Strand: The Perks of Being White and Male

Lest anybody be offended by the title of this post, let me explain. I read through Mark Strand's Selected Poems and something struck me about halfway through. Strand writes poems about normal pictures and gives those poems normal titles; but normal may be a dangerous word to use, so let's call them simple and ordinary. This is quite a change from the poetry of Forche and Rich. I'm not sure I once considered anything political while reading Strand, which was a relief at first but something I eventually questioned. Why does he, a contemporary of other very political poets, choose to depict the scenes that he does--pretty unaffecting, unless, of course, you're moved by a man dancing to invisible music--instead of the politically charged atmosphere of the 60s and 70s? Is it just too easy to get caught up in world events and argue for or against them? too hard? I asked these questions between each turn of the page. And then, when I got to the end of the book, I looked at the back cover of my edition. There rested a black and white photograph of a man slightly resembling my grandfather--he's an aging Caucasian gentleman. While I would not normally give writer demographics much consideration, I think I may have used this photograph to answer my aforementioned questions. Mark Strand is a member of the human category long known as the ruling class in most of the world: white men. Perhaps it was just my mood when I read his poems, but I'm not sure it was. I think that he can write poems about issues rarely bigger than himself and his immediate world simply because he can. Poets like Rich and Forche are the "have-nots" in a writing community controlled by white men, although, thank God, I think it may be starting to change. Strand's only a minority in the American literary world because he's originally Canadian, but that's not such a big deal. He can write about nursing-home-porch-sitters and tell stories of his life and consider the passage of time over a slab of meat. I think that writing about this content may be more difficult for poets like Rich and Forche because, as females, it may be necessary to approach writing as a member of the non-ruling class.
In hindsight, I can't stop thinking that maybe minority poets, minority being anything but white and male, have to write poems about the un-ordinary in order to demand respect. Perhaps it's like getting a driver's license: anybody can drive without it, but it's illegal in this culture to do so. Anybody can write poetry and write it well, but until they get the old white head-nod, the work is unaccepted.
Disclaimer #1: Please notice the "may be"--this is all conjecture and if it's offensive or just plain wrong I'm pleading poetic ignorance.
Disclaimer #2: I do realize, as well, that what I've proposed is by no means a truism for both genders of poets. I understand that there are female poets who use the same content as Strand and that there are male poets who are very political. This was just something interesting that struck me.
P.S. In no way am I trying to slight Strand; I think his poetry is very very good, and he does tricks with language that I can only dream about. He just happens to be white and male.