Male Privilege

Over the course of the past two days I have come to realize my male privilege. I knew woman dealt with different troubles than men but I never imagined it was this bad. Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Torto, and Ms. Sweeny shared their experiences of institutional bias. I was shocked to hear the Ms. Sweeny was only Fr. Ed's secretary for 6 weeks. I remember everybody calling her his secretary for the remainder of her time here at St. Benedict's. I didn't even know she had a degree from Harvard. I felt ashamed calling somebody of her credentials a secretary when in actuality she was something greater. Not only did she deal with prejudice at the workplace but she was also sexually assaulted. This is something most men don't have to worry about but some women do. I also learned that Mrs. Baker left because of inequalities here at the school. For as long as she was here she could not move up to a higher position. Even when she was qualified to fufil a position, the job was always given to a man. Mrs. Torto spoke about her experiences as a Meteorologist. The men at the meteorologist event assumed she was there to take notes for her professor. A female scientists was an odd concept to them. After hearing these three women talk, it has made me more conscious to the issues that women face everyday. Now that I am aware I can do something to help prevent these negative experiences.