I’ve been quite busy of the past several weeks with school, work and family, so I haven’t had much available time to post much. I have been working on a few things from time to time. One of these was a list of “male privilege” that is supposed to show how men have it so easy compared to women. I know its not related to religion, although I’d argue its directly related to religion, mainly because religion advocates for gender inequality. But those who want equality can’t go after religion, because some actually support religion and those religious leaders who would, if they had their way keep the playing field stacked against women as it has been for the past 2000+ years.
Now I think each gender has advantages over the other in different ways, but that’s natural human biology and psychology, so it really balances out. But the problem I see is each gender wants certain advantages the other gender has which turns things in huge messes. Now I say advantages, because they are natural in born abilities or sets of skills that give a gender something extra that unless physically modified or drug altered is incapable of doing. So let me tackle this list, which comes from this website, the origins of the list I’m unsure of, but it was Compiled by Barry Deutsch, aka “Ampersand.”
(citation: http://www.amptoons.com/blog/the-male-privilege-checklist/
The Male Privilege Checklist
1. My odds of being hired for a job, when competing against female applicants, are probably skewed in my favor. The more prestigious the job, the larger the odds are skewed.
Unless its Nursing, School Teachers, or a job where affirmative action plays a key role where employers are to ignore qualifications and go with minorities or better yet a sexist women is doing the hiring, where she believes hiring more women than men based on gender alone is doing society a good deed. So this really isn’t a “privilege” for men to have to deal with or not deal with. You know “case-by-case” basis. And where is the evidence this exists? Is it because one can step back and look at society and point to it? and that no other factor than gender plays a role in hiring? I’m a white male, why bother with education, training or experience if I can get a job over any women any day of the week.
2. I can be confident that my co-workers won’t think I got my job because of my sex – even though that might be true. (More).
If I got hired at Hooters and the manager was a women, and I was dating her, oh yeah I’d wager the servers would think I got hired for what I was doing for her, not because I’m a sexy woman. So again I fail to see where ”privilege” plays a role in other people’s biases or beliefs or how the fact of “just being a man” gives me an advantage. In our society I cannot create anything that’s “men only”, because minority rights groups would pretty quickly want admission/membership. Create a “women only” club, and try to join as a man and I wouldn’t get in or I’d be blasted for not giving women “privacy to be women”.
3. If I am never promoted, it’s not because of my sex.
And how does one prove this is a privilege? does the census ask men who were promoted if they think they got promoted based on gender and then ask their co-workers to confirm if it’s true? seriously? thinking about somebody else’s opinion is ”privilege”?
Let me stop right here and let’s properly define “privilege”.
priv·i·lege
noun \ˈpriv-lij, ˈpri-və-\
Definition of PRIVILEGE: a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor : prerogative; especially : such a right or immunity attached specifically to a position or an office.
(citation: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/privilege)
Ok, so now that we have the definition, it’ll be easier to sort through these, so far I haven’t seen a single “privilege” yet, just opinions based on bias observations and generalizing/stereotyping both genders.
4. If I fail in my job or career, I can feel sure this won’t be seen as a black mark against my entire sex’s capabilities.
Oh I can bet you that any failure of mine will be placed at the feet of my gender, not only that if I fail, I lose my family. Women like to choose men who are capable of supporting them and are financially stable over those who can’t hold a job and are near worthless. If they fail at either of those, more often than not the women will leave for a man who can support her. Where as I rarely ever see a women fail and her husband leaves her. So I don’t this see this as a fail, but more of a bias observation.
5. I am far less likely to face sexual harassment at work than my female co-workers are. (More).
So how is the data for this one collected? how is the information where men are sexually harassed but doesn’t report it in fear of his peers making jokes or ridiculing comments counted? or sexual harassment comments that were taken out of context by the person feeling their harassed removed from the count? again so far this list is so subjective it’s not funny, I can see why people believe this propaganda, it feels right till one dissects it.
6. If I do the same task as a woman, and if the measurement is at all subjective, chances are people will think I did a better job.
