Male privilege and female privilege, and CDing(western world).

[flatlander_48]

I too have always heard that, Flat, but I've had multiple opportunities to get cars serviced and to look at properties with real estate agents both as a male and as a female and I have not yet encountered a single instance when I felt I was being treated differently as a man or as a woman.

And lest you go for the "But you live in Southern California" excuse, I've met with real estate agents and toured properties as both a man and as a woman in other states, including Texas and Utah.

I'm sure there are cases where it definutely does happen. But I believe, based upon experience, that many more instances are expected or percieved as bias, discrimination, or difference where none may have existed.

Persephone .

You realize that you are a SOLITARY data point out of 315,000,000 people?

So, if I told you that I have personally seen sexist (male privilege), racism, ageism, homophobia, et al, you would tell me that there was none? There's a WHOLE LOT of people who would disagree with that based specifically on their personal experience.

DeeAnn

[Alice Torn]

As the original poster, I said nothing about race, and i would like this to stop now! Thank you friends for your sharing your pain, or experience in that area, but i meant only for the topic of how you are perceived and treated, as a woman, compared to as a male. It was about how you are treated, when you are out as a woman, and how you are treated as a man. No race in this, friends. I apologize that i was not clear. That is for another forum. Again, i am sorry is was not clearer in my OP.

[flatlander_48]

Well, the question is this:

How can I, as a Black male crossdresser, separate the responses I get by gender from race? If I walk up to someone and there's a 15 second delay in their acknowledgement of me, it usually isn't obvious what the reason is.

Anyway, in response to your request, things went off the rails at Post #5.

But, the larger issue this. You can define the concept of privilege in terms of many different kinds of discrimination. Denying that they exist or refusing to talk about them INSURES that those concepts will continue. The analogy is if you have a leak in the roof of your house, do you expect it to stop without intervention? That is, of course, excluding Divine Intervention. Every time it rains, it will leak.

In many ways, the coercion that society exercises on males and females (in very different ways) does not serve us well. The story about the veterinarian was interesting because it goes against a basic truth. Men feel things just as deeply as women, but we've been taught to not show it. The flip side is the story about the electronics salesman. Women are as competent as men at just about any job you can think of (Sumo Wrestlers aside!), yet the prevailing opinions are just the opposite. It is interesting to note that companies with significant numbers of women and minorities in leadership positions tend to outperform their peers in their industries. This is statistical fact.

A.T., the fact is that the concept of Privilege is woven into the fabric of our society. It has been with us since people began to walk upright. However, we do have the power to fix it and change the course of society.

DeeAnn

[Alice Torn]

If one is honest, the hard plain truth, is that all down through the thousands of years of history, with countless societies, there were inequities, and "privileged" ruling elites, and so much worse. As difficult as things are, yet today, "we have come a long way , baby", compared to the brutalities of antiquity, and we forget how bad things were in history. As long as humans are here, we have imperfect societies. We each, as INDIVIDUALS make the world a better place.

[Persephone]

And do I really need to find that post where you went on a movie date with a guy...

[Sigh] I guess I'm being stalked.

Persephone.

[Katey888]

From one privileged to know when a thread has diverted enough from its original intent, and with system privileges bestowed upon me by my status here... This thread is closed.

(And I guess that answers the question for those who believe privilege is BS... )

Katey
Moderator