Exists privileges
In any society, there exists privileges that are earned by people in the society because of the mere social construction embedded not by rules but oblivious assumptions that accords certain respect to these constructs (Gergen, 2001). Male chauvinism in the society is one of these constructs of the society that obliviously accords men privileges that have been assumed as their rights and the society has for a long time taken to the cue, and in some aligning set of taboos that protect and uphold these male privileges as societal norms.
In a way, men privileges have to some extent brought injustices in the societies of different classes and races. For a long time, there has existed patriarchal societies which have perpetuated the social and cultural construction of masculinity. Right from early societies, masculinity was exorcized with the place of the men in the society being in the mainstream while women were pushed to the periphery in decision making and control of property.
The present society has not been shy in perpetuating these injustices in the society which in most cases have led to men assuming conferred dominance in society. It is not funny to see most of the work in many societies being left to women. For instance, women will take care of children and all chores in their homes while men enjoy all the glory and bask on the achievements of their women (Gergen, 2001). These privileges accorded to men are protected by reprimanding cultural constructs that exist subconsciously in the society.
Like racism, which puts some at a disadvantage, male chauvinism has prototype stereotypes that accords a man unacknowledged authority that he enjoys without the questioning of women. In some communities, women have been alienated and even today, the male child is privileged over the girl child in critical areas such as education. The stereotype is that a man can help the society better while a woman is married off to belong or benefits ‘others’ in the society Men on the other hand assume these privileges as their right neglecting that women have rights too.
Male chauvinism is like a myth that holds no water in today’s world. Feminist activists have strongly taken the patriarchal society to task and are rooting out these mentalities that have dwarfed the contemporary society with remarkable success. Men who before have been leaving everything to their wives have been cornered. They have been living without guilty conscience that their counter parts are humans too and without shame using their masculinity brutally against those the society has constructed as the ‘other or lesser beings’ to their advantage.
It is time men reconsider the privileges that cultural constructions have held for them in the society and review them in the light of redesigning of social systems. They have been provided with unfair advantages that alienate women as equal contributors in a just society. Not that they have been blind to the social constructions but because escapism has led them to take everything for granted (Gergen, 2001 p. 45). These privileges have led them to believe the ‘other’ is not entitled to some privileges and hence they have dominated them.
They have not thought of these privileges in the light of the effects they have in a civilized culture. In conclusion, it is a high time male chauvinists come to their senses and confine themselves in a world culture of equality and equal opportunities to all men and women. The privileges are just but unworthy vices in the face of modern society and should be denigrated. Work cited Gergen, Kenneth J. Social Construction in Context. London [u. a]: SAGE, 2001.
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