I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes...

Well. I'm glad we got that out of the way.












Let me begin by saying that I'm actually offended you even know what a Taylor Swift tune should sound like. Offended, I say! (This coming from someone who regularly blasts Ace of Base out her car stereo while driving around town...One of these days I'm going to get a DWD ticket- Driving While Dancing.)

Onto real things. You wanted to talk about men- their role in society, the way Patriarchy benefits them, the way they abuse their privilege. I obviously have a lot of thoughts on the matter; I wasn't a Gender Studies concentration in college for no reason.

The first thing I would say on this is that the word privilege is being used a very specific way here. I like to go by the definition laid out in this Livejournal entry:

Privilege is: About how society accommodates you. It's about advantages you have that you think are normal. It's about you being normal, and others being the deviation from normal. It's about fate dealing from the bottom of the deck on your behalf.

I highly suggest you go read the rest of the post; Betty manages to explain privilege, which is a pretty convoluted concept, in a clear, concise manner. Yay for that!

I would also suggest reading The Invisible Knapsack (pdf), which was written by Peggy McIntosh in '88 about the ways privilege blinds us to having those exact privileges, in order to be a self-propagating system. Or, you could just look at this lolcat which sums up the idea of invisible privilege equally well.















You ask if men being aware of their privilege would help. I say yes, to a degree. If the two of us- who you should remember, have a bucketload of privilege, being raised in an upper middle class family, in the US, with stellar educations, white skin, and glorious good looks- can challenge our privileges and come as far as we have, then so can men. Especially because not all men are completely privileged. There are men of color, differently abled men, impoverished men, queer men, etc etc etc. This is where the concept of intersectional politics comes in. The idea that we are not static identities- I am not just a woman, I am a queer, fat, differently abled Jewish woman- you cannot separate those identities from each other when looking at my place in society, as the different levels of oppression do not see me as one single identity but a composite.

So, yes, men can theoretically become feminist, patriarchy-busting allies once they challenge their privilege. In some ways they will never be able to eradicate that privilege, as it is not something they willingly took on but were given due to their inherent characteristics. But, in the act of challenging it, and forcing oneself to become aware of it, they are helping to weaken it. This is why I am SO outspoken with my feminism/womanism. Because it is only through constant education, and challenging of the status quo, that change comes about. Which, conveniently, is how I choose my male friends. If they are receptive to my beliefs, to taking on the challenge of hearing me and learning from me, I let them in. If they don't, I walk away. Easy peasy.

Further reading, from Shakesville:

(Trigger Warning) The Terrible Bargain We Have Regretfully Struck

and

Feminism 101: Sexism is Matter of Opinion


-Little Sis