RENATA Burnette is well-known for her poems and her programme on MAAD 97.5 FM. She shared her story saying: “Men waste no time displaying their god-complex around the workplace. I am oftentimes viewed as a ‘lil gyal’ who does not know what she’s about by men who consider themselves as powerful. On two different occasions, I sat in front of a man who was either my manager/ supervisor. They told me, ‘you got this job because of me,’ as though my hard work was non-existent. Then I have to stand my ground in a respectful manner, because I need my job. ‘If that ain’t male privilege, then I do not know what it is’.”
As discussed last week, privilege may be invisible to those who have it. In the conversion of gender equality and male privilege, we always attract the wrong crowds, even if we did not intend to. The workshops that are hosted for these topics are hosted for women by women, attended by other women. The first step to a level playing field is for us to invite men to the table to have these discussions. In fact, it should go both ways; every gender, inclusive of LGBTQ+ persons should be present.
To begin the discussion, for centuries men have had an advantage over women in the workplace before women even dreamed of stepping into the workplace; women were always in the private sphere of society. We were the homemakers, in some societies we still are. Where women make up a majority of the working population in a specific labour field, that job is seen as ‘feminine’ and automatically weak, which would deter men from that field. There is also research which proves that jobs performed by mostly females, pay less. Have you ever come across the term, ‘gatekeeper’? A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to something. Jessie Reyez, a singer from the United States sang a song entitled, ‘Gatekeeper,’ which surrounds the sexism and misogyny she faced in the music industry.
Some of the lyrics for the song opened my mind to the reality of what many women have to face, just so they can ‘make it.’ Parts of the lyrics included:
“twenty million dollars in a car
Girl, tie your hair up if you wanna be a star
Thirty million people want a shot
How much would it take for you to spread your legs apart?”
You could be famous
You know we’re holding the dreams that you’re chasing
You know you’re supposed to get drunk and get naked.”
While many will argue that these are just fictional lyrics, you can take heed of the Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby cases; they used their ‘power’ to force sex/ sexual activities onto females who were trying to cast a role or find a job in their field of work. Sadly enough, there are even famous females like Rose McGowan who had to face this darkness before they were given a chance. In reality, if a woman gets an esteemed job, most of society ends up thinking it is due to her sexual relations with a man, as Renata said, “if that isn’t male privilege, then I do not know what is.”
