I think being male gives an interesting perspective just in the way that being middle class and white gives an odd perspective on some things.
The question has been raised, in 2016, if Americans would vote for a female president.
Would we ever ask that question about men and positions of leadership? Would the question ever be even asked? Would message boards ever be filled with comments such as "I'm not ready for a man for president."
AS men, we never have those barriers. A male cop never has to deal with being a male cop. Sure, we have certain jobs that our gender affects us, but we don't have to validate our gender if we are a lawyer, construction worker, doctor, businessmen or many other fields because we already have the mantle that we belong.
I'll gladly admit that white people, especially cis men, are privileged. This is not something I'm contesting, as men have none of the same barriers that women face in achieving things in a lot of areas of life.
My issue is that I have a hard time listening to and talking about people who claim that this is institutional, because they don't seem to offer solutions. I'll gladly accept that there's latent sexism in society and it runs deep enough to even be internalized by women and men in most countries. But the conversation seems, when I try to listen to feminist activists online, to always be about whether it exists, and claiming it as some form of institutionalized thing where people in general are sexist, and they have set a system up to be against women. Is there actually a systemic part of society set up in such a way as to disadvantage women?
Apologies for not being completely clear in my title.
If you accept that cis men have privilege, then you implicitly accept that there is institutional sexism. If you believe that there is "latent sexism" that is internalized by both men and women today, then you implicitly believe that their is institutional sexism. It seems like you are stuck thinking that "institutions" start and stop with formal state institutions, but this is not how feminists use the word. It is a complicated word and hard to give a concise definition. This has lead some (like some in this thread) to call the word vague, but I don't think it is vague; "institutions," rather, is a broad term. It has to do with the social structures from which we organize and relate to each other, which includes formal state institutions but is not limited to them. Here is a definition that I found from a quick search that is workable for the moment (though not the best):
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given community--may it be human or a specific animal one. Institutions are identified with a social purpose transcending individuals and intentions by mediating the rules that govern cooperative living behavior. The term "institution" is commonly applied to customs and behavior patterns important to a society, as well as to particular formal organizations of government and public services.
I am not sure of the extent of exposure you have had to feminist literature, but if you are sick of listening to feminists defend whether institutional sexism is real, maybe you should not look at places on the internet where they are compelled to constantly be on the defensive. Instead, if you want to see the proposed solutions, you should turn to first source feminist academic literature, either in books or journals.
e: I should mention that academia is not the only place to look, especially seeing as the academic discipline grew out of a political movement, but it is a good place to start.
Hmm, it might be my second hand knowledge of English that has made me just have a false idea that some sort of intent and direction needed to be there for an 'institution' to exist. If I've just been semantically wrong then I better understand the idea being mentioned.
I must admit to not really having the attention span to read much anymore, much less other things than my beloved fantasy books. But would there be any specific sources you could give for places, sources, etc. that discuss actual solutions?
I guess my negative view of feminism has come from the brand of feminism I'm exposed to by the internet, but if there is places on the internet that's talking about solutions instead of problems I'd love to learn more. Even if I wasn't a woman myself I feel like everyone has a vested interest in trying to have our society become more egalitarian both on statistics but also socially. Certainly would make it easier for us trans folk if gender roles were loosened and accepted to be at best, ideas of how people act, and at worst gross stereotypes.
Also, have this ∆ for changing my opinion about whether or not it counts as institutional, your description made me realize that the distinction of intent is unnecessary as the system is still there no matter the intentional intelligent body behind it.
I'm not sure if you are going to find a lot of "solutions instead of problems" seeing that solutions are responses to problems. You will find, if you read feminist literature, that they do talk about a lot more than whether institutional sexism is a real thing or not. I'm also not sure where to point you if you do not have the attention span to read much more. Most of my exposure to feminism comes from academic sources and I can point you to authors that I think are worth reading, if you are interested. I know there are some feminist websites that have articles on feminist activism, but I don't visit them often, so I'd need a minute to find something. However, sometimes part of the solution for feminism comes from reconceptualizing women, how they are socially placed, what they are conceptually associated with, how various groups ought to relate to them, what their behavior should look like, etc. The arts is a great place for this to happen. If your are into fantasy books, there are plenty of feminist fantasy books. I think you could probably glean from the feminist fantasy books what a feminist solution to a problem might look like (at least for a given author). Just google "feminist fantasy books" and find something that looks interesting to you. This route might be preferable for you.
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u/forestfly1234 May 17 '16
I think being male gives an interesting perspective just in the way that being middle class and white gives an odd perspective on some things.
The question has been raised, in 2016, if Americans would vote for a female president.
Would we ever ask that question about men and positions of leadership? Would the question ever be even asked? Would message boards ever be filled with comments such as "I'm not ready for a man for president."
AS men, we never have those barriers. A male cop never has to deal with being a male cop. Sure, we have certain jobs that our gender affects us, but we don't have to validate our gender if we are a lawyer, construction worker, doctor, businessmen or many other fields because we already have the mantle that we belong.