The other day I had a conversation with a feminist who claimed "male privilege" was a scientific fact, but I don't see how the concept conforms to any kind of scientific rigor.

Most feminists' answer to anyone who doesn't believe in "male privilege" is "just look at society, it's obvious." But that's not science.

Sure, you can cite statistics on gender wage gap, rape, domestic violence, etc. - and try to extrapolate from that a broad observation on "male privilege" - but how do you objectively compare those forms of oppression with unfair male representation in suicides, prison, homelessness, deaths at work, etc.

To truly legitimize "male privilege" as a scientific fact, you would need to calculate all the "costs" and "benefits" of each sex and then somehow objectively compare them. I very much doubt anyone has found a way to do this in an unbiased way.