Andrew Smiler speculates about how, when, and why social class can trump racism and sexism.
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You may have seen stories about three white undergraduates who filed discrimination charges against their African-American professor because she devoted some time in her Introduction to Communications course to teach about structural racism. In Katie McDonough’s description of the incident, she describes the students as frustrated, feeling attacked, and becoming defensive because this topic appears in course after course.
Conceptually, you get it: discrimination based on skin color or genitalia is wrong.
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Most of the responses I’ve seen have talked about white (and male) privilege, like this piece from a somewhat frustrated Olivia Cole. To really understand what’s going on here, I think we need to take a closer look at who these guys are. Or, probably are. As far as I can tell, they haven’t been named publicly. That means I’m going to rely heavily on the averages and assume they’re typical members of their groups.
As community college students, the odds say that neither of their parents graduated from a 4 year college. It’s distinctly possible that neither of their parents received any type of formal education beyond high school. Given that we’re talking about white guys, the odds are pretty good that at least one, if not both, of their parents are high school graduates. As long as they’re typical in this way, then their parents probably work in semi-skilled or unskilled jobs that don’t pay very well. There’s some chance that one or both parents are particularly good with their hands and ended up in a field that pays well, like plumbing, but that’d be the minority of such families.
In other words, these guys probably grew up in a working class family, possibly one that lived a middle-class life but possibly one that lived paycheck to paycheck and had no savings. There’s also a reasonable chance they grew up near or below the poverty line, especially if they lost a parent to death or divorce. Because their parents didn’t have desk jobs, there’s a greater likelihood that one or both will have experienced some type of disabling workplace accident.
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Now I’d like you to imagine that you’re this boy. Maybe you’re growing up near the poverty line, maybe you’re struggling to qualify as and stay in the middle class. Or lower middle class.
Your family doesn’t have much in the way of extra money, so you’ve probably had a part-time job during the school year since you were legally old enough to work. Decades of research tells us that kids who work at least 10 hours per week have poorer grades than their peers who don’t work, and grades continue to take a hit as the hours worked increases. So let’s assume a C average. Possibly straight Cs, possibly some combination of Bs, Cs, and Ds. You may have even failed a course at some point.
Summer definitely meant full time employment.
College probably wasn’t the primary thing on your post-high school radar. In fact, it may not have been on the radar at all. If it was on the radar, odds are you—or one of your siblings—would be the first one in your family to graduate from a 4 year school.
You know there are all sorts of scholarships and programs for people of color and for girls, but none for whites, boys, or especially white boys.
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Cost would be a major factor, needless to say. Merit scholarships based on grades clearly weren’t going to happen, so the options are paying out of pocket, taking out loans, or getting grants. Although there are all sorts of grants, there are a large number of grants that are reserved for historically marginalized groups, particularly girls and non-Whites. At some point, you’d have probably been told that there aren’t any scholarships reserved for White boys like you. Your mom may have even qualified for micro-credit or other such things that your dad wasn’t eligible for because she was a woman.
As an American teen, you’d have grown up hearing about and learning about people of color and you’d probably understand that “race” = “color.” In school, you’d learn the simple definition of racism: discrimination against a group of people based on their skin color. You probably didn’t have structured conversations about white culture, acknowledge the things that make white culture unique, or talk about how white culture differs from mainstream American culture. As a result, you’d believe that race and ethnicity are primarily about other people, not you. But you’d understand the principle that people should not be treated differently based on their skin color.
You’d have had similar experiences regarding sexism. You’d have learned that “gender” = “female” (and possibly trans). You’d have learned that people shouldn’t be discriminated against because of their gender and you may have had special sections in your textbooks that highlighted famous women, but never special sections about famous men. As a result, you’d believe that gender is about other people, not you, and you’d understand that people shouldn’t be treated differently based on their genitalia.
