Tag: cis privilege

There is this cis, straight, white man from an upper middle class background who I work with, and every time someone says something he doesn’t like or doesn’t agree with, he says they’re ridiculous, or silly, or stupid, or emotional, or his favorite, irrational. Incidentally, the only other cis, straight, white man in our workplace is the boss, who never tells him to stop, or that he’s being inappropriate. When he acts up at work, if I can get away with it, I read your blog for comfort.

*hugs and hugs and hugs* Ahhhh, Nonnie – I feel for you so much right now!! People like that are just SO draining to be around, *hugs you some more*. I wish I could sit down with you with a glass of wine and you could just let it all out at me. It’s so tiring to fight constantly to be heard, and even more tiring to be angry and frustrated constantly – and then told you’re being irrational for being angry and frustrated. 

God, that’s the most dismissive and infuriating term: ‘irrational’. Because if he can dismiss what you are saying as ‘irrational’ just because he doesn’t like it, it means he is never forced to think about it. And so his bubble of hubris, ignorance and privilege remains unpopped. 

I am really, really glad that my blog can provide you an escape from that. I hope things improve for you at work. *more hugs* May he sit on a tack. And may your hard work be recognised by your boss, and you get an unexpected raise. *even more hugs*

theantioppressionnetwork:

[image descriptions: seven colour gif set of Michael Kimmel speaking in front of a chalkboard.

gif 1 says IN TEXT: Each Week, eleven women and me got together, we would read some text in feminist theory and talk about it. And during one of our meetings I witnessed a conversation between two women that changed everything for me. END TEXT.

gif 2 says IN TEXT: One of the women was white and one was black. The white woman said …, ‘All women have the same experience as women. All women face the same oppression as women and therefore all women have a kind of intuitive solidarity or sisterhood.’ END TEXT.

gif 3 says IN TEXT: And the black woman said, ‘I’m not so sure. Let me ask you a question-’ So the black woman says to the white woman, ‘When you wake up in the morning and you look in the mirror, what do you see?’ And the white woman said, ‘I see a woman.’ And the black woman said, ‘You see, that’s the problem for me, because when I wake up in the morning and when I look in the mirror,’ she said, ‘I see a black woman. To me race is visible, but to you race is invisible. You don’t see it.’ END TEXT.

gif 4 says IN TEXT: And then she said something really startling, she said, ‘That’s how privilege works. Privilege is invisible to those who have it.’ END TEXT.

gif 5 says IN TEXT: …Now remember, I was the only man in this room. So I heard this and I kind of just spontaneously groaned and put my head in my hand and someone said, ‘Well, what was THAT reaction??’ And I said, ‘Well when I wake up in the morning and I look in the mirror I see a human being.’ END TEXT.

gif 6 says IN TEXT: I’m kind of a generic person y’know, I’m a middle class, white, man. I have no [visible] class, no race, no gender. I’m universally generalizable. END TEXT.

gif 7 says IN TEXT: So I like to think that that was the moment that I became a[n aware] middle class, white, man. That class and race and gender weren’t about other people but they were about me and I had to start thinking about them and it had been privilege that head kept it invisible to me for so long. END TEXT. END DESCRIPTION.]

whileyouweresleeping:

Deconstructing Masculinity & Manhood with Michael Kimmel @ Dartmouth College

Boom. 

— From NYC.