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Male privilege
Aug. 13th, 2019 08:51 amThis is a topic more endured than talked about in the trans communities, in large part because its used as a club. For the transfem folk, this club is often wielded by holders of a peculiar form feminist orthodoxy.
You still have male privilege.
And its relative
You're not done unlearning it, and may never.
For the transmasuline folk, they have it harder since the attack come from those same orthodox-ridden feminists, as well as some transfem folk, and the very same inclusive organizations they often were members of before physical changes made their continued participation weird.
Transmen have male privilege
Or the worse accusation:
Traitor! How can you be intersectional if you're opting into the system?
It all comes from the men are irredeemably icky part of women's spaces, and isn't at all intersectional. That may be the trauma talking, but its also spreading more trauma which doesn't make it helpful.
Transfem folk often adopt a bit of a tautology in their defense
I was never a man, any privilege I had was assigned by others, coersively and nonconsensually. Therefore, I never had male privilege. QED.
The transmasculine defense is less logic based, and more empathy based.
If I do, why is it transmasculine people face sexual assault and domestic violence at the same rate as cis women?
It is in this light that I wanted to dig into just what male privilege is, from the point of view of someone who once unconsciously had it, benefited from it, and surrendered some (but definitely not all) of its benefits in her transition. I do this because I manifestly had and benefited from it during my entire school career, and the first 10ish years of my work life.
( A framework, a life-story, and a comparison )
Conclusion
Male privilege is a complicated thing, and rhetoric towards transfolk is generally not using that nuance. Transmen look like guys, so obviously they get guy-privilege. QED.
Except. Most of them didn't grow up with the reinforcing mechanism of male privilege; having your internal privileges affirmed by those around you. If they had that internal sense, they were knives-out like my sister. That changes how you handle situations, and how you are perceived to handle them. Also being trans-gender rather than simply unmarked gender means there is always an asterisk by your privilege assignments, which makes them easier to revoke. This applies to transfem folk wondering if they really belong in women-only spaces, and transmasc folk who have their inner badass, beware privilege abridged by intimate partners.
The peculiar ideology folk enjoy using male privilege as a club, because every feminist knows its a bad thing. While memetic warfare isn't very appreciative of nuance, self-care very much is. If you're feeling the bruises of being clubbed with the male-privilege bat, it helps to reduce the bruising to understand that they're fundamentally not getting it.
At the same time, memetic warriors attempting to deny the effect male privilege has had in my career are doing so for political reasons and are ignoring the facts in my case. I know this, and have enough sense of self to not see generalizations like this as a direct attack against me.
You still have male privilege.
And its relative
You're not done unlearning it, and may never.
For the transmasuline folk, they have it harder since the attack come from those same orthodox-ridden feminists, as well as some transfem folk, and the very same inclusive organizations they often were members of before physical changes made their continued participation weird.
Transmen have male privilege
Traitor! How can you be intersectional if you're opting into the system?
It all comes from the men are irredeemably icky part of women's spaces, and isn't at all intersectional. That may be the trauma talking, but its also spreading more trauma which doesn't make it helpful.
Transfem folk often adopt a bit of a tautology in their defense
I was never a man, any privilege I had was assigned by others, coersively and nonconsensually. Therefore, I never had male privilege. QED.
The transmasculine defense is less logic based, and more empathy based.
If I do, why is it transmasculine people face sexual assault and domestic violence at the same rate as cis women?
It is in this light that I wanted to dig into just what male privilege is, from the point of view of someone who once unconsciously had it, benefited from it, and surrendered some (but definitely not all) of its benefits in her transition. I do this because I manifestly had and benefited from it during my entire school career, and the first 10ish years of my work life.
( A framework, a life-story, and a comparison )
Conclusion
Male privilege is a complicated thing, and rhetoric towards transfolk is generally not using that nuance. Transmen look like guys, so obviously they get guy-privilege. QED.
Except. Most of them didn't grow up with the reinforcing mechanism of male privilege; having your internal privileges affirmed by those around you. If they had that internal sense, they were knives-out like my sister. That changes how you handle situations, and how you are perceived to handle them. Also being trans-gender rather than simply unmarked gender means there is always an asterisk by your privilege assignments, which makes them easier to revoke. This applies to transfem folk wondering if they really belong in women-only spaces, and transmasc folk who have their inner badass, beware privilege abridged by intimate partners.
The peculiar ideology folk enjoy using male privilege as a club, because every feminist knows its a bad thing. While memetic warfare isn't very appreciative of nuance, self-care very much is. If you're feeling the bruises of being clubbed with the male-privilege bat, it helps to reduce the bruising to understand that they're fundamentally not getting it.
At the same time, memetic warriors attempting to deny the effect male privilege has had in my career are doing so for political reasons and are ignoring the facts in my case. I know this, and have enough sense of self to not see generalizations like this as a direct attack against me.
