Guys, Let’s Talk About the P-word.
And why we’re so uncomfortable talking about privilege.
My parents claimed they could easily tell when I was lying.
They were right, for a while. As a boy I would think I was being so clever, so sneaky, but my mom, especially, could tell. She wouldn’t tell me how she was able to tell, but I never forgot what she said about it: “You’re like a kid who stole a piece of cake, standing there with crumbs on your mouth and a dirty fork in your back pocket, saying ‘What cake?’”
It was a pretty effective image. I never wanted to be the kid with the dirty fork sticking out of his pocket, and eventually I learned my lesson: the easiest way not to be caught in a lie is not to lie.
My fellow men: let’s talk about privi — wait, wait, where are you going?!?
All kidding aside, I understand why the people who have a lot of privilege — for example, white men like me — don’t want to talk about it.
Masculinity tends to like calls to authority, such as defining terms. If you want to define privilege:
- A special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste. synonym: right.
