During this course, we spent a lot of time studying and analyzing the opinions of a variety of philosophers on a variety of topics. It was very intriguing to me to be able to learn about people's educated opinions on topics such as racism/sexism, art appreciation, appreciation of nature, and many more! It really helped me broaden my way of thinking and be open to what other people have to say about certain social issues.
As we analyzed these opinions and pieces of work from these philosophers, we would write essays about what we felt most impressed by throughout the week. One that stuck out to me in particular was when we talked about sexism and male privileges. I'm not a feminist and I have never felt oppressed in society because of my gender, but the statistics and arguments that were brought up in class made me really reflect on the kind of society that women are placed in today. We read an article entitled The Male Privilege Checklist by Barry Deutsch. The title of this article is pretty self-explanatory but he basically goes through a checklist of 46 different points in ways that men are more privileged in society than women. This article was written within the last 10 years so not much is different from what is going on today. The article was very intriguing and I enjoyed it but it was also very eye-opening and quite scary. He talked about how he was never raised to be scared to walk alone or to be careful of what he was wearing because he may draw unwanted attention. He has never had to worry about not getting a job or not being promoted due to his gender. He hasn't ever had to worry about being cat-called in the street or sexually harassed by complete strangers. While I haven't experienced most of these things, I know it is a real issue. It made me quite upset that this was an issue that we, as women, have to face today because of something that we don't have any control over! It seems so unfair to me. Although, I understand how the tables can be turned in society. There are privileges that women have over men and situations where women have more control over it than the men do. The situations do vary, it just tends to be a little outweighed on one side of the scale. Below, I have attached my full reflection of this article. Please feel free to scroll through the document and read more about male privileges in our society today. |