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unreadierLizard

(475 posts)
Sun Mar 31, 2013, 09:27 PM Mar 2013

I have no job. I'm filing for disability.

I'm 21 years old and have never worked a day in my life.

My mental conditions are not taken seriously by anyone because I'm a male.

I'm laughed at for being "different&quot in that I don't like sports or fishing or steroids or other "manly" things).

My family and I live on the edge of poverty, barely making ends meet.

...How am I "privileged"? This isn't "MRA nonsense", it's seriously mind boggling how I fit into this "male privilege" that exists. If I have some kind of magic cheat button that lets me win at life, I'd like to start using it now, please.

Sorry, it's just the 35589375837 threads on "straight white male privilege" irk me somewhat.

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rrneck

(17,671 posts)
1. I've been taken advantage of
Sun Mar 31, 2013, 09:30 PM
Mar 2013

lied to, screwed over, insulted, and annoyed by waaaaay more men than women.

Hayabusa

(2,135 posts)
2. SWM Privilege
Mon Apr 1, 2013, 12:56 AM
Apr 2013

may exist to some degree, but for the most part I think that it's used as a weapon to dismiss the opinion of any man who disagrees with a certain brand of feminism. "You don't like our ideas and I don't have anything all that specific to refute your concerns? *checks profile and confirms poster is a male* Privileged!"

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
3. Here's the thing. You can't even comment, because if you do you're "whining", you're
Mon Apr 1, 2013, 04:18 AM
Apr 2013

"mansplaining", etc.

It is an intellectually lazy way to try to shut people up, or down, particularly if they're disagreeing with some goofy brand of dogma.

It's one of many tactics, of course. A popular one right now is to conflate any disagreement with, say, radical feminists, into "attacks on Feminists" or even better, "Attacks on women". Then you have to go down the road of pointing out "you're not speaking for all Feminists, in fact 5 minutes ago you were bad-mouthing 3rd Wavers". It's like saying by criticizing Fred Phelps you are "Attacking Christians". Sort of technically true yet also a vast misrepresentation. Conflate, conflate, conflate. Criticize the way Adria Richards handled eavesdropping on some guy's dumb dongle joke, and all of a sudden you're Reddit MRA pubic enemy phallopressor numero uno, who is obviously "okay with death threats" and all manner of bargle yargle blargle flart.

It's silly, but it's a Gish Gallop tactic of throwing gibberish out so fast that it's nigh-impossible to deconstruct point by point. (Short answer? I haven't seen anyone say they thought the threats against Ms. Richards were appropriate. Because they weren't.)

As for "privileged", again; it's intellectual laziness, generally from people who are more used to dealing with imaginary constructs than actual human beings and the real world. Yes, I would posit that historically there have been many advantages -in many situations- to being male, in Western Society and the US in particular, although this is becoming less and less as we (hopefully) move towards a more egalitarian, merit-based society. I hope and I believe this to be the case. There have also been obvious advantages to being White, to being Protestant, to being Rich, as well as to being strappingly handsome and, ah, endowed in the shoe and glove department.

I'm batting 3 out of 5, there.

But the reality is, we're all individuals, and furthermore we are all individuals in a myriad of different situations in which a myriad of different variables come into play. Is it inconceivable that there may be situations you or I come across in our day to day in which being male may confer an advantage? Like having to pee in a forest? Certainly. But this knee-jerk meme of "check your privilege", particularly on the internet where, at the end of the day, we are ALL disembodied electronic voices that could be ANY gender or race... it's fucking silly.

And, again, it's really about shutting people up, saying "you don't have a right to your opinion, because you're XXXXXX".

 

lumberjack_jeff

(33,224 posts)
4. I would have less problem with the concept of privilege if some attempt were made to quantify it
Mon Apr 1, 2013, 02:59 PM
Apr 2013

Men, as best I can tell, have privilege because
a) congresspeople, presidents and CEO's (like garbagemen, commercial fishermen and loggers) mostly have penises
b) because women tend to work fewer hours in more comfortable jobs (and thus get paid less)
c) because patriarchy. Patriarchy, that's why.
d) because blogs say that women should be afraid (specifically, of men), when in fact straight white women are the demographic least likely to be victims of violence.

But links, logic, and (goddess forbid) numbers are all simply tools in the phallopressive mansplaining arsenal.

Major Nikon

(36,814 posts)
9. I have seen some attempt to quantify it
Mon Apr 1, 2013, 08:01 PM
Apr 2013

Usually this takes the form of conflating "male privilege" with other privileges, or it involves the mindless reposting of the "Male privilege checklist" which manages to bounce around on feminist echo chambers with no rhetort as to how ridiculous it is.

 

lumberjack_jeff

(33,224 posts)
5. In an economy in which labor had any value...
Mon Apr 1, 2013, 03:01 PM
Apr 2013

... there would be few people disabled.

10% of the people employed in 1999 are unemployable today, simply because the jobs are not there.

 

unreadierLizard

(475 posts)
6. Except
Mon Apr 1, 2013, 04:38 PM
Apr 2013

I'm not faking my disability.

Mine is based on mental illnesses that are chronic(7+ years) that, at it's worst, results in me being unable to leave the house for up to weeks at a time.

 

lumberjack_jeff

(33,224 posts)
8. I'm not saying, suggesting or inferring that you are faking it.
Mon Apr 1, 2013, 07:05 PM
Apr 2013

I direct a small nonprofit dedicated to the wellbeing of people with disabilities (especially developmental disabilities).

If the economy were better, many of my participants would be able to find work (even part time), because employers would need to make accommodations. What constitutes "disabled" is completely dependent on the economy.

There is a little practical difference (imho) between "unable to work" and "unable to work in this economy".

 

Purveyor

(29,876 posts)
7. Best to 'lawyer up' right off the bat before ever making your claim. They take around $3k but if
Mon Apr 1, 2013, 06:27 PM
Apr 2013

you have a case and they take it, you will most likely get the help you need.

Good luck.

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