"Checking My Male Privilege"
Below is the link to an Op-Ed written by Charles M. Blow and published in the New York Times on Sunday, October 29, 2017. Blow is a journalist, commentator, and frequent contributor to NYT. In this article, Blow describes the necessities and the difficulties of acknowledging one's male privilege, and argues that the onus cannot be left solely on women to end gendered violence. Though Blow should not be idolized or overly praised for his feminism (a la "feminist dad" or "man loves his curvy wife"), this article is important because is a good example of how men can recognize their privilege and how they need to start participating in the feminist movement.
One thing that was interesting for me while reading this article was discovering that Blow is a black man. I've been thinking about the idea that it can be easier for people who belong to oppressed groups to empathize with or at least acknowledge the oppression of other groups. For example, it is easier for me, as a gay woman, to grasp the idea that racism as a form of oppression is alive and well in the United States because I have experienced oppression than it may be for a white, straight, cis man to grasp. Is it significant that this Op-Ed was written by a black man, as opposed to a white man? Is it true that oppression is easier to understand when you yourself are oppressed? And is Blow right that men have an obligation to start actively working to end sexism and gendered violence? After reading the article, let me know what you think.