What privileges do "cis" white men have over anyone else? Please be specific.

logsin · 2015-04-22T17:22:43+00:00

Each of these things have their own privileges.

White:

Enormous representation in media, especially positive representation. Models, TV and movie stars are whiter than the population at large.
No need to fear being racially profiled by police. Police officers aren't going to question your immigration status because you're hispanic. They won't stop you for "driving while black" or think you're "reasonably suspicious" based on your skin tone.
No one will ask you about your human experience as a "white person", because being white is normative. Being a minority will guarantee you will be asked to speak on behalf of your race to someone of a different race as an authority.
No one will assume you got a job by virtue of affirmative action.
No one will assume you are a terrorist because someone of the same skin color as you committed an act of terrorism, even if it was for a reason completely independent of race.

Male is actually a super complicated one, and I think more fluid at this point. I don't imagine I will be able to convince you of male privilege, because it's often shouted down here. But, with some trepidation, male:

No one will assume you got your job by virtue of affirmative action.
When you fail at a job/task, no one will assume it was due to your gender. It will not reflect back on the ability of men to do that.
If you decide to have children, no one will think you're a bad parent for wanting to continue in a demanding career that keeps you away from them.
If you decide not to have children, people won't tell you that you won't be complete as a person without them, or that every man should be a father.

Cis:

Your gender will not be questioned or misidentified frequently.
People will not judge you on whether or not you're "passing" for your identified gender.
You will generally be considered more suitable for retail or other jobs that require high personal skills because you don't make people "uncomfortable" at some point in your life.
Your dating pool is likely a lot larger.
You don't feel pressured to disclose your gender identity with your date before you get physical with them.
You have never feared violence or harassment from strangers, or even your date, if someone knows your gender identity.

GridReXX · 2015-04-22T10:45:37+00:00

They typically get the benefit of the doubt.

It's not malicious.

It's a natural consequence of majority / minority dynamics.

People relate to things that are similar to them.

A white male board of a Fortune 100 company will likely consider only white men because that is their network and what they are used to and what they relate to.

la-la-leesah · 2015-04-22T06:18:19+00:00

tl;dr: They happen to already be the most successful, so environments of success cater to what they're likely to be used to and good at, which makes them more likely to keep being the most successful

I think the biggest built-in advantage that cis white men have is that they as a group already have the biggest overlap with the countries, jobs, environments and behaviors that correlate with success (think: wealthy-ish Western countries, STEM fields, the atmosphere in a boardroom of CEOs, ambitious, commanding, risk-taking personalities), so small (or large, but mostly small) things about those environments or positions are catered to what they're used to, the skill sets they naturally have, and the norms they've been raised with, etc. Because of this, they're far less likely to have to work against the behaviors and expectations that they were raised with and are used to in order to place themselves in a position to be successful and then excel in that position.

This is not malicious, this is nobody’s fault, this is not set in stone, and this does not directly benefit all cis white men , but it does make it probable that cis white men men will continue to be the group with the highest overlap with success, which sort of keeps the whole thing going.

Level100ProtWarrior · 2015-04-22T06:13:52+00:00

Our Congress is something ariund 80 women, 500 men.

If you interact with a judge, police officer, school principal, or most other authority figures, chances are they're male.

Society pushes you towards the highest paying sectors of the economy.

In most jobs, even female dominated jobs, you're generally not seen as the "token" member of your gender. Contrast male nurses with female engineers, architects, etc.

Most bosses that you will ever have will be male. If not, their boss is, repeat ad nauseum. Obviously some companies have female CEOs but it's not the majority.

You are blessed with the power of testosterone.

Very few common, important sections of life involve "men" and "can't". Ex driving, budgeting, etc. Contrast to women. Women can't drive, women can't save money, etc. See also - tokenism.

You don't deal with tokenism as often. Eg you're bad at math. "gee, john is bad at math." karen is bad at man "wow, women suck at math"

You are the default by which others are compared. (esp if you're white)

Your self-worth isn't nearly as tightly bound to your physical appearance.

You can abstain from sex and people call you a saint. You can fuck mad bitches and be a player.

It goes on.

but lord, there are reasons for tho-

It doesn't matter if it's the most justified thing in the world, privilege is privilege.

but a lot of these aren't very concrete!

Privilege doesn't have to smack you in the face to exist.

but women win at-

Yes, every single population segment probably has SOMETHING going for it. It's a matter of who gets the biggest piece of the pie. (pssst, it's a) wealthy b) white c) young d) men)

MindTheFuture · 2015-04-22T11:42:19+00:00

Testosterone is a great drug. It is good to know the priviledges. I never really thought I had any. And if there are some, I better actively seek to use them. so maybe I can fix that not-wealthy part faster. So if I can get away with more, or progress faster just by being a presenting as white male, sure, why not (I'm a trans*, but I can pull off the traditional white male act).

What would be the concrete ways to use these priveleges for your benefit?

u/la-la-leesah mentions that you have to present as certain type of white male to get ahead easier. So competitive, commanding and taking risks, alright, I can be pushy and talk over others, sounds like a good start. And move to a place where majority of others are not white and well off. Maybe then the priviledges would manifest more clearly.

wombatinaburrow · 2015-04-22T10:39:57+00:00

Because you were born on third but treated like you hit a triple, especially if you're wealthy or middle class.

akimboDeagles · 2015-04-22T05:33:19+00:00

Leading roles in Hollywood and almost all other media representation, for one.

Ajaxeler · 2015-04-22T07:05:12+00:00

How about perception. If a white male is aggressive in applying for a promotion it is seen as a good trait. Yet if a female or person of colour does it its seen as negative. Though this could vary depending on how handsome the person of colour is.

Anything you do is not judged on colour, sexuality or gender. Its judged on your ability to do it. (or not)

DoctorFeel69 · 2015-04-22T14:04:32+00:00

Well it's not "cis" white men that have the privileges, it's white people in general. Everyone seems to forget that a white woman probably has more shit handed to them than a black man.

[deleted] · 2015-04-22T04:03:57+00:00

[permanently deleted]

Title	What privileges do "cis" white men have over anyone else? Please be specific.
Author	DoctorFeel69
Upvotes	3
Comments	58
Date	April 22, 2015 3:55 AM UTC (11 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/33frjz/what_privileges_do_cis_white_men_have_over_anyone/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/what-privileges-do-cis-white-men-have-over-anyone.282549 https://theredarchive.com/post/282549

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