Recently, it has been argued with me that female’s have certain privileges (advantages not available to males). While it depends on how you define privilege, it is true that women have different privileges than men do.
More specifically, though, I will be discussing how these assumptions are benevolent, and how it affects us on a societal level (yes, it is harmful to men, too).
“This is not female privilege. This is survival of the prettiest.” - Blythe Baird
Some say that women can “exploit” themselves sexually easier than men can, and because of this, they are more likely to abuse that privilege.
Like I said before, sex can either be empowering or objectifying, depending on the subject. See here.
Selling sex appeal is indeed a guilty culprit of objectification and dehumanization, but it’s not always repressing (sexually, socially or economically).
Even unknowingly, thinking that empowerment is “female privilege” can be problematic.
One of my many reasons behind that logic is this:
Not all women (people) want to be empowered sexually, so the ideal that it is “woman’s birthright” to hold sexual power is a sexist stereotype.
Can it really be argued that by sexualizing a woman it gives her privilege? Well, not really. We didn’t necessarily sign up for that. The problem is that ideals like this are socially constructed. Once we recognize that, we come to face a bigger issue.
When people are diluted down to X and Y, we create stereotypes that are harmful to everyone. Including men. Example:
“Masculinity is defined as sexual dominance, femininity as sexual submissiveness: genders are “created through the eroticization of dominance and submission. The man/woman difference and the dominance/submission dynamic define each other. This is the social meaning of sex.” -MacKinnon
Would you want to be part of a system that sets standards that are impossible for most people to achieve?
I know I don’t. We should be whoever we want, without having to define it.
"Misogyny" often surfaces in political struggles over women's role, and you can tell because the control of women becomes personalized, intrusive and often sexualized. -Naomi Wolf
“I’ve seen the argument floated around that if there’s such thing as “male privilege” that there must therefore be an equivalent of “female privilege”. While I can understand why someone could come to this conclusion if their main reference for “privilege” was one of the privilege checklists, this is actually a misunderstanding of male privilege, which is an institutional — not a personal — privilege.”
From Feminism 101
With this in mind, everything is telling me that “female privilege” is actually sexism. When we examine this more closely we can see that it further reinforces ideas that socially keep us separated.
It’s not that women have power over men. What some see as power is actually a system of standards that is harmful to everyone (i.e. traits that are inherently male or female). While it may seem like privilege at first glance, these are root examples of inequality.
“Men need to get it through their heads that they, too, are under the heel of power structures that have no interest in promoting their welfare. They must understand that the rights and privileges that they have hitherto been enjoying fall far short of the privileges they could enjoy were they to try and achieve them. The internecine warfare that occurs between women and men, people of color and white people, straights and gays, as they all squabble like schoolchildren in an attempt to gain or deny rights, is exactly what those in power want. They promote it, they foment it, they do everything they can to aggravate it, because they know that if we were all ever to get our fucking shit together, and demand that the society we all live in and contribute to should be fair and decent to everyone, then the egregious wealth and power that they enjoy would finally meet its end.”
From Feminism is Humanism
In conclusion, it is in my opinion that “female privilege” does not parallel nor fit into the dynamic of “male privilege.” I feel as though it denies the underlying issue of institutionalized sexism.
I hope one day we can see past our differences and will value each other for our uniqueness of our minds and experiences.