Subjective? seriously? comparing genders subjectively is proof for “privilege”? How the hell is subjective judgement from others, both men AND women become a “privilege”? And has the fact attractiveness both male and female has more to do with “who does a good job” than gender, a pretty women will do a better job over an ugly man any day of the week when it comes to subjective criticism, and conversely a handsome man will do better than an ugly women. When its subjective, subjective measures are used.
7. If I’m a teen or adult, and if I can stay out of prison, my odds of being raped are relatively low. (More).
More men goto prison than women how is THAT ”privilege”? and if I can stay out, like most women do, it’s supposed to be ”privilege” that I don’t get raped? nobody should every get raped, but not getting raped is somehow a “privilege”? what about all the women who go their entire life without getting raped? or men who do get raped? where is the privilege for those guys?
8. On average, I am taught to fear walking alone after dark in average public spaces much less than my female counterparts are.
This one is more subjective opinion based nonsense, men get attacked far more often at night in dark places than women, and that is “privilege”? the reason men give the advice to women to not walk in dark public places is because although men can take more abuse on average than women they still get attacked in dark public places. I wouldn’t want any women I know to be attacked in the same places I would be attacked, so how is caring and trying to prevent an attack on a women male “privilege”?
9. If I choose not to have children, my masculinity will not be called into question.
Oh yes it will be, men more often than women bare the problems of not having children in relation to their peers. When I hear a woman claim she’s not going to have kids her friends pat her on the back and exclaim “women’s right’s and empowerment”, if a man chooses to not have kids, the women more often than not, will leave him for a man who will have children. So again how is this bias observation a “privilege”?
10. If I have children but do not provide primary care for them, my masculinity will not be called into question.
As I said before, when a women chooses a man, it’s usually based on his ability to provide for her and their children, if he fails, she’s outta there for a man who will. What does that say for her opinion of him if she chooses to leave over staying? that he is disposable if he cannot provide, this making this one nonsense, biased propaganda.
11. If I have children and provide primary care for them, I’ll be praised for extraordinary parenting if I’m even marginally competent. (More).
Yeah when it’s only 10% of the time when men actually get that kind of custody. And in the other 90% to say all 100% of the women do a great job is again a biased observation. Men and women equally are successful in raising children, or would one like to claim one gender is better parenting, making gay child adoption a bad idea? ah, no ”privilege” here.
12. If I have children and a career, no one will think I’m selfish for not staying at home.
I find it odd that if a man takes the position, that if his wife either stays home or go back to work, that it is her choice alone. I wonder when a women chooses to stay home and place the financial burden on her husband to provide that it somehow becomes a ”privilege” to provide for his family? oh no it’s not, no ”privilege” here.
13. If I seek political office, my relationship with my children, or who I hire to take care of them, will probably not be scrutinized by the press.
That’s odd, what the media does is now a ”privilege” to some? So if a women scrutinizes another women, it’s “privilege” to men? what? I’m seriously thinking most of these so-called ”privileges” are really biased observations that are being given an excuse to justify why its a ”privilege” to some but not others? Did this person actually look up the definition of the word ”privilege”?
14. My elected representatives are mostly people of my own sex. The more prestigious and powerful the elected position, the more this is true.
Because women don’t enter into politics as much as men, that’s a “privilege” for men. So if I don’t get to date Katy Perry because some successful guy got to date her first, that guy is “privileged” and I’m not? how about he’s closer to her circle of friends than I am. So this isn’t a ”privilege” at all.
15. When I ask to see “the person in charge,” odds are I will face a person of my own sex. The higher-up in the organization the person is, the surer I can be.
The “person in charge” is statistically more likely to be a man? please cite where you get the person in charge is more likely to be a man? If the argument is women get paid less, then it would safe to say it’s cheaper for companies to hire more women, thus reducing payroll costs, thus making more women “in charge”. But we both know this isn’t the case, so what makes anyone expect one gender to be in charge more than another in customer service is “high off their ass”. This isn’t ”privilege” either.
16. As a child, chances are I was encouraged to be more active and outgoing than my sisters. (More).
Sorry, this is a biased observation, how does one go about collecting data for this claim? I sure as hell got less encouragement than my sister did in the majority of activities. I got more hand-me-downs than she did, because she didn’t get any, she was the oldest and I’d wager this goes for either the oldest, more loved child, or the child whose parents had a personal favorite. so this too isn’t ”privilege”.