On average, the less educated an individual is, the more likely he is to be racist and sexist (as well as homophobic, but that’s not relevant to this story). You’ve probably heard at least one male relative—your father, an uncle, a brother, or a cousin—go off about a job he “should have” gotten but didn’t because a non-White man or a woman got because of equal employment laws. For convenience, we’ll call him uncle Bob. To you, it probably doesn’t really matter if the person who got “Uncle Bob’s job” was actually more qualified (and you’ve got no way to know). Uncle Bob is family, he’s sitting in your living room, and he’s very upset.
As a white male, you’d have been told that you benefitted from centuries of discrimination against blacks and women. But as a white guy born in 1993—assuming these guys are 20 years old—your low financial status prevents you from seeing most of those benefits.
Feminists have long known that the system called Patriarchy does not treat all men equally. The more closely you fit the desired version of masculinity, the more patriarchal benefits you get; the farther you are from that image, the fewer benefits you get. American Patriarchy favors the rich. For white boys growing up near the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, their Patriarchal privilege mostly consists of things like not being followed while shopping in nicer stores and not being arrested while waiting for the bus. Those are pretty subtle things to notice; doing so takes a lot of work and effort.
Now imagine that you’re in yet another community college class talking about structural racism. You can hear the professor talking about US history and these hard to see forces, but it doesn’t really fit with the reality of your life or your parents’ lives. Because friendship across social class lines is rare, every family you know is struggling, regardless of their color. In our globalized economy, there aren’t enough American jobs to go around, let alone good paying jobs.
For white boys growing up near the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, their Patriarchal privilege mostly consists of things like not being followed while shopping in nicer stores and not being arrested while waiting for the bus.
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The women in your family—mom, aunts, grandmothers—have always worked, typically in low paying jobs; no man in your family has ever really made enough money to support a non-working spouse. Although your family may have caught a break here or there, nothing related to money, education, or property has ever really come easy. Then there are stories like Uncle Bob’s. And as a member of the lower classes, you’d have been discriminated against because of your financial status.
So you’re sitting in class and the professor is talking about structural racism (or sexism). You decide this is BS and you’ve had enough. Conceptually, you get it: discrimination based on skin color or genitalia is wrong. The laws that encoded that were wrong and needed to be changed. From your vantage point, that’s all history, in the same way the Kennedy assassination is history. None of it seems to have any direct contact with your life, even if your prof says it does.
After class, you talk to a few of your friends and learn they feel the same way. Together, you start to wonder who is speaking up for you. You know about organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Organization for Women. You know there are all sorts of scholarships and programs for people of color and for girls, but none for whites, boys, or especially white boys.
At some point, you go online. There, you discover some “White Identity” sites and groups; if you read enough of their material—and sometimes that doesn’t take long—you may learn many have roots that trace back to the KKK or neo-Nazis. There’s a reason the Southern Poverty Law Center and the FBI tend to categorize these organizations as hate groups.
You might also find websites from the self-labelled “Men’s Rights Movement.” Many of these websites and its leaders are clearly and angrily opposed to women’s progress and women’s rights.
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I don’t think any of these things excuse the behavior of these three boys. But after 50 years of race based civil rights work and 40 years of gender based civil rights work, the fact that three white male students see themselves as discriminated against should tell us something. It’s hard to believe they’re the first—or the only—young white men to feel this way.
For me, the take-away is that we need to do more around class-ism or, as it’s now being called, economic inequality. When both the Pope and the President of the United States mention that topic in a two week span, you know it’s important. In the US, we haven’t had meaningful conversations about social class since LBJ launched the “War on Poverty” forty-five years ago.
Some of the statistics are staggering. In the US, the number of well-paying industrial and manufacturing jobs—the kinds of jobs that can lift families without college educations out of poverty—have almost completely moved out of the country over the last 40 years. As automation has increased, we’ve lost both skilled and unskilled jobs. Large numbers of adults aren’t working in the fast food industry for minimum wage because it’s a great job; for them, it’s the only job. Do they really “deserve” minimum wage? Do their kids deserve to live in poverty because their parents have skills that aren’t valued in our corner of the global economy?
