From the linked blog, I was also directed to several other similar lists, one of which was the one listed below:
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.
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).
3. If I am never promoted, it’s not because of my sex.
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.
5. I am far less likely to face sexual harassment at work than my female co-workers are. (More).
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.
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).
8. On average, I am taught to fear walking alone after dark in average public spaces much less than my female counterparts are.
9. If I choose not to have children, my masculinity will not be called into question.
10. If I have children but do not provide primary care for them, my masculinity will not be called into question.
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).
12. If I have children and a career, no one will think I’m selfish for not staying at home.
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.
14. My elected representatives are mostly people of my own sex. The more prestigious and powerful the elected position, the more this is true.
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.
16. As a child, chances are I was encouraged to be more active and outgoing than my sisters. (More).
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.
18. As a child, chances are I got more teacher attention than girls who raised their hands just as often. (More).
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.
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, every day, without exception.
21. If I’m careless with my financial affairs it won’t be attributed to my sex.
22. If I’m careless with my driving it won’t be attributed to my sex.
23. I can speak in public to a large group without putting my sex on trial.
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).
25. I do not have to worry about the message my wardrobe sends about my sexual availability or my gender conformity. (More).
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).
27. The grooming regimen expected of me is relatively cheap and consumes little time. (More).
28. If I buy a new car, chances are I’ll be offered a better price than a woman buying the same car. (More).
29. If I’m not conventionally attractive, the disadvantages are relatively small and easy to ignore.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
34. I will never be expected to change my name upon marriage or questioned if I don’t change my name.
35. The decision to hire me will never be based on assumptions about whether or not I might choose to have a family sometime soon.
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.
37. Most major religions argue that I should be the head of my household, while my wife and children should be subservient to me.
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).
39. If I have children with a wife or girlfriend, chances are she’ll do most of the childrearing, and in particular the most dirty, repetitive and unrewarding parts of childrearing.
40. If I have children with a 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.
41. 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.
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).
43. If I am heterosexual, it’s incredibly unlikely that I’ll ever be beaten up by a spouse or lover. (More).
44. Complete strangers generally do not walk up to me on the street and tell me to “smile.” (More: 1 2).
45. On average, I am not interrupted by women as often as women are interrupted by men.
46. I have the privilege of being unaware of my male privilege.
What do you think?
(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.)
(This is a continually updated document; the most current version of The Male Privilege Checklist can always be found at amptoons.com/blog/the-male-privilege-che… . To see posts discussing the Male Privilege Checklist and various items on it, please visit this archive page).
8 comments:
Thanks for posting this, Missy. I need to keep these things in mind more often. Otherwise, how else can I see the reality around me and be a better man (by being less of a "Man" and more a person and partner).
Missy, Do you think the list is interesting? And Pete, be proud to be a man. It isn't a dirty word.
Below are some popular feminist maxims.
This will be good for YOUR SON'S self-esteem, no? This is the way you view YOUR HUSBAND? I didn't think so.
"All men are rapists and that's all they are"-- Marilyn French, Authoress; (later, advisoress to Al Gore's Presidential Campaign.)
"I believe that women have a capacity for understanding and compassion which man structurally does not have, does not have it because he cannot have it. He's just incapable of it."-- Barbara Jordan; Former Congresswoman.
"Men, as a group, tend to be abusive, either verbally, sexually or emotionally. There are always the exceptions, but they are few and far between (I am married to one of them). There are different levels of violence and abuse and individual men buy into this system by varying degrees. But the male power structure always remains intact."--Message on FEMISA, responding to a request for arguments that men are unnecessary for a child to grow into mature adulthood.
"Women have their faults / men have only two: / everything they say / everything they do."
-- Popular Feminist Graffiti
"Men are rapists, batterers, plunderers, killers; these same men are religious prophets, poets, heroes, figures of romance, adventure, accomplishment, figures ennobled by tragedy and defeat. Men have claimed the earth, called it 'Her'. Men ruin Her. Men have airplanes, guns, bombs, poisonous gases, weapons so perverse and deadly that they defy any authentically human imagination."-- Andrea Dworkin, "Pornography: Men Possessing Women"
"As long as some men use physical force to subjugate females, all men need not. The knowledge that some men do suffices to threaten all women. He can beat or kill the woman he claims to love; he can rape women...he can sexually molest his daughters... THE VAST MAJORITY OF MEN IN THE WORLD DO ONE OR MORE OF THE ABOVE."-- Marilyn French (her emphasis)
"I feel that 'man-hating' is an honorable and viable political act, that the oppressed have a right to class-hatred against the class that is oppressing them." -- Robin Morgan, "Ms. Magazine" Editor.
