“Male privilege is the bull sh*t idea that men are better than anybody else.”

Far too often, the idea that male privilege exists is undermined, argued against, and otherwise ignored by men. Meanwhile, women face constant and daily struggles with harassment and misogyny at the hands of their male partners, friends, co-workers, family, and even complete strangers. This new video from MTV called “Trans men Explain Male Privilege” discusses how male privilege operates from the perspectives of post-transition trans men.

Towards the end of the video, Tiq Milan drops some nuggets of wisdom saying, “If a guy really wants to understand male privilege and understand what it is, talk to women.” This suggestion, while simple, is too often overlooked. But, because women’s opinions are so often disregarded, many men and masculine people make the mistake of erasing women’s voices altogether.

And, in what has to be the most real statement of the year so far, Milan closes the short film with: “Know what else is male privilege? We actually have a bunch of men having to talk about what male privilege is, even though women have been talking about this for years. We ain’t sh*t.”

 

Watch the video below.

 

Author

  • Jenn M. Jackson was born and raised in East Oakland, California, a fact which motivates her writing and academic ambitions. She is a scholar, educator, and writer whose writing addresses Black Politics and civil and public life for young Black people with a focus on policing and surveillance. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Water Cooler Convos, a culture platform for Black millennials. Her writing has been featured in Washington Post, BITCH Magazine, Marie Claire, EBONY, The Root, Daily Dot, The Independent, and many others. Jackson is a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago studying American Politics with a focus on political participation and engagement, public opinion and social movements. For more about her, tweet her at @JennMJack or visit her website at jennmjackson.com.