Male Privilege

Growing up, girls and young women are told that they can aspire to have it all-a good paying full time job, a household, babies, a successful relationship and look great to boot. However, while this  all sounds good and dandy, as a realist, I’m not sure it will be possible (at least not easily). Once the rose tinted glasses are taken off, reality hits you right between the eyes. More often than not, as a woman you have to make concessions and choose between one thing or another. I never really considered the idea of male priviledge until I recently read that Drew Barrymore said some of the most controversial words a woman can hear these days, “Women can’t have it all. I was raised in that generation of ‘women can have it all,’ and I don’t think you can. I think some things fall off the table.” At first I thought ‘What? Of course we can, because we’re women and women can do whatever we want! Isn’t that the whole point of the feminist movement and progress?’  But, in reality, over 80% of women realize that it is impossible to have it all without making sacrifices, as Drew realized and had to make career changes for her new child.

There is a conflicting message being sent to women. For so many years we have been and are still being told we can have it all, but now some women are beginning to realize that’s not possible.

Despite mobilising and advancing women, some criticise the feminist movement of the 1960s-70s for leading women to blame themselves “if they cannot manage to rise up the ladder as fast as men and also have a family.” (Slaughter, 2012). I argue however, that it’s too easy, too simplistic to issue blame on feminism and not consider male privilege and our current patriarchal society. McIntosh  speaks of unacknowledged male privilege and how men “gain from women’s disadvantages.” (1988, p.1).  

Male privilege has allowed men to exceed in the work force, which Henry (2012) refers to a “corporate apartheid” of the sexes. Gender apartheid according to Henry reinforces the idea that men are superior to women, they hold positions of power, “makes all the decisions about how other groups live and work, and distributes employment opportunities”. In the work force, particularly in the corporate field, women watch  “less educated, less qualified men get promoted” ahead of them (Henry, 2012). As a woman studying to be a teacher, hoping to be successful in my chosen future career, I’m angry and frustrated by this prospect. While there are more female teachers than male, it is the males that hold higher positions in the educational system. Am I setting myself up for disappointment?  Feminism has pushed ideas of gender equality and freedom to the forefront. Introduction of legislation such as the Sex Discrimination Act (1984), the Human Rights and Equality Opportunity Act (1986) and the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act (1999) coupled with education is thought to have improved opportunities for women in the workplace (Henry 2012). However, these ideals have yet to be truly “realised in practice” claims Fraser (2009). 

This comes back to male privilege and the importance of acknowledgment. McIntosh states that men deny or are unwilling to recognise how male privilege and hegemony has “opened doors for them personally…over [empowering] them as a group.” (1988, p.3). Women fear that they will be passed over senior positions if they fall pregnant or because of their young families – men don’t share this fear. Thus, in order to “redesign social systems” (McIntosh, 1988, p. 18), men must acknowledge this privilege and be willing to “give up some of their power.” (1988, p. 2). I think for instance, having paid paternity leave is a good example of recognising male privilege and where men have to “give up” certain entitlements. Paid paternity leave could allow women to enter the work force sooner and perhaps avoid demotion.    At school I had very inspirational female teachers, advising me aim high and never to compromise my dreams. I acknowledge however, that change in mentality and beliefs needs to be “translated into structural, institutional change” (Fraser, 2009, p.99) and we need to enlist men in this struggle. 

References

Fraser, N. (2009). Feminism, Capitalism and the Cunning of History. New Left Review 56, 97-117.

Henry. A. (2012, September 26). Corporate apartheid: a tale of two sexes. Brisbane Times. Retrieved from:http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/corporate-apartheid-a-tale-of-two-sexes-20120925-26j7y.html

McIntosh, P. (1988). White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming To See Correspondences through Work in Women's Studies. Working Paper No. 189. Center for Research on Women, Wellsley College, 1-20. Retrived from: www.iub.edu/~tchsotl/part2/McIntosh%20White%20Privilege.pdf

Slaughter, A. (2012, July/August). Why women still can’t have it all. The Atlantic. Retrived from: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/?single_page=true#