Privileged? Maybe. Relevant? Yes.

Throughout the web I keep seeing use of the word "privilege" within the context of majority populations.  I apparently suffer from White Male Privilege, or should I say am blessed with it? It is hard to say.  I certainly don't deny that history is in my favour and that areas of society are still unbalanced in favour of one group or another, but I question the value of such titles.  The term has been used directly to me to insinuate that I have no role in the debate on sexism and on a very thin level I can see how that interpretation can be made.

If I accept that I have these privileges, I would ask it is also understood that I have never claimed against them or knowingly used them to my advantage. I, like most men of my acquaintance, do not wittingly take advantage of any societal weightings against women.  It is hard to say if I have ever been given a job, for example, purely because I am a man, but I do know I have never used that to my advantage in applications (I'm not even sure if I would know how).  I have, however, been passed restaurant bills when my girlfriend asked for them, or talked to by mechanics when my girlfriend owns the car, and I know for a fact that on all these occasions (and yes there have been many) I have quite firmly pointed out the error. Both of the above are common effects of sexism; having never owned a car of my own, and always earned less than my partners, I have seen them often.