JJ Vaughan believes men, while unable to see their privilege, are also unable to see their disadvantage.
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Originally published at Quillette.com
As a graduate student, I have been checking my male privilege for several years. As a man I am more likely to run governments and corporations due to my gender, and I have the privilege of not seeing much of that privilege.
Overlapping dimensions such as race, sexual orientation, and sex/gender can shape my male privilege in a variety of ways. However, as of late I have been deeply intrigued by dissent on the topic, including Emma C. Williams’s article suggesting that making someone “check their privilege” has become a polemic bludgeon against freedom of thought, which could promote resentment from powerless groups.
There is a tendency for many feminists to essentialize gender victimization into simplistic binary camps – of good and evil – even though privilege is an under-developed concept.
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There is a tendency for many feminists to essentialize gender victimization into simplistic binary camps – of good and evil – even though privilege is an under-developed concept.
The flagship thinking on male privilege is the male privilege checklist, a revised version of Peggy McIntosh’s brilliant White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. McIntosh discusses how privilege enjoyed by white people is invisible to them. The male privilege checklist simply substitutes “white” for “men,” but it’s not that simple. Race and gender are experienced in different ways. White people are not racialized, but men are gendered under patriarchy. Men in child custody disputes, criminal courts, and caring occupations (clearly a non-exhaustive list) routinely see their gender as a disadvantage. As a white male, I find it much harder to be male than white. When bloggers can compile a reactionary, but convincing, “female privilege checklist,” any kind of gendered privilege checklist only proves privileges within specific social contexts. For every women who is called a derogatory label, there is a man being called a creep or loser.
Privilege is two sides of the same coin. Men are privileged at the macro-level of social interaction. In short, men run society because they hold the vast majority of power. The other side of the privilege coin is the micro-level. There is a successful resistance against historical privileges enjoyed by men as a group.
As Michel Foucault states, power in (post)modernity is constantly resisted and is not possessed by individuals. For instance, university professors as a group have “power” over students as a group, but this is not necessarily always the case because the student has documented rights and student associations, which can resist the power and privilege of a professor. The same goes for gender. Men’s macro power has been rightfully resisted through bureaucratization from a strong feminist lobby, government programs for women and girls, and the like. Men’s power does not automatically translate into a privileged experience, there is some turbulence between the two.
Both the resistance against, and promotion of, patriarchy can deem men (and women) both powerful and powerless due to situational context.
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Both the resistance against, and promotion of, patriarchy can deem men (and women) both powerful and powerless due to situational context. Men are powerless in many contexts, including the context of men being around children. They are often seen as abusive or predatory. Men face airline policies that make them change seats when seated beside an unaccompanied minor. Men who shop in bookstores alone can be kicked out of the children’s section. Frustrated fathers are much more likely to be seen as abusers. Male educators teaching younger childrenare seen as potentially predatory. This is ‘social androphobia’ – the socially constructed fear of men.
At a micro level – in everyday interactions – women have the privilege of not being feared based on their gender. This privilege does not mean that women are privileged as a group, far from it. But the privilege discourse is obsessed with the macro privilege and greatly neglects micro/situational privilege(s). Other situational privileges could include individuals who have an articulate command of the dominant language, while others do not. Certainly a well-dressed individual will be treated better than if she wears a sports hoodie. What about overweight individuals, who may be healthy, getting overlooked for jobs or dates because they are deemed a “slob?”
These examples often sit outside the strict vertical hierarchy of privileged identity. (Certainly, one can go down the intersectional rabbit-hole until the ideal “privileged” individual is found, but that individual would only exist in conceptual thinking). Privilege as a concept, is constructed as a “fact” or “truth” through language and shared meanings when used over and over again. Yet there is no objective formula for finding it. Men are taught to not think about gender – especially when their masculinity or self-expression is mocked as “male tears” by dogmatic activists.
After checking my male privilege, I’ve learned that men are unable to see their privilege, but they are also unable to see their disadvantage.