Income inequality is a big part of the reason why nearly 1 in 5 American kids is going hungry. In the richest country in the world, 20% of kids are going hungry. What the heck?
It’s time for us to start hearing their voices, the voices of the barely-making it, the working poor, and the deeply impoverished. We need to hear those voices both with and without regard to their color or gender.
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Talking and teaching about social class is key here because it interacts—or “intersects”—with racism and sexism to radically change the way people experience and perceive each of these issues. For these three community college students, class trumps the other two. It’s time for us to start hearing their voices, the voices of the barely-making it, the working poor, and the deeply impoverished. We need to hear those voices both with and without regard to their color or gender.
Just as we’ve spent the last several decades checking and discussing our assumptions regarding color and gender, we need to start checking our assumptions about social class. We need to get past the notion that they’re all lazy; you think someone who spends 40 hours a week flipping burgers is lazy? The vast majority of poor and working class people I’ve met embody the American ideals of working hard and trying to lift yourself up by your bootstraps. They know they’re fighting an uphill battle, but because we don’t talk about class and we don’t have advocacy groups working to break down class barriers, the hill doesn’t get any flatter. If anything, it’s getting steeper.
If we really want to end racism (and sexism), it’s time to start talking seriously about class-ism. We’ve left it on the back burner for much too long.
[author addendum: The goal of this essay was to help me – and possibly you, as reader – understand how these guys might thought about the situation. I was not and am not saying that their perspective is correct or somehow trumps the reality of discrimination that people of color have faced and continue to face in the U.S. Rather, it’s about what we -and I include myself because this is some of the work that I do – might have somehow missed or not effectively communicated.]
-photo by Elvert Barnes/flickr
@CW Whoa man,what a stretch! You could do what you suggest but that doesn’t mean it is accurate.In so many words,the problems because of racism blacks have faced,is the fault of white people otherwise known as the founders.For those whites who claim they shouldn’t be held morally responsible for what other white people did is mostly hogwash.As a citizen who pledges allegiance to the flag or sings the Star Spangled Banner,there is a solemn obligation to MAKE those words true for every citizen.Its not my fault is utter bs.
You can keep saying it but the logical leap requiring me to take responsibility for the action of a long dead man is ridiculous. Why not hold ANY person of a certain characteristic responsible for the actions of another of that characteristic? BECAUSE its racist/discriminatory/illegal and downright wrong- no matter who does it. Are you responsible for the black kid who broke into 4 cars on my street and was chased through my neighbor’s yard last week? Of course you’re not- to assume so would be beyond the realm of ridiculous. That kid was responsible for his own actions. As… Read more »
What I keep reading in many places is how there’s a difference between structural racism and individual racism. I don’t see why we can’t apply that here to specific cases of white men alleging racism. Let’s apply that lesson. It’s not impossible for any individual people to be victims of other racist individuals. Perhaps the complainants are suggesting that anti-white racism has become systematic and that is not true. (I tend to agree on that point.) But, that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a case for charging individual racism. Proving that individual white people can be targets of racism… Read more »
@Andrew While I certainly agree with what I guess is your point-that class should be a part of this discussion-your analysis has problems.Chief among them is the empathy for willful ignorance you seem to advocate.You excuse the problems caused by the willful ignorance of these boys,and,white men in general, too often for my taste.Indeed,the frustration these boys utter resonates quite well with educated white males too.Whitemale backlash over CR is nothing new.Lee Atwater formed a strategy to take advantage of the anger whites males had over CR.Ronald Reagan exploited this anger, riding into power as THE white man’s white man.He… Read more »
“Ronald Reagan exploited this anger, riding into power as THE white man’s white man.” I graduated high school in 85, and I don’t remember this at all. I would say that Reagan was one of the most beloved presidents of all time and certainly wasn’t an emblem of hate of any kind. Sentiment at the time seemed to be that Reagan was like a kindly grandfather. He struck some serious cords in the public unconscious. Like the “9 scariest words”: I’m from the government and I’m here to help. He spread the message of individual achievement, and respresented a hard… Read more »
Dear Andrew:
Thank you for such a thoughtful article. I’ve been consulting on diversity, with a particular focus on gender, for nearly 20 years, mostly with large multi-national companies. And you are absolutely correct that class issues are practically off the radar screen.
