Is America ready for a female president? Someone recently asked me that question and my response shocked me. “I’m not sure,” was my answer. Let me be clear, I am not a sexist. I believe that women have all of the capabilities to perform any job like men and in some instances, better than men. But my initial visceral reaction revealed to me the internal prejudices that I have to explore and resolve.
Oftentimes, I write about racial inequalities, whether it be on the national scale or just here on this campus. However, after much introspection, I have realized that I have overlooked another glaring ill of our society—gender inequality. The male privilege that I benefit from seemingly clouded my perspective on this issue. Seldom do I ever pause and reflect on the ongoing struggle for inequality that women face. While reflecting on this, I have come to realize why white privilege is so difficult for some to fathom.
To clarify, I am not suggesting that white privilege and male privilege are analogous, but rather one privilege provided me insight on the other. Rarely do individuals consciously think about the societal benefits they readily enjoy. In fact, doing so, would make you extremely novel. However, when I think about white privilege, I see myself and how I do not benefit from it. But now, when I reflect on the gender inequality I think of two people—my mom and my sister.
It troubles me that questions such as the one I was asked are legitimate concerns for some people. I for one do not wish to be a member of a society that puts limitations on the expectations of women — like my mother and sister. I constantly refer to my mom and sister because I believe making the issue of gender inequality a personal one will evoke more men to take action.
It’s quite discouraging to think that the moment I left my mother’s womb, I would have many opportunities in life that she would not have simply because she is woman. If this is not a quandary to you, something is wrong.
However, it is important to realize that admitting one benefits from any form of privilege is a huge ego deflator. I’m sorry to tell you that everything you have achieved or gained in your life is not exclusively based on your merit. In order for male privilege, along with other types of privileges to go away, somebody has to make a sacrifice on their benefits.
An article from Salon best articulates the difficulties of acknowledging privilege by suggesting, “Privilege not only gives you better boots than others; it may also give you a few extra paces in the climb to success. To accept privilege is to squash the egotistical notion that you made it there on your own. For some, that can be hard to let go of.”
Men, we have to realize that we enjoy male privilege. In addition, we must acknowledge that the privilege produces an unequal society. It is one issue to be totally ignorant about an issue which results in inactivity about a given problem. But it is totally different issue, when you become knowledgeable about an inequality and tacitly approve of it.
So now that you know about gender inequality, what will you do? I’ll tell you what I am going to do. I’m going to think about my mom and sister. I suggest you all do the same.
Tim Abram is a senior public policy leadership major from Horn Lake.
