self-help mechanisms do not require us to spend money on a therapist or medication or a pilgrimage-- her techniques to improve the quality of our lives and our relationships with ourselves are already inside of us all. She is showing us how to tap into our vulnerability and from that space of surrender, evolve and generate change. The tools that she gives, we already own but need to be reminded are available to us.
The other explanation for her reach is because her preaching is grounded in faith. Professor Mack, in a separate blog post, “Wicked Paradox: The Cleric as Public Intellectual”, claims that the work of public intellectuals is characterized by faith. Brown trusts that the human race is fit to uncover the answers to our deepest quarrels. She is devoted to the belief that people are in control of their power, and from her confidence, we derive hope for ourselves. Mack remarks that “A deep religious sensibility has the power to make us feel a real kinship with others. And kinship tempers self-interest”(Mack, Wicked Paradox). As Western society has grown more secular over the centuries, people’s conception of religion has shifted. People’s understanding of religion has taken on a far more individualized, liberated tone. The move into modernity was accompanied by a regard for spirituality, which is less about God, Jesus, and Moses, and more about mindfulness, the Universe, and ‘higher powers’. That being said, the purpose of religion, as a source of hope and intention, still presents itself in contemporary practice.
Brown does not project her religious, Catholic upbringing onto her audience, however, she does articulate the importance of faith. It is up to us where we want to place our faith, but one mandatory place is within ourselves. A communal belief in the power of our own beings unites and motivates us. Brown sermonizes a new type of spirituality that comes from within. A mindful approach to our actions and perceptions of the world around us constitutes a form of spirituality that may not resemble a generic form of religion. However, a way of trusting ourselves to embody resilience is a faith-based principal. Our collective participation in this ideology does give us a sense of kinship. Even if we do not know the people reading Brown’s books on the subway or watching her TED talk in a different country, we are connected by a shared belief in our autonomy to act as the best versions of ourselves. As we move towards a shared goal of vulnerability, authenticity, and strength, we develop compassion for those on the same journey and feel revitalized through connection. If we conceive of Brown from this viewpoint, we see she is handing us an unconventional religion.
Over the past year, the world has seen unprecedented times: a global pandemic, a narcissistic, sick, and monstrous (sorry if this offends you) president, a disgusting amount of hate crimes, a crippling spike in unemployment. The list of things that have offset our wellbeing could go on, yet we prevailed. There were scientists and front-line workers keeping us safe, but our mental health was at just as great of a risk. So many were alone and afraid. In a time of need, public intellectuals, like Brené Brown helped to soothe and recenter our spiraling emotions. Brown was first hand experiencing these tribulations as well, and that put her on a level playing field with her audience. It made her even more like ‘one of us’ than she already was. We felt inclined to listen to her because we were all suffering together and desperate for support. When we needed her most, Brown presented her theories in a way that was relatable and not overwhelming.
She is not an elitist. She is comforting but still asks us to put in work. Brown is a companion to her audience and has such an impact because her ideals are attainable to regular people. The presence of the public intellectual has not diminished in the United States, the image of what constitutes this person has just changed. The people we romanticize and put on a pedestal are growing more diverse. For centuries a working mother of four was not able to see her reflection in what Marx and Plato were discussing. The philosophies that have been fed to us throughout our education are valuable, yes, but relevant to my daily concerns, not particularly. Brown gifts a skill-set that is pertinent to our lives while remaining profound. She does not belittle our capacity for greatness or offend our intellect, but she still makes her requests manageable. She is balanced and has found the perfect path to reaching people who forget to take care of themselves. The public intellectual is still looming but she is not representative of our expectations, and her unassuming persona is what makes her so great.
Works Cited
Brown , Brené. “Brené on Shame and Accountability.” Brené Brown, 1 July 2020, brenebrown.com/transcript/brene-on-shame-and-accountability/.
“Brené Brown.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bren%C3%A9_Brown.
Mack, Stephen. “The New Democratic Review: Are Public Intellectuals a Thing of the Past? (Repost).” StephenMack.com, The Brecher Brief , 14 Aug. 2012, www.stephenmack.com/blog/archives/2012/08/are_public_inte.html.
Mack, Stephen. “The New Democratic Review: Wicked Paradox: The Cleric as Public Intellectual.” StephenMack.com, The Brecher Brief , 14 Aug. 2007, www.stephenmack.com/blog/archives/2007/08/religious_intel.html.
Comments