4 ms·

I am not OP but since I agree with him 100% and your comment personally offends me: "Your privilege is showing: if you are born male" - This pisses me beyond a

by wads 13y ago

I am not OP but since I agree with him 100% and your comment personally offends me: "Your privilege is showing: if you are born male" - This pisses me beyond anything. What "privilege"? "Privilege" of having to admit my own mistakes and take personal responsibility for every step I take? So what if there are people "who encourage traditional gender roles"? (IMPLYING that gender roles are bad) Whose fault is it that you got "scammed" by these people and lost 4 years? Be happy that you figured out "scam" and take responsibility for falling for it. What is more, this "privilege" offends me personally. I am male from poor country and poor family. I had "privilege" of getting education without any money (Did being man helped me to survive on 4sausages and 2 slices of bread a day? No.), I had "privilege" of going against peer pressure and choosing field everyone deemed 'uncool'(Yah, maybe "having balls" do help when it comes to surviving peer pressure). Hell I had "privilege" of getting lower grades in university because I wasn't woman... I just can't stand white handed feminists and white knights saying "check your privilege". “I should have listened to my teachers rather than the people who convinced me science wasn't for women". No. It's not about that. Article is about "I should have listened to my teachers rather than the people who convinced me science wasn't for women. But I didn't, and I blame men instead of myself."

acdha 13y ago
> This pisses me beyond anything. What "privilege"? "Privilege" of having to admit my own mistakes and take personal responsibility for every step I take? Quoting from the dictionary: “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.” In this case, it's a common term (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privilege_(social_inequality) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privilege_(social_inequality)) referring to the fact that challenges are not applied evenly to every group. You had some disadvantages due to being poor but you would have faced even more had you also been poor and female (or gay, disabled, the wrong ethnicity, etc.). None of these are absolute barriers but they require people to spend effort dealing with something their more privileged peers do not – pointing to individuals who succeeded anyway ignores the number of people who give up after years of being worn down by that pressure. Perhaps you'd recognize the concept better in this formulation: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-the-lowest-difficulty-setting-there-is/ http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-th...
- wads 13y ago
  " but you would have faced even more had you also been poor and female" False. From my life: It would have made difference in school as I would have gotten free lunch (somehow free lunch requirements was different in my days for boys and girls. Don't know about now), I would have had more attention from teachers that were interested in teaching girls only (I had ~95% female teachers). In university - males would have helped me to do / would have done my work for me. I would have gotten more attention from few professors that gave extra personal lectures to women and ability to retake exams for women (affirmative action that increased grades of women and thus women had better chance at getting money from university). Also females had lower grade requirements for university stimulus (or is it called grant? Students get it depending on their grades) in first 2 years (after that system became fair... except for professors mentioned before). From future: I could use "You don't promote me because I am woman" to get promotion. I could get some free courses in programming for women. I could use all of the affirmative action there is. (I am not even listing small bonuses and support from white knights even when I would be wrong.) They say "The grass is always greener on the other side". But if I had chance to turn time back and be born girl - I would. Only "privilege" as a man I have is "privilege" of learning to take blows and stand up without anyone running to help me. But I would be happy if you listed my privileges that I have not noticed.
  - wads 13y ago
    Edit: White knights to rescue! Downvote anything that questions woman victim-hood! I would be hell banned even if I would write fact like "Erin Pizzey wanted to build domestic violence shelter for men and feminists tried to kill her for that!". Enjoy your hive mind.

by wads 13y ago

acdha 13y ago

> This pisses me beyond anything. What "privilege"? "Privilege" of having to admit my own mistakes and take personal responsibility for every step I take? Quoting from the dictionary: “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.” In this case, it's a common term (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privilege_(social_inequality) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privilege_(social_inequality)) referring to the fact that challenges are not applied evenly to every group. You had some disadvantages due to being poor but you would have faced even more had you also been poor and female (or gay, disabled, the wrong ethnicity, etc.). None of these are absolute barriers but they require people to spend effort dealing with something their more privileged peers do not – pointing to individuals who succeeded anyway ignores the number of people who give up after years of being worn down by that pressure. Perhaps you'd recognize the concept better in this formulation: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-the-lowest-difficulty-setting-there-is/ http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-th...

wads 13y ago
" but you would have faced even more had you also been poor and female" False. From my life: It would have made difference in school as I would have gotten free lunch (somehow free lunch requirements was different in my days for boys and girls. Don't know about now), I would have had more attention from teachers that were interested in teaching girls only (I had ~95% female teachers). In university - males would have helped me to do / would have done my work for me. I would have gotten more attention from few professors that gave extra personal lectures to women and ability to retake exams for women (affirmative action that increased grades of women and thus women had better chance at getting money from university). Also females had lower grade requirements for university stimulus (or is it called grant? Students get it depending on their grades) in first 2 years (after that system became fair... except for professors mentioned before). From future: I could use "You don't promote me because I am woman" to get promotion. I could get some free courses in programming for women. I could use all of the affirmative action there is. (I am not even listing small bonuses and support from white knights even when I would be wrong.) They say "The grass is always greener on the other side". But if I had chance to turn time back and be born girl - I would. Only "privilege" as a man I have is "privilege" of learning to take blows and stand up without anyone running to help me. But I would be happy if you listed my privileges that I have not noticed.
- wads 13y ago
  Edit: White knights to rescue! Downvote anything that questions woman victim-hood! I would be hell banned even if I would write fact like "Erin Pizzey wanted to build domestic violence shelter for men and feminists tried to kill her for that!". Enjoy your hive mind.