# Responses to a straight, white male complaining on these message boards. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 3, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754 "2014-03-03T15:01:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/101 "2014-03-05T12:41:26Z")
> [@Manlob](#): > > There is also so the 8(a) Business Development Plan of the Small Business Administration that preferentially gives government contracts and loans to woman, minority, or “socially disadvantaged” owned buisinesses. 8(1) may be a case where being gay would be an advantage. I have experience with reviewing proposals for contractors. It is true they get more credit if they are women or minority-owned. So what a lot of contractors do is make their wives the owner/president of the company. Then they can check off two boxes–small business and women-owned. It is also true that AA gives preferences to women and minorities. But the make-up of my office is overwhelmingly white male, excluding the administrative staff. Almost every manager is a white guy. The leadership team? White guys. And it’s not just my agency. Every time I go to a professional meeting, it’s a sea of white guys. So if you’ve got evidence of white guys getting shafted by AA hiring practices, I’d love to see it. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/102 "2014-03-05T13:34:07Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I have experience with reviewing proposals for contractors. It is true they get more credit if they are women or minority-owned. So what a lot of contractors do is make their wives the owner/president of the company. Then they can check off two boxes–small business and women-owned. > > It is also true that AA gives preferences to women and minorities. But the make-up of my office is overwhelmingly white male, excluding the administrative staff. Almost every manager is a white guy. The leadership team? White guys. And it’s not just my agency. Every time I go to a professional meeting, it’s a sea of white guys. > > So if you’ve got evidence of white guys getting shafted by AA hiring practices, I’d love to see it. But all your story does is point to a situation where racial preferences are a sham anyway. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/103 "2014-03-05T13:35:33Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > No matter how powerless you or I may be as individuals, **all else being equal,** a man has more privileged than a woman. But we are all individuals. We should be treated as individuals. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/104 "2014-03-05T15:04:04Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > But we are all individuals. We should be treated as individuals. This is how I feel. Everyone has individual needs. I don’t want to be treated poorly \*OR \*special for my race or my gender. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/105 "2014-03-05T15:10:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m not sure exactly how I’d go about proving that. I doubt any advertising executive has gone on record explaining that they target women by portraying men as incompetent.[sup]\*[/sup] I do think it’s safe to assume that companies develop advertising to appeal to their likely customers. And as the previous links said, those customers are becoming predominantly women. > > - While searching for such a direct admission, I did find a few blogs and articles on the subject of dumb men in commercials which still claimed they were examples of anti-woman bias. I disagree with that conclusion. I don’t think you have to prove something in order to have had a reason to say it, obviously. But you’ve been talking about the harm to men that comes from being portrayed this way in popular media, and you said that these portrayals show that women control purchasing. I’m just asking why you said that last part. It seems to me that it’s a hard inference to articulate without some pretty harsh assumptions coming out, but that’s to me; I don’t know your reasons. But it seems unlikely that there’s going to be much of a give and take on the larger issue if what you think is going on in the media is, for example, a phenomenon essentially driven by women’s desire to see men humiliated. I would expect to find that that assumption would be a controversial one. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/106 "2014-03-05T15:20:45Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > This is how I feel. Everyone has individual needs. > > I don’t want to be treated poorly \*OR \*special for my race or my gender. And this shouldn’t even have to be said. It should be universally accepted. Yet some people still can’t seem to handle it. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/107 "2014-03-05T16:25:22Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > And this shouldn’t even have to be said. It should be universally accepted. Yet some people still can’t seem to handle it. But we DO live in a world that can be discriminatory. As a white male, I don’t get the poopy end of the stick, (for the most part), so doesn’t that mean there should be laws to protect those who do? Just asking. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/108 "2014-03-05T16:35:55Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > But we DO live in a world that can be discriminatory. As a white male, I don’t get the poopy end of the stick, (for the most part), so doesn’t that mean there should be laws to protect those who do? Just asking. I don’t understand your question. Of course there should be laws against discrimination - and my comment logically supports that idea. Whiteness and maleness doesn’t change that either. I didn’t mean to say that we don’t need laws against discrimination - only that we shouldn’t discriminate in any way, including racial preferences or applying “white male privilege” or whatever to individuals and judging them by it. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/109 "2014-03-05T16:39:21Z")