You were brilliant on everything here except for this:
“You might also find websites from the self-labelled “Men’s Rights Movement.” Many of these websites and its leaders are clearly and angrily opposed to women’s progress and women’s rights.”
On this you are completely wrong. There is absolutely nothing about MRA’s and the Men’s Rights Movement that opposes equal rights for women. Educate yourself.
PS … glad the traffic picked up on this one 🙂
Comments are pretty illuminating on this one aren’t they? Here that moo’ing? I think it’s the sacred cows.
Imagining what it’s like to be a poor white kid isn’t all that hard to imagine…. for anybody that is black. You know those ‘you know you’re a redneck if…’ jokes closely align with ‘you know you’re ghetto if….’ – meaning a lot of that shit is the same no matter if you’re redneck or ghetto/hood. I can actually feel, understand, and empathize with the poor white boy and the poor white class…. but I won’t. You know why? Because they deny me and my oppression even when I acknowledge theirs and their hardship. I can’t and won’t relate to… Read more »
Because every white boy is the same…?
yup!!!!! Switch black and white and urban for rural – its surreal isnt it?
“Be the change you want to see in the world”. Ghandi said it, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Aung Sun Su Chi did it. Empathy breeds empathy. You demand empathy from them while reserving the right to judge and demonise them, mostly for things they have no part in.
A “large number of grants” for marginalized students? Give me a break. After 25 years in academia, can tell you that “large number” is primarily white women. What few grants exist for people of color are hard-fought and hard-earned, and often financed by people of color ourselves. As for grants meant to reach those in or near poverty…well, do the math, there are simply more whites in poverty than people of color. As to the idea that poor whites have to work hard to stay in school…welcome to the club. Frankly, as is and has been the case for at… Read more »
From an article out of the UK, “According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the Appalachian county has the lowest median household income in the states – a staggering 41.5 per cent of residents falling below the poverty line. America’s poorest county: Appalachians who live without running water or power in region where 40% fall below poverty line.”
I’m not posting this to say one is worse off then the other but the truth is, there is a problem and I sure as hell don’t see anything happening to correct it.
@Why should I or anyone care about these folks in Appalacia,who have been desperately poor and hopelessly ignorant since before the Civil War.They have consistently voted for politicians who enact policies that have kept them poor and ignorant for hundreds of years.Whose fault is that?If you listen to them it’s the fault of black people.The boundless idiocy of these folks has no limits.
