5-A-1

=Home > Activity 5-A-1: Male Privilege=

Instructions:

 * 1) Read the poem, Male Privilege.
 * 2) In a word processing document, rewrite this poem from the perspective of a woman that lives in a society that does not marginalize her voice, actions, progress, etc.
 * 3) Post your poem to the course wiki:
 * Click the ** Edit ** tab in the upper-right corner.
 * Scroll down the page until you see the first empty Where I'm From Poem space.
 * Highlight the " Enter your name here. " text and type your name.
 * Copy your poem text from the word processing document. Highlight the " Paste your poem here. " text and paste your poem.
 * Press ** Save ** on the Editor bar.
 * 1) Provide feedback to at least one of your peers. To comment:
 * Click the ** Edit ** tab in the upper-right corner.
 * Scroll down the page until you see the comment section under the poem you want to comment on.
 * Type your comments followed by your first name and last initial.
 * Press ** Save ** on the Editor bar.

Participants' Poems

 * Name:** Chasati Woelfel

I don’t like being told no. I don’t want to hear “ you can’t or you shouldn’t,” it just makes me more determined. I can do anything because I am strong and smart and successful. I can drive a car and buy a house. How do you know what I am capable of? I make better grades than all of the boys. I am beautiful inside and out and compassionate, but that doesn’t mean that I am weak. I don’t like to cook or clean, I work and earn money and raise my children surrounded by good examples. My husband is my partner, not my keeper. My girls can be scientists or business executives or surgeons because they are smart and talented and don’t like to be told no, just like their mother.
 * Poem:**


 * Comments:**
 * Chasati,**
 * Years ago, I disappointed my mother by refusing to take home ec classes in high school. Instead, I took physics and chemistry and calculus, all populated at that time mostly by the male gender. I didn't like to cook and clean either. I'm afraid I was one of the first female "rebels" in our small town and it bothered my family. I understand exactly where you are coming from. My girls also don't like to be told "you can't". (Connie)**


 * The line in your poem that really stuck out to me the most what "My husband is my partner, not my keeper". I think that line really helps put things in to perspective. As a male I really had to sit back and think about the struggles of my female counterparts. I spent a lot of time thinking about my mother and my wife and the thankless things that they do on a daily basis. This poem really helped me to step outside myself and really see what men take for granted and what women struggle with on a daily basis. Additionally your open line really reminded me of my wife. She is a very strong woman who grew up in some tough circumstances. I respect everything she has accomplished and continues to strive for and she never takes "no" for an answer. (Daniel)**


 * Chasati- Great poem! You described a very strong individual. I like that you mentioned how this particular individual would raise her children with that outlook as well!**
 * I could relate to several aspects of your poem, especially the parts about the husband being a partner and not a keeper and that your daughters can be successful, intelligent women with typical male jobs. Great job! Erin**


 * Chasati, I really enjoyed your poem. It is a great line when you wrote that you're compassionate but that doesn't mean you're weak. Well done. Eric**


 * Name:** Jeff

Telling me I can’t do something motivates me to do it. I am strong and powerful. I am the first college educated woman in my family. I have a high ranking career in a large company. I supervise many individuals. I send my children to day care while I enjoy my career. At night, I enjoy time with my children and I prefer paying a cleaning lady than spending my time mopping and dusting. I bought a house and a car without help before I married. I can stand on my own two feet, I make more money than my husband. I am independent and love it.
 * Poem:**


 * Comments:**
 * Jeff,**
 * I'm not sure this is an easy assignment if you're of the male gender. I really think we could write a "Female Privilege" poem also. You really do have an understanding of female possibilities which I think are improving year-by-year. I find, in my own family, that wives making more than husbands is accepted but still an issue of angst for the males. That competitiveness and superiority preference is difficult to erase. (Connie)**


 * You made several great points in your poem. I really like how you started it as that is the mind set of an independent person, male or female. I recall the first car I bought by myself and how proud I was that I did all the negotiating and on my own. Erin**


 * Name:** Erin Moran

Privilege is simple. Privilege is power. The power to do what I want, how I want, and as good as anyone else, regardless of gender. I am strong, I am intelligent and I am a woman. “I can do anything you can do better. I can do anything better than you.” I will not let someone tell me I can’t, simply because I have XX instead of XY chromosomes. That’s all it is…the difference of one letter in our genetics….not all the difference in the world. Privilege is about choices… I can choose be a mother and also have a career. Many hats to wear and many crosses to bear…all worth it and nothing to stop me from being who I am. Privilege is pride… I am a woman and proud of it. I can be tough as nails and as gentle as a butterfly, depending on the matter at hand. I stand up for what I believe and know is right. Don’t expect me to back down or give you the upper hand simply because you are a man. Privilege is to lead by example… I will be a positive role model and example to future generations of women. Young girls will see their potential and possibilities, beyond the images of magazines. May the future hold potential greatness for these ladies to succeed in “male dominated” roles. Privilege is a mind-set. Move beyond the stereotypes. See the potential in not only yourself but in the world. There is hope. There is success. There is strength and it lies within.
 * Poem:**


