Very interesting read Liz Marie, i booked marked it to read more of her blog entries.
Yeah Male privilege, or burden if you will. I was never really an over achiever I have achieved much in my 40 some years and have alot of friends tell me that my life reads like Forest Gump, been there done that. being a minority raised in mainstream white culture (was adopted at age eight) I saw many things that most children would never see. the disbelieving looks when I explained who my parents were. and always knowing that people were saying "oh he's adopted" so feeling like I don't fit always made me an outsider, free to, well, not fit in. not much of a free feeling when all I wanted to do was fit in. So I tried, I discovered a few cheats, I could use my Family Status as a privilege, and boom, doors open, "oh _____ are your parents?" also I learned that there was work that was "below me", "No leave that the girls will get it, I need your help in the barn" How could I tell them I'd rather help in the kitchen than work in the barn, power tools were scary, keeping up with my brothers was exhausting, hose play was too rough, and I'd rather talk about what I was feeling or thinking. And I always felt guilty that my sister would be doing chores for 3 while we shared the work of the same number.
Fast forward to these days in Transition. last summer while working I was viewed predominately as male and as usual and expected I rolled up my sleeves and dove into the work, missing mussel mass and an inability to gauge my strength/endurance would often make me fall short ot the "guys" a few times job assignments were handed out and light duty yet technical jobs would be given to some of the older guys (people my age actually now I think about it) while I was more often than not assigned to the labor along with the "Young Bucks" the final straw that prompted me to go to our Department head was being told to take the day off because I obviously couldn't keep up with the guys on that days work load. Here I was experiencing exclusion from male Privilege (work) and feeling upset about it, not because I was being excluded from working but because I was being denied entry into working as a woman within our Crew. (the ladies that day were tasked with inventory and logistics) When I layed out my indignation to our Department head he Looked a bit Shocked and said, "OMG, Your right that's just wrong." He then re assigned me to the Logistics team and pulled a few of the supervisors pet people of there and sent them out with the labor crew. at lunch our Department head told Everyone that there is a privilege that women in the crew had and that was to be utilized for their skills not their strength and that Every guy there was to afford me the same expectations and division of labor as any of the other girls on the crew. end story. turned out to be a very good work day.