I’ve heard some people say the EXACT same things you do but switch out “poor blacks” for “poor whites” and “the ghetto” for Appalacia. Sound familiar to you? “Why should I or anyone care about these folks in the ghetto who have been desparately poor and hopelessly ignorant since before the Civil War? They have consistently voted for politicians who enact policies that have kept them poor and ignorant for hundreds of years. Whose fault is that? If you listen to them it’s the fault of white people. The boundless idiocy of these folks has no limits!” Both sides have… Read more »
Great article and wonderful analysis, but I do take issue with some assumptions. The first is that when people talk about privilege, they speak of it in aggregate. Even if most schools, most jobs, and most cities / neighborhoods favor whites and males and it’s my belief that schools definitely don’t favor men, I will only work for one job, go to one school, and live in one city / neighborhood. The particular school, employer, neighborhood, or city may actually discriminate against men or whites. Even a particular department within a company can have “systems of oppression” that disadvantage the… Read more »
I read this article and I had to figure out a way to comment without being hostile or sounding offended because I am. Only in America can the White Male, who for years has practiced racism, sexism, and many types of discrimination write an article about “possible “exclusion.” This would be funny if it weren’t so sad and wrong. As a Black Man and person of color in America let me paint you a picture of how I see it: I magine you are a person that has no connection or history to who you are or where you come… Read more »
I appreciate your point on this. I think this article hits this really well too- https://goodmenproject.com/ethics-values/hesaid-thats-racist-against-white-people-a-discussion-on-power-and-privilege/ While white men in poverty do experience marginalization due to their financial status, they are simultaneously beneficiaries of systems that support their upward mobility through class more readily than other ethnic groups (and gender identities). Though they do struggle and face margnization, they are still beneficiaries of white privilege that allow them to walk down the street without being frisked because of their skin color, allow them to get a job and have no one question whether they earned the job (e.g., no one… Read more »
I have no doubt that there are white people who are overreacting to perceived antiwhite racism. They may have invented stories in their heads based on myths. (Just as people of all races may be prone to perceiving things that are not happening.) However, there are ways in which white people on an individual and sometimes an institutional level face discrimination based on their race. Perhaps there’s an argument that such discrimination is historically justified, but it is discrimination. Let’s stick with community colleges, for example. I teach at one and am a member of the faculty union. To this… Read more »
P.S. Such a race-based policy would also mean that in some departments, members of sexual minorities, women, and disabled faculty would be the first to be fired.
Maybe that it hurts being as much a victim of our current cultural matrix as most of those that hold “you as a class” up as the oppressor. Few things burn more emotionally than being held publicly culpable for something you have little or no control over and quite clearly are a victim of yourself. Kind of a double dose, a piling on because they in some ways resemble the oppressors at the top of the heap, yet have none of the protections offered by wealth and class. It’s rough being used as the stand-in target for others rage and… Read more »
“On average, the less educated an individual is, the more likely he is to be racist and sexist ” Unless they are magically not white or male right? The gyrations of thought progressives go through to “explain” behavior as ok vs not ok based on non-behavioral attributes is pretty entertaining. I’m amused that you can exhibit empathy in one place yet still insist that these poor kids have it easier than similarly situated women and minorities based on their race. The definition of power imbalance is a professor / student relationship. If racism = power + prejudice- we have already… Read more »
Interesting article. The sad truth is, a lot of people believe that it is actually impossible to discriminate against white people. Discrimination is something that happens to ethnic groups and women, not white men. A lot of people assume that white people have everything go their way all the time, just because they are white. They also assume that white people are financially stable. Speaking as a white male who had to quit school and work 3 jobs to make ends meet, I can tell you firsthand how wrong that assumption is. I don’t necessarily feel like I’m being discriminated… Read more »
You gotta learn to play the game.I am a blackmale,single father of 3.The only reasons my children went college is because I played the game well and my children worked hard.The idea that being black guarantees money for college AND a seat in class is utter nonsense.My children got grants because I knew if my income was too high they wouldn’t qualify.So,I stayed home with them and worked part time.So,my children,based on my income AND their excellent grades,community service and test scores, rather than their mother’s income or race, qualified for grants and scholarships.In California,grants are need based more than… Read more »
The less educated – the more prone to… Its the same as the less trained dog, the more barking… You have to admit that beyond education and brainwashing there is natural kindness and wisdom in people.
Classism is a major problem. It’s a reality. What’s also a reality is the history of supremacy, privilege and entitlement white men have experienced and continue to experience in the US. That doesn’t change the fact that many white folks are struggling. Maybe they’re struggling because we live in a patriarchal white supremacist system and have since the inception of this country. It’s unfortunate that people have circumstances they feel helpless to change or influence. It’s unfortunate that education lacks and ignorance reigns. Maybe a system built for white men isn’t best for all white men after all. Maybe white… Read more »
” Meritocracy, never questioning authority, believing our myths, not supporting those who are considered different than us, supporting the troops, pledging our allegiance, and believing in the American Dream all have consequences. I understand their frustration. The system we all continue to support makes damn sure they don’t find the source of their frustration. ” Meritocracy? why abandon meritocracy? thats the best way to overcome sexism and racism? its the individual that work, not a artificial system based on race, gender, class or nepotism. Or alternatively making available also some support directed to boys cross ethnicity. So that nobody gets… Read more »
When did America have meritocracy? When the Europeans killed the natives and gave away their land? When women were not educated, so they didn’t compete with men? when Sports were segregated so white players didn’t face Black ones and thus learn that they really weren’t superior?
