I recently saw an anti-transgender feminist rant that male-to-female transgender persons do not “lose” male privilege because it is inherent. Yet the feminist movement provides examples counter to this as does history itself. Let’s look at just a few.
In the 19th century, Irish began arriving in the United States. They were very strongly “othered” by the existing white establishment, who treated them badly (but not nearly as badly as people of color). Irish did not have “white privilege” simply by being white. In fact, white privilege was something that whites grant to each other, and if they do not grant it to someone else, it’s not there.
Another example is light skinned persons of color have frequently written about how they obtain and can exploit white privilege unless they reveal their racial heritage. And then it’s gone. They get othered from that moment forward by people who know.
A third example comes from the feminist community itself. Feminists have long argued about how strongly “butch” lesbians can and do gain male privilege in certain situations. They have also documented how that privilege vanishes when someone discovers they are dealing with a lesbian rather than another male. Again, privilege was not inherent. It was granted.
The reason I bring this up, and I refuse to link to the offending anti-transgender rant that spawned this blog post, is that the entire rant rested on the assumption that MtF transgender people “possess” male privilege and therefore every single conclusion in that rant is suspect. Logical conclusions that rest upon faulty assumptions are, themselves faulty. Therefore every conclusion in that rant is useless, suspect, and faulty.
Liz - Day By Day 
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Cara:
‘Trans Deaths, White Privilege’ was an editorial written last year by Jenny Boylan, English professor at Barnard College.
Allow this referral via ‘Kira Moore’s Closet’ web-site:
* (https://kiramoorescloset.wordpress.com/2015/08/23/trans-deaths-white-privilege-the-new-york-times/comment-page-1/#comment-14435)
I was curious why my WordPress account recently logged multiple hits to last year’s post; I re-discovered Jenny’s article. Perhaps this is worth re-sharing for audiences to your site one year later amidst your recurring posts discussing ‘male privilege’
Kapung khaf. Thank you.
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Good writing. I especially like your point that we do not “possess” privilege — it is out of our hands, and the world just drops it in people’s laps arbitrarily. If people stop giving you privilege, then you don’t have it. I sometimes feel like people want me to apologize for the old, worn out gift of privilege society is forcing me to accept.
I have been intimidated by the anti-white-privilege (morphing into simply anti-white) movement going through the liberal media. Just because I was born a certain color does not mean I am superior — it just means, in today’s world, people often assume I THINK I am superior. That in itself is societal prejudice, making me inferior to many in the eyes of many.
There is no “anti-white” movement. This sounds rather much like white supremacist rhetoric trying to justify keeping things as they are.
There is an anti-white supremacy movement. And here’s the thing – most white Americans accept and utilize white privilege without even thinking about it. This is why non-whites assume, quite rightfully, that you’re just standing on white privilege, unless you can prove that you are not. And that requires actions. It requires really listening to others. It requires letting those being discriminated against lead, and not assume that we, as white people, have all the answers.
One out eight men is a rapist. If that astounds you, think of how women see this. Rapists are so common in US society that it is impossible for us to safely assume that any male is not a potential rapist. Worse, one out of three college age men admitted they would “force a woman to have sex” (aka, rape) if they thought they could legally get away with it. So rapists are so common that women must, by default, assume every man is a rapist until we see evidence to the contrary. To do otherwise is to place ourselves in harms way.
Likewise, people of color must assume that any white person is acting out of privilege and either actively defending privilege or unconsciously defending it. The percentage of white Americans who defend white privilege, either consciously or unconsciously, is even higher than than the percentage of men who are rapists. A person of color must assume that someone is a defender and active user of white privilege until proven otherwise.
No one blames you for being born white. No one expects you to apologize for being white. What we do expect is that you recognize that privilege then turn around and use that privilege to help tear down white supremacy. Most whites don’t want to do that, because losing privilege is often equated to and “feels like” losing “rights” but it’s not. It’s just helping to level the playing field.
I’m going to have to disagree with the thrust of your comment as ill-informed, and as appearing to try to defend white privilege or at least not act against it. But here’s the thing – white privilege can’t be torn down by people of color. All they can do is point it out. We white people have to tear that institution down. Only we can tear it down, at least non-violently. And I don’t think anyone, white or not, really wants what it would take to tear down white privilege with violence because there wouldn’t be a society left afterwards.