The Ultimate Backpack: Unpacking your own Male Privilege

[little man]

Originally Posted by Linus

Well, the painful will depend on your point of view. Imagine you apply for a job to do magic widgets and you are doing a group interview. You are excited about this because you've been out of work for over a year, are about to be evicted and this job could help put you back on track for life. In addition to you being interviewed, there is also a MOC, a WOC and a white woman. All four of you are up for this job. You are being interviewed by the CEO and Board of Directors, all white males. As you go through the interview, you slowly realize that you aren't really qualified for it and that the others are more qualified, particularly the POC woman.

But at the end of the interview the interviewers have decided and they offer the job to you. It pays $100,000 and you only work 8 hours a week. Do you take it, knowing that the only reason you got it was due to do WMP, or do you turn it down and strongly recommend that they hire the WOC? It would be painful to turn down and potentially damaging to your pride to turn this down but it is the right thing to do. Additionally, it would also be the right thing to point out that they really should hire WOC and that if they do not, that you will file a complaint about their discriminatory behaviour. You choose to do this path even knowing that you'll be on the street shortly. But further to this you continue to work towards ensure that the magic widget industry never continues this behaviour. It results in CEOs and BoD compositions change to represent more of a cross-section of the US rather than the "good ol' boys" club. Further, you ensure that a law is passed that enforces a moratorium on the hiring of white males. It, in facts, says that you must hire a POC period, regardless of anything else.

Although extreme in the example, the end result would be effectively removing the WMP and tilting the balance towards others. Does that help?



For reference:

WMP - White Male Privilege
MOC - Man of Color
WOC - Woman of Color
POC - Person of Color

in theory, yes, i understand. i was looking for a more realistic example, though. can you give me something that's a little closer to real life? i realize it's going to be more mundane that 100K for 8 hrs of work, but i'm looking for a starting point to work from.

as a side note, your example brings to mind some class issues. i also wonder if it is necessary to do oneself harm to help others? i'm not far enough into my coffee this morning to be more coherent. i can take another run at this later in the day, when the synapses are firing more efficiently, if that helps.

ETA: lest i sound unwilling to help affect change, i want to say that i don't mind making sacrifices or doing with less. i'm accustomed to that. and i'm willing to help pretty much anyone i can. i don't know if i would accept a job i'm not qualified for...i dislike personal failure quite a bit. am i willing to give up my seat at the table so someone else can eat? you bet. am i willing to starve myself to death? i dunno about that.