Well, the thread’s not supposed to be so much about male privilege itself, but male denial of such privilege, and male reluctance to acknowledge the specific experiences women have as a result . And I think many of you are doing just that!
For example, many women will tell you that we believe you when you say that your (overwhelmingly male) experiences in combat are terrible. We listen, we sympathize. We advocate for peace. I know there have been hawkish female leaders in the world, but on the whole, women don’t have a lot of political power (yet) and, in my experience women tend to be less eager to vote for candidates that are more apt to rush into to military decisions to solve problems. As to listening to veterans, lots of the professionals trying to help veterans with PTSD are women (therapists, doctors, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists). How many women tell male veterans to just get over it, or that if they had worn different clothes or equipment or done something different it wouldn’t have happened, or it’s not so bad?
On the other hand, Women who are victims of sexual assault are regularly treated with harshness, suspicion or disdain by male police officers, lawyers, attorneys, politicians, and when the facts are established, then asked to provide evidence as to whether they “fought back” enough, even though it’s known that “freezing” in shock as a survival mechanism is common in such situations. Young teenage women are branded as “Lolita’s” who drew older men to them. And, fact: most rape kits sit for years without being opened and analyzed for evidence, is it any wonder that most rapes (estimated about 80%) are not reported? What can MEN do, to educate other men to believe women? Because we women sure aren’t getting through! And generally, it is not women raping women, or women raping men (although women do perpetrate sexual assault in rare cases). Even though I assume men reading this or most men I have interactions with are not rapists, men as a collective would possibly have the better chance of insight of your own gender to figure out what keeps other men (police officers, the public in general) from believing women, or figuring out what turns men into rapists and what we can do as a society to prevent that? Because it sure seems that women have been trying to push this issue forward to be addressed without much success, largely on our own. Any solution that involves a restriction of women to move about their days and their lives with as much freedom as men is not acceptable but such restrictions seem to be the loudest voice to the table. I’ve worked with children who were sexually abused from toddlerhood, and now it seems that girls who have known no safety, who have already suffered unspeakable abuse in their own homes upon menses (can be nine years old) will also be forced to carry fetuses to term. Already are, in some states. I can understand religious scruples about abortion. But at what point is compassion for a cluster of insentient cells over the suffering of a very real child at the hands of a man some kind of warped situation. Akin to the people who who burn “witches” at the stake for their religion. Where are the men in this picture? Why are the “good guys” so reluctant to to be actively involved in changing how things are done? How many just say, I don’t harass women or rape women so, not my circus. But they don’t seem to mind turning a blind eye and voting into high office men who do. I’d say this is one example (among many) of male privilege denial.