17. As a child, I could choose from an almost infinite variety of children’s media featuring positive, active, non-stereotyped heroes of my own sex. I never had to look for it; male protagonists were (and are) the default.
This is utter non-sense, most villains in childhood stories are MEN, so how doe one get to the idea that writing stories where the hero is a man beating a villain who is a women, people would cry “abuse!” in these cases. So childhood stories would be in three categories:
Male Hero – Male Villain
Female Hero – Male Villain
Female Hero – Female Villain
So in childhood stories, women are represented in a more skewed way in order to avoid any man beating a women. So this too is a biased observation.
18. As a child, chances are I got more teacher attention than girls who raised their hands just as often. (More).
So I’d love to see the data on this one, and how to adjust for all the “all boys” and “all girls” schools? There’s also the psychological component of how each child is raised within their own household. That is passive children don’t raise their hands as often, because they’re taught not to question authority figures, where as children who are taught to question will. As with most things within society the “squeaky wheel gets the greasing”, so if there is a gender difference, it’s more than likely a result of how each child is raised over which gender they are. So again, bias observation, no male privilege here.
19. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether or not it has sexist overtones.
If you have to ask yourself such question, please feel free. But to advocate that only women think they live in a sexist world where the other gender is “out to get them” is obviously cherry picking anecdotal stories for this one. To make the claim that only one gender see sexist overtones is really fooling themselves. No male privilege here either.
20. I can turn on the television or glance at the front page of the newspaper and see people of my own sex widely represented.
This one is by far the most BS of all so far, when I turn on the TV men are represented in three ways: 1. As rich, successful, power, handsome and stylish. 2. As abusive, criminal, losers who are out for themselves. 3. Geeky computer nerds who have no social skills in order to deal with society. So two out of three are done with negativity in my opinion, but see this is my opinion, I could never make the claim women are portrayed in a better light as “female privilege” because it too is very subjective. So no male privilege here either.
21. If I’m careless with my financial affairs it won’t be attributed to my sex.
This one is very untrue, a women who is careless with her finances will be contributed to some man who “abandoned her” or “strattled her with debt”, if a man fails at finances, well he’s just a loser who needs to get a clue. If a spouse is involved and a women fails, the man will usually not leave, if a man fails, most likely her friends will beg her to find “a better man”.. again this is biased observations.
22. If I’m careless with my driving it won’t be attributed to my sex.
In psychology there are studies that show more men have better hand eye coordination than women. But this is an example of something that women do not have an advantage in generally. However this isn’t a privilege due to society wide substance abuse, irresponsibility and other factors that lead to careless driving. It’s the science of knowing women have other attributes over men that give people the “biased observation” that careless driving is a result of gender over all possible factors. That is men are equally bad at driving as women are good at it. So again, no privilege here.
23. I can speak in public to a large group without putting my sex on trial.
Oh, this one is half-true, men don’t attack other men based on gender like women do. My wife will comment on other women far more than I will about other men. So what does this indicate? again its subjective observations. Also if a man speaks in public and does a poor job, he gets no pass, the audience will think he just sucks at public speaking. Where as if a women speaks in public and does a poor job, people will think something else is likely to be the problem over her skill in public speaking. This too is biased observations.
24. Even if I sleep with a lot of women, there is no chance that I will be seriously labeled a “slut,” nor is there any male counterpart to “slut-bashing.” (More).
Obviously the term “male pig” or “dirty dog” is being ignored to achieve some type of biased position to make it appear only women get attacked for their actions. Oddly enough one would have to separate “amount of partners” from “quality of partners”. I’ve seen both male friends and female friends both be “sluts” due to the high number of quality partners, but I’ve also seen a low number of crappy partners, so is the “slut” label being used to describe the “number of” or “quality” of partners? If it’s “number of”, then men are by far more slutty than women, if it’s “quality of” then I think women by far are, so this effect cancels each other out because men don’t care about the numbers, and women don’t seem to care about quality. So both are sluts equally, no male privilege here.
