Being born male is a privilege in this culture

A few years ago I walked into my bank. The pressure to buy my first car was brisk and my savings inadequate. I needed a loan. The loan officer looked me in the eye and shot straight, “are you married?” Why, I wondered. Part of me thought that the officer was seducing me in the most bizarre of ways until he said that “my husband’s” credit status would have given me a competitive advantage. Huh? I cringed. How many men have ever been asked to produce their wives’ bank statements anywhere?   

Being born male is a privilege in this culture; a ticket to freedom and happiness. Oh yeah, you say? Yes. In 2016 male privilege isn’t necessarily sexism. Sometimes it passes as an unconscious bias among men who believe in gender equality but act in ways to perpetuate inequality. It is age old. It is medieval and shameful but subtly acceptable. It is manifested in different ways. Male privilege is the reason a man can walk outside at night and not worry that some mugger or rapist might ambush him around the corner. It is this privilege that accords him the power to shape the narrative on all things life; politics, religion, education, arts, sports… all designed in a manner to help the man prosper. He has made the game and the rules that benefit him over centuries.