Male Privilege

Male privilege refers to the structural differentiations within a patriarchal society wherein males are conferred societal entitlements and advantages that are denied to those who identify as female, [Page 1096]transgender, or gender nonconforming. Conceptually, male privilege is cut from the same theoretical cloth as other forms of epistemic privilege that accompany membership within dominant or ruling social groups such as White privilege, class privilege, heterosexual privilege, and cisgender privilege. Like all of these forms of societal privilege, male privilege is not earned, not acquired by merit, and not conferred on men because of anything they have done or have failed to do. Men acquire this privilege simply by being born biologically male while simultaneously taking up a traditional male gender identity and performing male gender ...