25. I do not have to worry about the message my wardrobe sends about my sexual availability. (More).
This effect of how women dressed is warped, why? dress is used by women to attract a suitable male, the more wealthy, the more attractive the male is, the more likely he’ll want an attractive female. So knowing this, women worry about appearance far more than men do, because as I said before, a successful male has more choice than an unsuccessful male as women prefer a successful male. So observations reflect this, women who don’t generally care about the success of their partner also don’t really care about their own appearance. But how does on account for homosexuality in this? Nope, no male privilege here.
26. My clothing is typically less expensive and better-constructed than women’s clothing for the same social status. While I have fewer options, my clothes will probably fit better than a woman’s without tailoring. (More).
My clothing is less expensive? seriously? when the claim men get paid more, men have better jobs, men have more money, I wonder why that could be? ah yes to pay for women’s clothing for their spouses. To say that only women buy women’s clothing and men only buy men’s clothing is high off their ass. Seriously no male privilege here. Oh a side note, women by far have MORE selections in clothing than men, women have far more clothing stores than men. Seriously clothing is cheaper is an argument for male privilege?
27. The grooming regimen expected of me is relatively cheap and consumes little time. (More).
This to goes back to partners selection. A women knows the better her appearance, the more likely she’ll acquire a successful partner, on the other hand she focuses on his success and his wealth more than how he dresses, even though his dress does give insight to his success, but this isn’t always the case. More often women who dress better have a better state of mind than men who dress better have a better state of mind. A “rough-looking man does get a pass more than a “rough-looking women. But there is a catch, the rough man will be expected to BE rough and ready, where as the women who looks “rough” will be treated special and given special comforts and more often than not, be asked “if everything is ok?”. Yeah empathy is a good thing, sad men don’t get that kind of treatment. So no male privilege here.
28. If I buy a new car, chances are I’ll be offered a better price than a woman buying the same car. (More).
This one is utter BS, my wife is far better at negotiating that I am, but the reason you are using “buying a car” rather than “buying” is to selective pick out something that is dominated by men, that is “cars”. There are more male car mechanics than women, so men are more often more knowledgeable about cars. But what about other things where it’s obvious throughout history a women’s ability to negotiate was critical to her survival. Where as all a man had to do was go hunt and defend himself. So negotiating skills will always be a female skill, so again no male privilege here.
29. If I’m not conventionally attractive, the disadvantages are relatively small and easy to ignore.
When men aren’t attractive, and they don’t have success of wealth, they’re going to be lonely. A women who is not attractive can still overcome this, where men, not so lucky. Studies have been shown that the taller a man is, the more likely he’ll be successful. This height effect doesn’t apply to women. Why? A short unattractive man is at such a disadvantage it’s ridiculous. I’m not an attractive guy and I notice the difference between myself and my attractive male friends. Especially at work, when somebody walks up to us, they assume he’s the boss and not me, why? because attractiveness in both genders is equated with success. So this is is not male privilege, this is better called “attractive privilege” because both genders benefit from it equally.
30. I can be loud with no fear of being called a shrew. I can be aggressive with no fear of being called a bitch.
This to is utter non-sense, loud men who oppose true equality are called misogynist, dicks, assholes, etc. So I don’t see how this being loud is negative to only women. Not to mention, if a man screams over a women, it’s oppression of women’s rights, a women screaming over a man is expressing her rights. No male privilege here.
31. I can ask for legal protection from violence that happens mostly to men without being seen as a selfish special interest, since that kind of violence is called “crime” and is a general social concern. (Violence that happens mostly to women is usually called “domestic violence” or “acquaintance rape,” and is seen as a special interest issue.)
This is cherry picking observations to make a point that is worthless. This isn’t male privilege by any stretch of the imagination. A women hits a man, people ask “what did he do?” and then proceed to ignoring any responsibility on if the women should be locked up. If a man hits a women, people say “What an abusive dick!! he should be locked up and tossed into prison for life… evil douchbag!!” and people will even jump a guy for hitting a women in public. A women hitting a man in public? nothing. No male privilege here.
32. I can be confident that the ordinary language of day-to-day existence will always include my sex. “All men are created equal,” mailman, chairman, freshman, he.
