Male privilege: Difference between revisions

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Male privilege refers to the social theory 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]

Terminology

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] 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 distinguished 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 both between 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

Men's rights activist 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."

Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly and conservative author Ann Coulter have argued in the course of their campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment that “of all the classes of people who have ever lived, the American woman is the most privileged. We have the most rights and rewards, and the fewest duties.”^[10] As examples, they point to the traditionally nonreciprocal obligation on husbands to financially provide for their wives, and women's immunity from conscription into military service.^[10]

In The Myth of Male Power, “a debunking of the myth of men as a privileged class”^[11] Warren Farrell points to the over-representation of men among groups such as the homeless, suicides, alcoholics, the victims of violent crime and prisoners. Far from being privileged, he argues that policies such as conscription, the women and children first convention and the over-representation of men among the most dangerous and unpleasant occupations illustrate men’s status as "the disposable sex"^[12], and states that “if a man feels obligated to take a job he likes less so he can be paid more money that someone else spends while he dies seven years earlier, well, that's not power.”^[12]

References

^ Phillips, Debby A.; Phillips, John R. (2009). "Privilege, Male". In O'Brien, Jodi (ed.). Encyclopedia of Gender and Society. Vol. Volume Two. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications. pp. 683–684. ISBN 978-1-4129-0916-7. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |chapterurl= (help)
^ 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.
^ McIntosh, Peggy (2003). "White Privilege and Male Privilege". In Kimmel, Michael; Ferber, Abby L. (eds.). Privilege: A Reader. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. pp. 3–25. ISBN 978-0-8133-4056-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |chapterurl= (help)
^ *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
^ *Greenberg, Julie A. (1999). "Defining Male and Female: Intersexuality and the Collision Between Law and Biology". Arizona Law Review. Vol. 41. 265.
^ J.E.B. v. Ala. ex rel. T.B., 114 S. Ct. 1419, 1436 n.1 (1994)
^ Foucault, Michel (1976, Reissued 1990.). The History of Sexuality, Volume I. Vintage. ISBN 0-679-72469-9. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
^ Narayan, Uma (1997). Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions, and Third-World Feminism. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-91419-1.
^ Goldberg, Herb (1976). The Hazards of Being Male- surviving the Myth of Masculine Privilege. Wellness Institute, Inc. ISBN 1-58741-013-3.
^ ^a ^b Schlafly, Phyllis and Ann Coulter (2003). Feminist Fantasies. Dallas: Spence Publishing Co. ISBN 1-890626-46-5. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
^ Svoboda, J. Steven (12 June 2008). "An Interview with Warren Farrell". Retrieved 2008-10-20.
^ ^a ^b Macchietto, John. "Interview with Warren Farrell". Retrieved 2008-10-20.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 Thus, biologically "male" privilege is only one of many [[Hierarchy|power structures]] that may exist within a given society,<ref name="Foucault1976">{{cite book|last=Foucault|first=Michel |title=The History of Sexuality, Volume I|year=1976, Reissued 1990.|publisher=Vintage|isbn=0-679-72469-9}}</ref> and levels/manifestations of male privilege differ both between disparate societies as well as in different contexts within the same society {{CN|date=April 2013}}. 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. <ref name="Narayan">{{cite book|last=Narayan|first=Uma|title=Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions, and Third-World Feminism.|year=1997|publisher=London: Routledge|isbn=0-415-91419-1}}</ref>
-== Compensating for male privilege ==
-{{main|Affirmative action}}
-Compensation for male privilege takes place in a difficult and ever-changing territory {{peacock term|date=April 2013}}. Most Western countries have enacted [[laws]] intended to mitigate the disparity between men and women {{CN|date=April 2013}}.
-The courts in many countries are male-dominated and as a result only the more obvious abuses of male privilege are subjected to effective scrutiny and remedial action {{Weasel-inline|date=April 2013}}{{dubious|date=April 2013}}.<ref name = Baer>{{cite book|last=Baer|first=Judith A|title=Women in American Law: The Struggle Toward Equality from the New Deal to the Present. |year=1991, Reissued 1996|publisher=Holmes & Meier Publishing|isbn=0-8419-1365-X}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=July 2010}}
-The disparity between male and female rights in some countries makes murder or ritualised rape an acceptable male response to specified female behaviour and, often, similar male behaviour {{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}.
 ==Against the notion of male privilege==

Male privilege: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:28, 9 April 2013

Terminology

Against the notion of male privilege

See also

References

Further reading