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J.J. Vaughan is a graduate student in sociology. You can follow him on Twitter @Redtoryism
Photo by: Jaume Escofet
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“I think the sore spot with this issue for many men is that many women are completely willing to go on for hours about how hard their lives can be (which is often true), but there is, literally, little to no acknowledgement by many women of the situations in which they have HUGE, “GOD MODE” advantages when it comes to family law and general social interactions… Feminists might feel that “fixing” our society is best done by focusing exclusively on the problems of women in western society, but many people feel that we have passed well beyond the point of… Read more »
Not sure if the comment posted..
I think the OP makes a sound distinction between ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ levels of power, and how both of those impact & are impacted upon relatively, subjectively, situationally and contextually- and not absolutely or interchangeably. Such a perspective is very much the anathema of contemporary feminist discourse, which seems bound at all costs -at any cost- to rationalize all as immutably objective, negotiable, quantifiable, uniform absolutes; ones always configured to affirm & conform to its underlying philosophical (and essentialist) views of gender, and its pinnacle role in all power & oppression. It’s not so much a question of men thinking ‘too… Read more »
This is something that I’ve been trying to approach with my feminist friends, with mixed success, for a long time. It seems like male privilege is due to being taken seriously more often, they’re more likely treated as autonomous adults. On the flip side of that same privilege they’re seen as more threatening, and less likely to receive help when they need it. Men make up an overwhelming majority of homelessness and suicide statistics, because we just aren’t as easily sympathized with, and we are taught not to seek out sympathy. Although women being treated as less of an adult… Read more »
Justin – Can you give me some examples of how women are oppressively treated as less of an adult and examples of how women are privileged in being treated as less of an adult? I’ll just say that women suffer from far more complex circumstances then the one you presented. In reality, women have more responsibilities then they probably did 50 years ago. For the sheer reality that we take care of ourselves, go to college, build careers, bare children and raise children, sometimes alone (single mothers), while trying to work full-time jobs and still being responsible for the majority… Read more »
Ways that women can be treated as less than adults but still receive privilege: -“Women and Children First! AKA: The Disaster Plan – Women are entitled to first consideration of being protected from physical harm. This is also extended to all children except male children over the age of 12-16 depending on the situation and cultural context. The justification being that women are more valuable than men, even when viewed as property, because they can shoulder the majority of the biological burden of procreation, thus keeping the human race alive. Conversely, men are interchangeable/disposable. Every time you allow a woman… Read more »
…“fixing” our society is best done by focusing exclusively on the problems of women in western society, but many people feel that we have passed well beyond the point of diminishing returns with that strategy and that we would all probably be better served by starting the shift our focus to other areas of western society. But good luck trying to do that because now we are at a point where not focusing on women in any situation is considered in and of itself oppression and misogyny. Seriously look at what happens when trying to start a conversation on male… Read more »
You broached this topic much better than I did. Essentially thew idea that privilege is situation dependent is absolutely rejected by many parties because the nuance of any given situation may challenge their overall beliefs that group privilege takes priority over individual privilege. I’ve taken that quiz before, and while it does a great job of letting you know about privilege, it does something else as well, it lets you know the assumptions of those telling you to check your privilege. The assumption that as a member of the group you explicitly enjoy the listen privileges regardless of situation of… Read more »
Well said, Nolan. Privilege is a valid and important frame for creating change, or a rhetorical bludgeon to reinforce damaging and short sighted binary agendas. It depends on how it is employed.
“Understanding our privilege in a given situation is valuable. Using the concept of privilege to belittle and deny a voice is foolish and hateful. ”
Perfectly Stated Nolan.
Both the resistance against, and promotion of, patriarchy can deem men (and women) both powerful and powerless due to situational context. I think a part of the problem is that even when the disadvantages of being male are grudgingly acknowledged they are still through gritted teeth that refuses to acknowledge them as anything other than “well you were given this advantage and you ended up suffering this disadvantage as a result”. That still misdiagnoses the disadvantages of men as bugs in a system meant to favor men rather than what it really is, a feature in a system that screws… Read more »