The english language was created for the use of “man” being both men and women. Its has been the desire to erase any gender from gendered words. Oddly enough this only takes place within the english speaking culture. What is also funny is the fact female and male are being ignored. To really advocate for words to be genderless, then go all the way. Don’t argue for only male gendered words to be “degendered” but female words to be left alone. Also how does one describe a women or a man without gendered words? Sorry no male privilege here either.
33. My ability to make important decisions and my capability in general will never be questioned depending on what time of the month it is.
I would totally agree is the “time of the month” didn’t involve hormones which do affect not only behavior but rational judgement. And this isn’t a bad thing, in evolutionary psychology this hormone stew women go through each month. This isn’t a male construct to put women down. I’ve seen and heard more women comment about PMS than men do. But there is a male equivalent to PMS, it’s called “sports”. No male privilege here either.
34. I will never be expected to change my name upon marriage or questioned if I don’t change my name.
Ah more BS, most women take their husbands last name so as to benefit themselves through their husbands success. A women with her husband’s name in the past could walk into a band and get a loan, all based on who she’s married to IF her husband has wealth. So marrying a man and changing her name to that of her successful husband benefited women far more than men. Also when women would marry and change her name, the husband then became responsible for HER DEBT. So this is a biased observation, no male privilege here. I’d also like to note there has never been a law requiring women to change their name and in the cases of very successful women, they don’t.
35. The decision to hire me will not be based on assumptions about whether or not I might choose to have a family sometime soon.
With the laws as they are women are entitled to leave when they choose to have a family. Men are not given this right. So if there is any slight involvement of this factor, which I seriously doubt, but if it did, it would only be used with women 18-30, as I’d wager most women by the age of 30 who don’t have kids probably won’t. But this to is a subjective observation of “what other people are thinking”, so how is this measured? not male privilege when it’s skewed in women’s favor.
36. Every major religion in the world is led primarily by people of my own sex. Even God, in most major religions, is pictured as male.
The argument that religion, is male dominated is an argument for male privilege? wow, what about atheists? has anyone gotten the idea that religion itself is the top reason why women feel like their second class citizens, but can’t figure out why? it’s not the men who run these churches, because huge numbers of women support these religions/churches. I’ve advocated for a while religion has to go, it’s doing nothing but harm. But don’t blame men for religion when women continue to participate in it. No male privilege here.
37. Most major religions argue that I should be the head of my household, while my wife and children should be subservient to me.
Again the same argument as above, religious beliefs give this non-sense a foot hold, not men. Religious women support this doctrine because they believe it benefits them. This isn’t male privilege, this is “religious privilege” because it only applies to religious men AND women.
38. If I have a wife or live-in girlfriend, chances are we’ll divide up household chores so that she does most of the labor, and in particular the most repetitive and unrewarding tasks. (More).
For the past 2 decades and when I was a kid, I did far more laborious jobs such as cutting the grass, taking out the trash, repairing the house and cars. Jobs that require far more physical strength than other simple tasks. But I always felt that sitting down and making sure tasks are divided up equally was far more important than “men do this” and “women do that”, I was raised to do both, as so was my sister. No male privilege here.
39. If I have children with my girlfriend or wife, I can expect her to do most of the basic childcare such as changing diapers and feeding.
So how is this measured, if my wife decides to stay home and I say “no I want to stay home”, what happens? if my wife goes back to work I’m looked at that I “sent my wife to work while I stay home” but if she says no, and I go work, then I “made my wife stay home because it’s women’s work.”. So how does one go about determining whether the women wants to stay home and enjoys childcare or the women doesn’t enjoy childcare? because this has to be determined prior to accusing men in avoiding such responsibilities. It also goes without saying that if a women chooses to stay home that requires more income from the man to compensate for the loss of income from the women. If he is incapable of doing this he’s viewed by family and friends as being a slacker. If women are in the same position she’s “Doing all she can and needs help..”, sorry no male privilege here.
40. If I have children with my wife or girlfriend, and it turns out that one of us needs to make career sacrifices to raise the kids, chances are we’ll both assume the career sacrificed should be hers.
This is based on what? men forcing women to stay home or women being empowered to be able to choose to stay home? This biased observation BS is getting old, I’ve yet to see a case of male privilege in the list where it’s isolated from any other possible variable where it could only be male privilege and nothing else.
