The next obvious step is to assign point values to such privileges, so we can add them up and compare totals.
Of course there would be many ways to disagree about such point values, including how they should account for differing abilities and preferences. You’d open yourself up more to ridicule by posting a calculation, as folks could trumpet your most vulnerable estimate as evidence of your insincerity. And you wouldn’t show your impressiveness nearly as much as you could via a fancy math model, statistical data analysis, or semiotic text analysis.
But the essence of analysis is to “break it down”, to take apart vague wholes into clearer parts. For the same reasons we make point lists to help us make tough job decisions, or ask people who sue for damages to name an amount and break it into components, we should try to break down these important social claims via simple calculations. And the absense of attempts at this is a sad commentary on something.
It’s not at all obvious to me why this might need doing. Inequalities aren’t, say, good, so as long as the goal is “make people aware of X” and not “allocate money to alleviating X” (for instance) why have a stupid contest about who is less privileged than whom in numerical fashion?
I agree that Robin’s suggestion is somewhat beside the point. Regardless of how male and female privilege tallies up, I want to know about what I can do to make people, including women, feel fairly treated and respected, and to encourage them to participate on LW.
I hope including Robin’s comments won’t detract from those goals. That said, I do think this sort of accounting is useful for helping me set priorities. i.e. Which groups and issues are most deserving of more of my finite time and resources.
I agree that it would be nice to level advantages from sex wherever feasible.
In evaluating your request that we pay extra “attention to the privileges of masculinity” and “attempt to reduce that disparity”, I would definitely want to weigh the overall balance before deciding which wrongs to crusade against.
If you’re talking about a disparity in participation (and not privilege) here, then sure, I’d like to see more quality female contribution.
Laughed out loud at the clause “this is a sad commentary on something”.
It would be an interesting question whether men are more privileged than women, and I’m skeptical that there’s a clear way to measure these things. But I also think it’s largely irrelevant to the question at hand; that there is a discrepancy in expectations is enough to keep in mind.
Robin Hanson said:
The next obvious step is to assign point values to such privileges, so we can add them up and compare totals.
Of course there would be many ways to disagree about such point values, including how they should account for differing abilities and preferences. You’d open yourself up more to ridicule by posting a calculation, as folks could trumpet your most vulnerable estimate as evidence of your insincerity. And you wouldn’t show your impressiveness nearly as much as you could via a fancy math model, statistical data analysis, or semiotic text analysis.
But the essence of analysis is to “break it down”, to take apart vague wholes into clearer parts. For the same reasons we make point lists to help us make tough job decisions, or ask people who sue for damages to name an amount and break it into components, we should try to break down these important social claims via simple calculations. And the absense of attempts at this is a sad commentary on something.
It’s not at all obvious to me why this might need doing. Inequalities aren’t, say, good, so as long as the goal is “make people aware of X” and not “allocate money to alleviating X” (for instance) why have a stupid contest about who is less privileged than whom in numerical fashion?
I agree that Robin’s suggestion is somewhat beside the point. Regardless of how male and female privilege tallies up, I want to know about what I can do to make people, including women, feel fairly treated and respected, and to encourage them to participate on LW.
I hope including Robin’s comments won’t detract from those goals. That said, I do think this sort of accounting is useful for helping me set priorities. i.e. Which groups and issues are most deserving of more of my finite time and resources.
I agree that it would be nice to level advantages from sex wherever feasible.
In evaluating your request that we pay extra “attention to the privileges of masculinity” and “attempt to reduce that disparity”, I would definitely want to weigh the overall balance before deciding which wrongs to crusade against.
If you’re talking about a disparity in participation (and not privilege) here, then sure, I’d like to see more quality female contribution.
Laughed out loud at the clause “this is a sad commentary on something”.
It would be an interesting question whether men are more privileged than women, and I’m skeptical that there’s a clear way to measure these things. But I also think it’s largely irrelevant to the question at hand; that there is a discrepancy in expectations is enough to keep in mind.