Just give me the years when the playing field was equal in the US and all played fairly and white men just naturally came out on top of all fields,
I believe that we are approaching the problem wrong it’s not that we don’t need strong advocacy and protection for women, race, homosexuals, religions (there is still plenty of non-class based discrimination) but that in the absence of on overriding protection and advocacy for class we will only create new minorities. Cal grants in California have historically been a great resource for low income students but I don’t know what has happened to the program in the past rounds of cuts. And it doesn’t deal with the problem of parents who can pay but won’t and by their high income… Read more »
I think that the reason this is an issue is that ultimately people got distracted somewhere along the way. I’ve read speeches by Suffragettes and Suffragists, I’ve read speeches by MLK, and they to start out with, do talk about Class issues, and Economic issues. Even the Gay Marriage thing ultimately breaks down to an Economic issue (Companies don’t want to pay partner insurance, etc, so they lobby to keep laws from changing, politicians stir up outrage blah blah blah rest is history…) Every gain these groups have made is ultimately a good one for the country, the problem I… Read more »
J, you remind me of something I felt when my kids were in their teens. I believe you have the heart to truly attack societal issues and although I may not agree with some of them, I believe that young men like you struggle with finding that purpose. Back in the 60’s/70’s we had desegregation, the war, the draft etc.. There are many problems in our society today and I find many like you want to change things but it’s not happening. It’s as though there is no unity among youth or worse yet, some youth who are either unaware… Read more »
It’s not apathy Tom. While ever we are fighting each other over race, class, gender and so on we are not paying attention to the real source of inequity in society, which is wealth. The rich are happy for us to be fighting among ourselves while they grow ever richer. The more fractured we are into subgroups the less able we are to see that we are all suffering from the same problem, the sick idea that a tiny percentage of the population are justified in owning 95% of its wealth and productivity.
@You are right Adam.
The problem is nerveless what they say, the “knight” who slain the monster, sometimes become the monster itself. So that means one day we will see white males making battles for gaining equal right. And perhaps women and minorities will feel guilty because they failed to change the system for good when they had the chance. All this can be avoided if people simply and easy will apply what their preach to everybody and not to somebody. But looking around, I have to say the panorama is quite depressing. So I sympathize with the teens, I wish them well and… Read more »
I’m rather curious as to why there aren’t many responses to this article. So few weighing in on this? How come?
Hi Tom I find this article and debate interesting . But when you do not live in America and have no experience with living in a society with a history like yours, it is hard to comment. European nations had colonies . Europen countries also took part in the slavestrade . The questions Anderew raise in his articles have many similarities to the debate in Europe about multiculturalism. Immigrants from the former colonies come to Europe , Can Islam coexist side by side with Christianity and how do you organize the new societies with large groups of persons from other… Read more »
Iben, thanks for weighing in and I’m happy to see that the traffic for this article picked up. You bring up some interesting points. As an American, I often do wonder how Europe and other countries handles such issues. In America, the media often portrays those other nations in very positive light. Although Greece borders Europe, it is one country where there is some exposure here in the USA which is showing what could be religious war.
maybe because most believe that white men especially young children deserve this?