41. Assuming I am heterosexual, magazines, billboards, television, movies, pornography, and virtually all of media is filled with images of scantily-clad women intended to appeal to me sexually. Such images of men exist, but are rarer.
Yet if you dig into psychology most men prefer women with curves over the “boyish” figures of supermodels/rockstars/actresses. There’s also the fact you’re having to ignore gay men and women in this. Not to mention religion rallies against such sexual expression. I’ve also seen where is a women choose to be sexual, it’s her choice and she should be empowered to do so, but if she does its male privilege? wow, no male privilege here.
42. In general, I am under much less pressure to be thin than my female counterparts are. (More). If I am fat, I probably suffer fewer social and economic consequences for being fat than fat women do. (More).
This is based on women vs women. If a man tells his wife to lose weight, he’s declared a dick, asshole, control freak, careless douchbag. If a women tells her friend she needs to lose weight, it’s thoughtful. Here’s also another issue, if a women tells her husband to lose weight, “she cares about him”, which is a double standard. No male privilege here.
43. If I am heterosexual, it’s incredibly unlikely that I’ll ever be beaten up by a spouse or lover. (More).
This is total BS. Men do get beaten up, it’s just not reported. If you’re going for statistical likelihood of “something happening” I’d go after automobile related deaths and injuries than worrying about men or women being abused. When it happens to either gender, I’d wager they could careless what the statistical average is. No male privilege here.
44. Complete strangers generally do not walk up to me on the street and tell me to “smile.” (More: 1 2).
Ah this is true, in part, that more women are approached my men than men are approached by women, but why is that? maybe because the women who are taught to be submissive believe men are a threat, just like this list teaches, that is women are not capable of being dominant, women have things done to them over acting on their own behalf. But what this also ignores that fact men approach other men just as much as they approach women, and that they are mugged, robbed and murdered far MORE than women are. So this to is a biased observation to promote propaganda, no male privilege here.
45. Sexual harassment on the street virtually never happens to me. I do not need to plot my movements through public space in order to avoid being sexually harassed, or to mitigate sexual harassment. (More.)
This implies that 100% of all women get harassed and 100% of the men do the harassing. This also infers that 100% never get harassed. If a women assumes she’s going to be harassed, it’s assumed, assuming something might happen doesn’t make it fact. And basing a biased opinion on a biased assumption based fact does not equal male privilege.
45. On average, I am not interrupted by women as often as women are interrupted by men.
I’ve mentioned this before, if a man interrupts a women speaking, he’s labeled as an asshole, dick, misogynist douchbag because she’s voicing her rights and exercising her free speech. If a women interrupts a man, well it’s probably because he’s saying something offensive to her and she has the right to stop it. No male privilege here.
46. I have the privilege of being unaware of my male privilege.
When no male privilege exists, there is nothing to be aware of. I have zero abilities, benefits or experiences that I’ve been able to enjoy or have that only men get. As well I’ve not had any of them that women don’t deal with. Society is playin a huge trick on those who think one gender has advantages over the other to any degree. For every advantage a man has, a woman has one over a man, for every handicap a man has, a woman has an equal. For each instance of the above list, I can counter it with problems for men that women get to avoid. Society has done this not out of design but necessity. Evolution started all this gender issues, it would have disappeared, but religion found a better use for it.
Male privilege is a myth generated as propaganda against men speaking out. But I’m only addressing this because people are choosing to attack “men” rather than religion. I find it funny that I live in a society so biased in both directions that depending on who you talk to will give way to who’s got “privilege”. I certainly not seeing any privilege when I have to work to support an entire family while I go back to college to change careers. There are no special programs to help a white male over 35 to go back to college. So I ask, where is this male privilege I hear about, and why can’t it pay for my education? oh yeah, it doesn’t exist.
The above list came from this website, the origins of the list I’m unsure of.
(citation: http://www.amptoons.com/blog/the-male-privilege-checklist/
Compiled by Barry Deutsch, aka “Ampersand.” Permission is granted to reproduce this list in any way, for any purpose, so long as the acknowledgment of Peggy McIntosh’s work is not removed. If possible, I’d appreciate it if folks who use it would tell me how they used it; my email is barry-at-amptoons-dot-com.)
