Male privilege

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Male privilege refers to the social theory which argues that men have unearned social, economic, and political advantages or rights that are granted to them solely on the basis of their sex, and which are usually denied to women. A man's access to these benefits may also depend on other characteristics such as race, sexual orientation and social class.[1][2][3]

Contents

Terminology[edit]

In legal cases alleging discrimination, "sex" is usually preferred as the determining factor rather than "gender", because it refers to biology rather than socially constructed norms which are more open to interpretation and dispute.[better source needed][4] In "Defining Male and Female: Intersexuality and the Collision Between Law and Biology", Julie Greenberg explains that although gender and sex are separate concepts, they are interlinked in that gender discrimination often results from stereotypes based on what is expected of members of each sex.[5] In J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B., Justice Scalia distinguishes sex and gender:

The word ‘gender’ has acquired the new and useful connotation of cultural or attitudinal characteristics (as opposed to physical characteristics) distinctive to the sexes. That is to say, gender is to sex as feminine is to female and masculine is to male.[6]

Thus, biologically "male" privilege is only one of many power structures that may exist within a given society,[7] and levels/manifestations of male privilege differ among both similar and disparate societies, as well as in different contexts within the same society[citation needed]. The term "male privilege" does not apply to a solitary occurrence of the use of power, but rather describes one of many systemic power structures that are interdependent and interlinked throughout societies and cultures. [8]

Against the notion of male privilege[edit]

Psychologist Herb Goldberg,[9] claimed in 1976 that "the myth that the male is culturally favoured ...is clung to, despite the fact that every critical statistic in the area of longevity, disease, suicide, crime, accidents, childhood emotional disorders, alcoholism, and drug addiction shows a disproportionately higher male rate." He sees males as "oppressed by the cultural pressures that have denied him his feelings, by the mythology of the woman and the distorted and self destructive way he sees and relates to her, by the urgency for him to 'act like a man' which blocks his ability to respond ... both emotionally and physiologically, and by a generalized self hate that causes him to [not] feel comfortable ... when he lives for joy and for personal growth."

In The Myth of Male Power, "a debunking of the myth of men as a privileged class"[10] Warren Farrell points to the over-representation of men among groups such as the homeless, suicides, alcoholics, the victims of violent crime and prisoners.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Phillips, Debby A.; Phillips, John R. (2009). "Privilege, Male". In O'Brien, Jodi. Encyclopedia of Gender and Society. Volume Two. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications. pp. 683–684. ISBN 978-1-4129-0916-7. 
  2. ^ Coston, Bethany M.; Kimmel, Michael (2012). "Seeing Privilege Where It Isn't: Marginalized Masculinities and the Intersectionality of Privilege". Journal of Social Issues 68 (1): 97–111. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.2011.01738.x. 
  3. ^ McIntosh, Peggy (2003). "White Privilege and Male Privilege". In Kimmel, Michael; Ferber, Abby L. Privilege: A Reader. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. pp. 3–25. ISBN 978-0-8133-4056-2. 
  4. ^ Render, Meredith. (2006) "Misogyny, Androgyny, and Sexual Harassment: Sex Discrimination in a Gender-Deconstructed World". Harvard Journal of Law & Gender. Vol. 29(1) (Winter). pp99–150. p102
  5. ^ Greenberg, Julie A. (1999). "Defining Male and Female: Intersexuality and the Collision Between Law and Biology". Arizona Law Review. Vol. 41. 265.
  6. ^ J.E.B. v. Ala. ex rel. T.B., 114 S. Ct. 1419, 1436 n.1 (1994)
  7. ^ Foucault, Michel (1976, Reissued 1990.). The History of Sexuality, Volume I. Vintage. ISBN 0-679-72469-9. 
  8. ^ Narayan, Uma (1997). Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions, and Third-World Feminism. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-91419-1. 
  9. ^ Goldberg, Herb (1976). The Hazards of Being Male- surviving the Myth of Masculine Privilege. Wellness Institute, Inc. ISBN 1-58741-013-3. 
  10. ^ Svoboda, J. Steven (12 June 2008). "An Interview with Warren Farrell". Retrieved 20013-04-04. 

Further reading[edit]

  • Blau, Francine & Ferber, Marianne. (1992). The Economics of Women, Men and Work. 5th edition 2005. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-185154-3
  • Foucault, Michel. (1969) The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discourse on Language. Reissued 1982. Pantheon. ISBN 0-394-71106-8
  • Jacobs, Michael P. (1997). "Do Gay Men Have a Stake in Male Privilege?" in Homo Economics: Capitalism, Community, and Lesbian and Gay Life. Gluckman, Amy & Reed, Betsy (eds.). Taylor & Francis Books Ltd. ISBN 0-415-91379-9
  • Lugones. Maria. (2003) 'Pilgrimages/Peregrinajes: Theorizing Coalition Against Multiple Oppression (Feminist Constructions). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0-7425-1458-7
  • MacKinnon, Catharine A. (2003) Sex Equality: Sexual Harassment. Foundation Press. ISBN 1-58778-564-1
  • Wood, Robert; Corcoran, Mary & Courant, Paul (1993). "Pay Differentials Among the Highly Paid: The Male-Female Earnings Gap in Lawyer's Salaries". Journal of Labor Economics (July).
  • Butler, Judith P.. (1993) Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-90366-1
  • Daly, Mary, (1990) Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism. Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-1413-3
  • Simone de Beauvoir. (1953). The Second Sex Reissued 1989. Vintage. ISBN 0-679-72451-6
  • Betty Friedan: The Feminine Mystique
  • Germaine Greer: The Female Eunuch
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