So… I have taken this concept of “male privilege” for granted, that is, taken for granted that it does exist. I did some research, and it does exist…but, the “cons” of being males tend to outweigh the pros.
I found to elucidating videos on the Internet. One has a more factual approach of explaining the myth of “men’s privilege” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRsYwu8uD4I&list=PLytTJqkSQqtr7BqC1Jf4nv3g2yDfu7Xmd&index=7 and states that on average, boys tend to do worse in school than girls, earn less awards and, on average, are less likely to continue their education. They also make up 92% of workplace accidents, and are twice as likely to be victims of violent crimes (on campuses, at least). They also take the brunt of issues such as homelessness, suicide, and fighting wars.
The second video I found almost brought tears to my eyes. I don’t know why, it was factual, although definitely had a pathos element about it, but I had never stopped to consider how men suffered until now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPihPrNseAo. I strongly recommend people watch it, if for some reason you are reading these rants. It lists reasons such as women winning the high majority of custody cases – an obvious, sexist bias, but because it is in the favor of the minority, it’s not seen as adverse to society. While I admit that a majority of fathers do not fight for custody, there are plenty who do and lose, unable to do anything about it. There is also the fact that the amount of non-consensual sexual contact is almost equal among girls and boys, but boys’ experiences are far less reported because of social norms. There are virtually no rape victim shelters for boys or men, and very few for domestic abuse. There is a statistic that women are more likely to use a weapon on their spouse than the other way around, and men normally do not report domestic abuse because of, again, social norms. There are so many other instances of gender inequality, such as how breast cancer is the third leading killer, behind prostate cancer, yet receives twice as much funding as any cancer, whether gender-specific or not. Also, the ridicule and protests of International Men’s Day on November 19th appalls me. So many cultures have a “Day of the Woman,” but how can we expect men to support that if we won’t even allow their own day to celebrate? It just…it really appalls me all of this we have taken for granted. We (as society, not women, necessarily, but sometimes) thrust forward this concept of masculinity, of “taking it like a man,” rendering it virtually impossible to complain, and causing such high suicide rates. And there are very little women supporting these issues – they’re too focused on other issues. We have HeforShe, but where is SheforHe? I think we could really use that.
So I wouldn’t be biased, I googled instances of male privelege, because I was sure *something* had to exist. I found this: http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/02/160-examples-of-male-privilege/, but reading through it, I couldn’t help but laugh after watching the second link. These seem so trivial and basic compared to the hardships men are facing. Some of them are just absurd, like “it is socially acceptable for them to physically take up more space,” or that they “don’t have to step out of the way for the other gender.” I’ve had so many men step off of sidewalks to make room for me so I don’t have to walk in the dirt, or hold back their peers as they hold the door open for me so I can walk in first. Some of the sexual harassment ones are true, but men actually face a lot more than first realized. I think this “privilege” is very first-world problem-esque, and are used to displace real men’s issues.
I don’t want to engender “one sex has it worse than the other.” I think both sexes face issues constructed by society, but men face real problems that their “privelege” does not protect them from. I think feminists should get on board to being advocates for these issues as well – because we all know if a man should speak out about unfair treatment, he’d be crucified.