Ladies and Gents, I've been wanting to post an opinion on this for a long time.
This is due to a slew of comments of the form "You're a person of color, so you understand white privilege and race issues well, but being a male you do not understand how you benefit from male privilege"
So lets start at the beginning. The gender issue and race issue are not completely synonymous, they have certain overlaps I agree, but to simply graft over points that I make on the race debate and say, "see it's just the same as gender" is lazy and incorrect.
Here are the differences:
Race is completely, unequivocally concocted and socially defined. Numerous efforts were there to "scientifically" prove that certain races were genetically inferior to other races, all of this evidence however is racially motivated, to keeping (what was at that time) the status quo of white superiority.
Any study during that time cannot be extricated from the social temperament extant. Secondly, in the US in particular, race has a very specific history. Blacks were herded like animals on ships for the sole purpose of forced labor. They weren't allowed to learn, read, write, or advance intellectually in anyway. This reality is entirely, 100% socially concocted. Whites and blacks have no reason to be together or interact other than societally motivated causes (ie. we brought you here on ships)
Men did not go to Oprah-land to bring women to serve as their laborers, to bolster the "male" economy. Men and women also have that little thing called "evolutionary impulse" that keeps us together. This trait, if it was really detrimental would not pass on from generation to generation, rather it would die out because it doesn't serve survivability & replication of the human race. In fact, exactly the opposite: men and women interacting is what DEFINES survivability of the human race.
Now, one might imagine a reality that men and women don't actually interact, rather live in separate societies and only engage in replication via in-vitro fertalization. If male privilege were really as absolute as females would like to think, why haven't we seen a push in this direction? Because our evolutionaray impulses exist as they did 1000's of years ago, where technology & economics couldn't support a separate male and female society. I believe these impulses are keeping us together.
The female separatist movement does exist, but I'm a bit unclear as to their end goal. are they suggesting a society of just women? or are they just lesbos that don't want to be around men?
Now, is there male privilege? Yes. of course there is, but there's female privilege as well. I could go through the laundry list of cases and categories, but I'll save that for another time. The biggest example of female privilege is in dating/relationship situations - seemingly trivial, but upon further inspection, a cornerstone for the very relationships that sustain our society.
If one supports the removal of male privilege, then one should support the removal of female privilege as well.
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2 comments:
In the American context I pretty much think race trumps gender. As you might recall- me being your stalker & what not ;-), I'm an AfAm female. I notice that more men of "non" color (white guys) will feel confident to give me 'male' attention , flirt etc in the UK as compared to the US- but it increases much more so if I'm in some place like Edinburgh, Glasgow, Antwerp, etc- in short any where there are few/fewer[blacks].
It could be that the continental male is just more confident, but I don't think that's it. Its the removal of the race question that sopermeates American thought, politics, social dynamics. I think the continental male is not second guessing himself (if he wants to show interest) wondering if I hate white people etc, It's interesting to read your take as a non b/w male on it
If one supports the removal of male privilege, then one should support the removal of female privilege as well.?
Are you are leaving out class here- ceteris paribus, do you really think, in the US at least, that females have any "privilege" over males? Do you think that is true in the "wider" community? Or where your comments in just the "Desi" context.
The gender issue and race issue are not completely synonymous, they have certain overlaps I agree,
Do you listen to NPR? Tom Ashbrok On point, check this guys [Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Charlie LeDuff ]accent and speech mannerism. He seems to co-opt what some people call "black English" as the voice of working class/blue collar America now. Didn't read the book, don't plan on it either, but the interview was interesting at so many levels... as he gets to the break down of the "American" family eg not just an inner city (read black)problem anymore... and perhaps at some level the redefinition of male/female roles + the larger trends of class etc. Worth space on your iPod.
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/11/20071123_a_main.asp
I don't understand the point you're making here. My point is essentially that one cannot look at the issues facing people of color and then port them over to gender and say the exact same issues will be equally applicable. It's just not possible.
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