i think more articles a day are being published now, so it is easier for articles to quickly get lost in the mix once they are out of the ‘featured content’ and the ‘popular right now’ windows on the front page
This was a great article. I did my undergraduate degree in LGBT Studies & Women’s Studies, & my graduate work on Cultural, Gender, & Sexulaity Studies. I do understand much of what the kids went though; I spent four years being told that I–as a white man–was the root of all evil in the country. It got old very quickly. Now, I wasn’t shouting “reverse-racism” or anything–racism is racism, pure and simple. I made a point in class one day about how being a gay man helped me understand some of the prejudices people of other genders and ethnicities can… Read more »
Great article. Very illustrative. As a lower-middle class white male, it’s difficult to always have to defer to the oppression of minorities, and (especially*) women, without wondering if you’ve got a dog in this fight you’re not petting often enough. I mean, if you’re relatively enlightened, you get it: it’s sometimes harder to be a minority or a female. But at some point, after being labeled as “privileged” your whole life, it’s difficult not to take things personally; the rhetoric makes you feel personally guilty and morally inferior, and yet when you look at your life, you really can’t see… Read more »
The privileges that women have are usually explained away as being merely “benevolent sexism”. Can’t say I agree.
What “privileges” do you see women as enjoying? Most of the supposed “women’s privileges” I hear about really are the result of sexism. Women generally have an easier time in custody disputes than men do, and are more likely to win custody if children…why? Because we live in a culture that says raising kids is “women’s work,” that’s why. Men have jobs, women raise children. Who decided that? Well, it wasn’t women… Women can sometimes get away with saying things men can’t…why? Because we live in a society where women’s voices aren’t listened to, given as much weight as, or… Read more »
“Most of the supposed “women’s privileges” I hear about really are the result of sexism.”
So how are the supposed “privileges” that men have not a result of sexism? Child care isn’t just considered women’s work. It’s considered “women’s work” because women are assumed to be better at it and in the worst cases of sexism I’ve seen, men are thought of as being pedophiles.
But at some point, after being labeled as “privileged” your whole life, it’s difficult not to take things personally; the rhetoric makes you feel personally guilty and morally inferior, and yet when you look at your life, you really can’t see the “privilege.”
I can understand that. Its like a one one hand you’re being told not to take it personally but time and again your experiences are being dismissed and denied because of a certain trait. So in the end I guess they are saying they don’t hold it against your personally but they will use it against you.
Ding, I hit basically every one of the things you mentioned and would be right there in that category with those “economically un-equal” boys and I can tell you EXACTLY how frustrating it was when I was trying to arrange money for school (paid for basically entirely with student loans) I would go to the financial aid office, in my community college, as I was getting ready to transfer to a less than great 4 year.. but they would take me with the GPA I had.. and be told over and over again “well.. this scholarship is only for women… Read more »
J, Very well stated.
And I would like to add that from what I’ve read in labor stats, both white and black are pretty much even where it comes to being on welfare … both are around 38% 15% Hispanic, a little over 2% Asian a little over 3% other.
This is a masterful description. I applaud your discernment! In fact this analysis, though written with “race” as the main focus, can without any changes be used to explain much of the backlash against feminism. In fact, it is at the root of much of the existing anti-feminist resentment. I thank you very much, that you took care to treat the issue with dignity, and not as an exercise in the art of the snide sarcastic takedown. Even people who do ridiculous things often have understandable reasons and are not just blithering idiots. There’s only one thing in your article… Read more »
Theorema Egregium, you make a good point. Not exactly sure of my “white culture?” My dad was German/Norwegian and my mom was French. The culture I grew up in was heavily influenced by their heritage. Now that I’m married to a women who is of Mexican heritage, we’ve added her culture to who we are. Here I am, this white guy who can make the best Mexican food you’ll ever taste at the same time cook up a batch of German Käsespätzle
It always makes me happy to find an American who knows his umlauts. But of course that is part of your heritage. 🙂 Herzliche Grüße aus Österreich!
P.S. I guess the hardest excercise for an American would probably be to spell the name Nietzsche without looking it up. 😉 The ultimate German Shibboleth.
I can spell Nietzsche, and I am Polish on my father’s side. I take exception to your rampant ethnic generalizations! (And Nietzsche did, too.)