the privilege of White Males
I try to monitor this because it occurs many times a day:
I'll get noticed and get speedier service at the counter at McD's
At the gym, I'll be dealt with more respectfully, where a Hispanic friend is ignored and socially "invisible"
A police officer sees me speeding, but will stop a woman or minority to ticket
This is not good, because if one person is given Privilege, 10 more are:
ignored
not even seen (socially invisible)
given a harder time
not given the help they deserve
may be charged more for items, or not allowed to return an item to Walmart when they had no receipt, but I also returned and item and had no receipt
the Albertsons clerk puts my peaches in a separate bag, but not so for the Hispanic behind me
I am greeted at the Bank, and told to have a nice day by the assistant manager, while women are not
This occurs a lot, though as I age, I am becoming part of that invisible Seniors crowd. Sometimes that amazes me when it happens.
There are lots of forms of Privilege:
- Western White Male Privilege
- Wealthy Couples Privilege
- Beauty Privilege
- Dominant religion in non-White nations
- etc.
Privilege is a function of human biases, for which there are endless types, far from you and right next door to you!
For the psychopaths, the list of Lessers is quite defined.
Research shows also:
Tall
Flamboyant arm movements when talking increases privilege
How do you work to be aware of this, counter it, and protect the place of others?
In general, Male Privilege is culturally accepted, in all it's abuses and forms. Here is one video on that Male Sexual Privilege: taking of sex, rape, and femicide of women. We've addressed the culture of rape here and other sites linked on this blog.....it is around all of us daily, not just India where mass rapes occur.