It can be hard to admit privilege but Sudeep Pagedar’s poem “The Privilege Of A Penis” does exactly that and how. In a world where the very word “privilege” leads to cries of ‘not all men’, ‘but what about the men’ and many more, a man admitting that yeah, being born male does have certain advantages, is a breath of fresh air.
And rather than being a simplification of gender roles, Pagedar touches on the many ways patriarchy is enforced; from binary gender roles to rape jokes. And of course, referring to the obvious double standards of society.
“And what’s the problem if guys sleep around?
But if girls should do it, we’ll take the moral high ground.”
But what is more important that admitting privilege is taking charge of it and that’s exactly what Pagedar does at the end of the video. Because having privilege isn’t just a fact of society that you live with. Rather, it confers a sense of responsibility onto the person with the privilege, responsibility to call out bullshit whenever we hear or see it. This can mean anything from not laughing at the sexist joke you hear or calling out anything friends of yours say which are problematic. And it won’t be easy. But that’s how change happens.
As he says, “It’s time for attention. I’m no longer at ease.”