Perhaps because of the race curriculum controversy, perhaps because of the thick taboo that hangs over race (particularly among White Americans), I often default to writing about race. As this year’s Feminism Unit approached, I pushed myself to take my first stab at writing about sexism (beyond just critiques of pop culture).
And readers rewarded this stab.
“Looking for Proof of Male Privilege in Your Daily Life? Here Are 7 Undeniable Examples” quickly took off, becoming the most-read Everyday Feminism article of the first week of May, garnering 194,714 page views that week and nearly 26,000 shares via Facebook to date. All with a couple typos we still need to correct!
While it was heartening to have the article passed around on Facebook, usually by women, it was disheartening to witness extreme defensiveness, even aggressive attacks, pretty much exclusively by male Facebook “friends” of these women.
So please consider this post to be less of a report on the article’s success and more of an offer. If you faced pushback when sharing the article and are sick and tired of trying to explain the reality of male privilege, please let me know how I can help. I would certainly be willing to formulate a rebuttal, not as a male savior but as someone who wants to help clean up any mess he had a role in creating.
When Everyday Feminism launches my writing into the vast Internet, I’m never quite sure where it will land or how it will be received (or how many trolls it will attract). After seeing the aftermath of this article, I know one thing for certain: writing about male privilege has taught me even more about male privilege.