But do you think each individual case requires individual attention? If so, (that might not be what you mean), how do you implement that? ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/110 "2014-03-05T16:52:41Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > But do you think each individual case requires individual attention? If so, (that might not be what you mean), how do you implement that? By judging them by a logical measure, rather than by race. I’m not sure what you’re getting at - could you provide an example? ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/111 "2014-03-05T16:56:11Z")
I guess what I’m wondering is that if everyone thought they were being discriminated against for whatever reason, wouldn’t we be swamped with cases? Perhaps more than can be handled? I agree with you… I just wonder if it would be doable. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/112 "2014-03-05T16:58:53Z")
And I don’t really have an understanding of how things work, so my question might be ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/113 "2014-03-05T16:59:06Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > I guess what I’m wondering is that if everyone thought they were being discriminated against for whatever reason, wouldn’t we be swamped with cases? Perhaps more than can be handled? But what’s stopping that from happening now? We already have laws that forbid racial or some other forms of discrimination in many ways. Anyone can claim to be discriminated against at any time. It’s not a big problem. The system handles it. We should also refuse to discriminate in legal ways. But that’s not something the legal system is asked to handle, just us. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/114 "2014-03-05T17:00:12Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > And I don’t really have an understanding of how things work, so my question might be ignorant. Okay. Are you in the U.S.? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/115 "2014-03-05T17:01:50Z")
On a slight hijack, [this](http://wow-suchbree-veryblog.tumblr.com/post/77620265605/if-white-people-are-so-privileged-why-is-there-a) may be the best response I’ve seen to these questions ever: > [@](#): > > “If white people are so privileged why is there a Black Entertainment Network and no White Entertainment Network?” > > “Men don’t have privilege, there are women’s only gyms!” > > “Why isn’t there a campus centre for straight/cis people!?” > > **SAME REASONS WHY IN MARIO KART YOU DON’T GET BLUE SHELLS OR LIGHTNING BOLTS WHEN YOU’RE ALREADY IN FIRST PLACE, ASSBAG**. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/116 "2014-03-05T17:02:49Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Okay. Are you in the U.S.? Yes sir, I am. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/117 "2014-03-05T17:05:20Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > Yes sir, I am. Okay. Well, you know that we have non-discrimination laws, I presume. And I think we should, you know, not discriminate by race or judge people by their race even in cases when it is legal to do so. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/118 "2014-03-05T17:08:04Z")
**"If white people are so privileged why is there a Black Entertainment Network and no White Entertainment Network?"** They do… it’s called NBC. However, it it were renamed to White Entertainment Network, there would be a shit storm **"Men don’t have privilege, there are women’s only gyms!"** And ‘Ladies Night’ at the bars. **"Why isn’t there a campus centre for straight/cis people!?"** What’s “cis”? **SAME REASONS WHY IN MARIO KART YOU DON’T GET BLUE SHELLS OR LIGHTNING BOLTS WHEN YOU’RE ALREADY IN FIRST PLACE, ASSBAG.** I HATE BLUE SHELLS, they shouldn’t even be in the game! ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/119 "2014-03-05T17:08:10Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > SAME REASONS WHY IN MARIO KART YOU DON’T GET BLUE SHELLS OR LIGHTNING BOLTS WHEN YOU’RE ALREADY IN FIRST PLACE, ASSBAG. That’s cute, but it’s not a race, and males and females aren’t a team, and they don’t all come in first or second place. In fact, if there are no male-only gyms, but female-only gyms, that would mean they actually aren’t in “first place,” right? Bad analogy. You end privilege by ending privilege, not by creating other privileges. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754/120 "2014-03-05T17:10:54Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Okay. Well, you know that we have non-discrimination laws, I presume. > > And I think we should, you know, not discriminate by race or judge people by their race even in cases when it is legal to do so. Gatcha! 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responses-to-a-straight-white-male-complaining-on-these-message-boards/682754.md?page=7)