"Under patriarchy, every woman's son is her potential betrayer and also the inevitable rapist or exploiter of another woman." -- Andrea Dworkin
"All sex, even consensual sex between a married couple, is an act of violence perpetrated against a woman." -- Catherine MacKinnon
"And if the professional rapist is to be separated from the average dominant heterosexual (male), it may be mainly a quantitative difference."-- Susan Griffin, "Rape: The All-American Crime".
Judy
I don't think the the privilege list is the same as the quotes list. Mostly because I disagree with many of the quotes, but agree with pretty much all of the privilege list. I have nothing against men. I do have something against men who use their manhood to violate women and children. I don't think that all men do this or wish to.
Do I think that the list is interesting - yes. Do I think much of it is true? Yes.
My identification as a feminist is not as much with the second wave of feminism - the feminism of the seventies and early eighties with perpetuated much of the stereotypically feminist art and were known as "man-haters". My identification is much more with the third wave of feminism - the embracing of femininity and the power that is decidedly female - equality in marriage and the sharing of household responsibilities based on giftedness and desire rather than on gender. I look at feminism as a philosophy through a Christian lens. I love my son and husband. Of course I would not want to use such quotes against them. I do feel that there is a decided male privilege in the world - I don't see how anyone could deny that. I don't think that this is right or good.
I do think that the second wave of feminism was necessary. It brought real charges against rapists and made domestic violence a more serious offense.
Was it a good thing in all ways - no. Was it a good thing as far as the outcome - yes.
Just like the first wave of feminism got us the vote, the second wave got us jobs and education and the crimes committed against - let's face it - women for the most part - became more serious offenses.
Without these first two waves, the embracing of our sexuality, real discussions about puberty, even wearing the clothes that we wear today would not have been possible - let alone going to see a female doctor.
My understanding is you believe the end justifies the means. I must tell you that the quotes you don't like so much are the ideals you and your husband were raised. You may not find them utterly offensive because you have been alive during the raising of the temperature of the water (boiling frog analogy going on here). I'm of the generation of the women that believed that to be a liberated woman, the men must be squashed. I see the generation of men raised under these ideals and I'm sad. I see that we have feminists that like abortion because it allows women to control a decision that involves both a man and a woman, and this power can be used to really hurt a man by aborting his child. Yet aborting children does not help women become equal to men. To the contrary, it devalues a woman's ability to bring life into the world, gives them a guilty conscience, and allows men to have sex with women and leave them, which is a practice that society should be trying to stop, not encourage. Never mind that girls are aborted more often than boys. Abortion is the number one right that feminists support. Feminist groups like the National Organization of Women treat abortion rights as the number one issue facing women. What is interesting about this is that women in general do not agree with the feminists on this issue. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that a majority of both men and women equally oppose abortion except in very limited circumstances. Around 57% of both men and women oppose abortion except in cases where the mother or fetus might be harmed, or there was rape or incest involved. Clearly, this is not an issue woman's groups should be championing, considering most women are not in favor of mass legal abortion, and it is no more of an issue for them than it is for men. I know you think you can choose the issues you want to support in your feminist ideals. You can't. Unfortunately, you are allowing yourself to be used by their agenda. When you print a list of "privileges" you push this agenda forward. There is nothing a Christian woman can gain by allowing themselves to have a feeling of superiority over men or a desire to push men "back in their place". The man that wrote this list, if in fact it was a man, is supporting an agenda that harms many more women than men. I know you think you can be a "strong woman" by following the status quo. When we take over for our men, when we point out these "privileges" and then tell them they really aren't all that great because of these privileges, we harm them, cut them off at the knees and then wonder why they don't step up to the plate and be strong. You may not think you agree with the quotes, but you are supporting them in your actions and attitudes.
Judy
Obviously we're talking about a generational difference here.
I respect your opinions and viewpoints and understand that I was a child/not yet born during the largest push of the second wave feminist agenda.
While I don't agree with your assessment of me and my viewpoints and the effect that they will have on my child and husband and am somewhat offended by your implications, I don't feel like this is an appropriate forum in which to argue or an appropriate topic to argue about since we are coming at it from such different perspectives.
I am sorry I hurt your feelings. My comments were not personal. I was merely expressing my opinions on a public blog and I thought it was an appropriate venue. My views are my personal views, not an attack.
Judy
Understood completely.
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