I find the assumption that everyone labeled male at birth has male privilege very troubling. (An assumption not made here by you, but often made elsewhere.) Male privilege as I understand it involves society being structured in ways that reward males and oppress females. One component is that men are taught their superiority and entitlement while women are taught their inferiority and obligation to serve others. In that sense I was raised as a traditional female and still struggle with that internal programming. Another component is that men are given many opportunities denied to women. While I can't say for certain that I was never given an opportunity that would have been denied me if I had been seen as a woman, I do know that being seen as a gender variant unacceptable male left me very few opportunities to begin with and that all of those opportunities that I remember (my memory of childhood is understandably hazy) were shared by other girls. A third component of male privileg is that women are encouraged to display signs of femininity and not masculinity in clothing and behavior while men are encouraged to display signs of masculinity and not femininity in clothing and behavior. Here is where the double bind hit most strongly. I was violently discouraged from displaying signs of femininity while I was inwardly constricted from displaying signs of masculinity, which left me in a genderless no-person's land. While that differs from the typical girl's experience I would hardly call my experience a privilege.
The thing about male privilege is that it can't be disproved only proved. I may have had male privilege at some point amongst the oppression, but I don't know when or how.
It's funny that I can often clearly see the male privilege of the women who dismiss me because of my presumed male privilege. I see the wealth that their fathers earned thru male privilege and bestowed upon them which payed for their education and otherwise benefitted them, while my father was poor white trash and an economic drain on my mother until he finally left. I see many of them working in male dominated fields, which while it is a great thing means that they are benefitting from the salary differential that fields traditionally associated with men have over fields traditionally associated with women. Caveat: My current post transition job, security guard, while low paying, in unlike all of my previous jobs, traditionally associated with men. That said, in many ways I am little more than an underpaid receptionist most of the time in practice, but I do have a traditionally male job title.
If I could speak to my younger self I would say, "Transition sooner, don't be so afraid, it will be a lot better than you think."
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-07-28 05:28 pm (UTC)I find the assumption that everyone labeled male at birth has male privilege very troubling. (An assumption not made here by you, but often made elsewhere.) Male privilege as I understand it involves society being structured in ways that reward males and oppress females. One component is that men are taught their superiority and entitlement while women are taught their inferiority and obligation to serve others. In that sense I was raised as a traditional female and still struggle with that internal programming. Another component is that men are given many opportunities denied to women. While I can't say for certain that I was never given an opportunity that would have been denied me if I had been seen as a woman, I do know that being seen as a gender variant unacceptable male left me very few opportunities to begin with and that all of those opportunities that I remember (my memory of childhood is understandably hazy) were shared by other girls. A third component of male privileg is that women are encouraged to display signs of femininity and not masculinity in clothing and behavior while men are encouraged to display signs of masculinity and not femininity in clothing and behavior. Here is where the double bind hit most strongly. I was violently discouraged from displaying signs of femininity while I was inwardly constricted from displaying signs of masculinity, which left me in a genderless no-person's land. While that differs from the typical girl's experience I would hardly call my experience a privilege.
The thing about male privilege is that it can't be disproved only proved. I may have had male privilege at some point amongst the oppression, but I don't know when or how.
It's funny that I can often clearly see the male privilege of the women who dismiss me because of my presumed male privilege. I see the wealth that their fathers earned thru male privilege and bestowed upon them which payed for their education and otherwise benefitted them, while my father was poor white trash and an economic drain on my mother until he finally left. I see many of them working in male dominated fields, which while it is a great thing means that they are benefitting from the salary differential that fields traditionally associated with men have over fields traditionally associated with women. Caveat: My current post transition job, security guard, while low paying, in unlike all of my previous jobs, traditionally associated with men. That said, in many ways I am little more than an underpaid receptionist most of the time in practice, but I do have a traditionally male job title.
If I could speak to my younger self I would say, "Transition sooner, don't be so afraid, it will be a lot better than you think."
Thanks,
Lorrraine