 * Comments:**
 * Erin,**
 * This is an outstanding statement of "I am woman". Surely, there must be someplace to publish it, even if only the lounge at school. :) (We used to place things like this in the women's bathroom.) "Many hats to wear and many crosses to bear." resonated with me. Fitting into that also is "many blessings to receive". The "tough as nails" statement is so true. I have watched so many more women than men function tirelessly and without breaking when under stress. Strength truly does lie within. (Connie)**

Privilege is power and when there is no privilege, for men or women, there is no power to struggle over. An interesting dynamic, or lack of dynamic. One wonders what a world without power would be like. Would it funtiong, would people still be motivated? I had another verse to my poem about this that I just couldn't get right. The Chris Kristofferson line in the song made famous by Janis Joplin kept coming to mind, "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose." I noticed this in the Czech Republic after communism, there was suddenly a great crisis in the arts as all the artists had one goal in mind, one enemy one target, and suddenly no one knew what to write or paint or sing about. There was a lot of aimlessness. I wonder how that would play out if/when gender equity becomes a reality. I supposed it depends on how gradually or suddenly it happens. (Alan)

What a great poem. You are very good with words, I like to write but am not very creative unfortunately. When I see things like this I think "that's exactly what I was trying to say buy didn't know how." I really like how you describe the female strength, it is so true. So often in the instance of divorce the women are left to juggle everything and are such great examples for their children. We need to show the next generation what they are capable of so there continues to be progress. Chasati


 * Name:** Alan T

Privilege for men is a thing of the past. No longer am I often slapped on the ass I go for strolls anytime, day or night I have to go to bars to get in a fight. In the sunshiny park I can take off my blouse And I'm not even stared at by one single louse. Whether it’s the fixing of cars or the making of art I’m comfortable with my stature and being smart Batting my eyes still works a bit, But so does logical, reasoned argument Though I’m still interrupted it annoys me little, Cause I toss it right back as quick as a fiddle. I have consensual erotic dreams in the sack My man and I have a daughter named Jack Rape’s in the pages of history’s past turning <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Along with genital mutilation and old witches burning <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I was encouraged to physics, engineering, and swearing <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I was an architect, a pilot, and a fisher of herring. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I plowed great fields of corn, barley and wheat <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Performed brain surgery, wrote books, and even swept streets <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I did all of my jobs and still kept my grace, <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I’m the fifth woman president, the fiftieth space, <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">My role models are women throughout the ages <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Page after page of glorious sages. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">In this world birth control <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">is a preventative medicine, <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">and Rush Limbaugh’s been replaced <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">with a female Thomas Edison
 * Poem:**

"If my thought dreams could be seen, they'd probably put my head into a guillotine." - Bob Dylan, "I'm Only Bleeding"
 * Comments:**
 * Alan,**
 * We're almost there but not quite. Still searching for the "brass ring" you describe so well. By far, the best line describes the replacement of Rush Limbaugh. I would be imprisoned if the thoughts I have about that man were made public. (Connie)**


 * Name:** Daniel P.

Privilege is confidence in my own skin, being judged for what I do and not what I look like, being heard as well as seen. Privilege is when throwing like a girl is a compliment, earning what I am worth, earning more then my male counterpart, playing in front of tens of thousands instead of hundreds. Privilege is being the provider, protector and nurturer, building my home through the strength of my back and the sweat of my brow, wearing the dress or the pants (whatever I have on that day). Privilege is a shattered glass ceiling, a face like mine on the national currency, seeing someone of my own sex giving the State of the Union Address. Privilege is fearless.
 * Poem:**


 * Comments:**
 * Dan,**
 * I love the idea of a female face on currency and a female Commander-in-chief. I think peace has a chance if more women are given the opportunity to control the armaments of the world. (Connie)**


 * Name:** Eric

Liberated
 * Poem:**

She is on the big and the small screen, assuming the gender-neutral title, ‘actor,’ where her performance is assessed only by the strength of the character she portrays.

She speaks; her voice is heard and her ideas considered without consideration of her appearance.

She is my representative in the political arena, where she considers my gender when she crafts legislation written to govern my body.

She unabashedly leads her religious community with conviction and grace.

She finds common female peers among her workplace colleagues, within the sciences, math and technology.

She is the physical specimen who represents athleticism in its raw, uninhibited, competitive form.

She sculpts and paints the beauty of the female body with her own insight and consideration for the demands placed upon it.

She is a sister, a mother, a daughter, a wife


 * Comments:**
 * Eric,**
 * You have chosen areas to focus upon in your poem that are traditionally male domains. In order to achieve equality and equity between the genders, the changes you speak of need to take place. Then we might just be writing a "Female Privilege" poem. :) (Connie)**

I think the second to last line is the strongest. How would women paint the female body with indications of the demands placed upon it. (Alan)


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