McIntosh, 2008 (While Privilege and Male Privilege)

Men are often (not always) unwilling to admit that they are over-privileged, even if they admit that women are disadvantaged.
Denial of the advantages men gain from women's disadvantages create a taboo that protects male privilege.

We are taught to recognize racism as being awful but are taught NOT to see white privilege. Whites are taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege.
This paper is all about what it's like to have white privilege.

White privilege is like having an invisible package of unearned assets that you can cash in each day that you try to remain oblivious about.

The author states: "After I realized the extent to which men work from a base of unacknowledged privilege, I understood that much of their oppressiveness was unconscious. Then I remembered the frequent charges from women of color that white women whom they encounter are oppressive. I began to understand why we are justly seen as oppressive, even when we don't see ourselves that way."

She then lists 46 of her white privileges

She rambles for a bit and I couldn't find anything too important or not repetitive.

But then she talks about privilege, as we have it today doesn't help society and then talks about distinguishing earned strength and unearned power conferred systematically. "Power from unearned privilege can look like strength when it is in fact permission to escape or dominate." However, not all privileges are damaging, like the expectation that your neighbors will be nice to you.  But they aren't harmless either, like the privilege to ignore less powerful people, etc.

Even the author's ability and power to choose whether to broach this subject is privilege.

An analogy she makes with women's studies makes a lot of sense. She says that men don't have much (or anything) to lose by supporting women's studies, but they don't have anything to lose if they oppose it either. They will probably have few penalties no matter what choice they make. They aren't really at risk. It's the same with issues of privilege. 

Very few men get really upset about male advantage.. so are we going to follow that, or are we going to get distressed and outraged about unearned race advantage and dominance. And what will we do about that?

"We need more understanding of the ways in which white "privilege" damages white people." 

Many white people think that racism doesn't affect them and don't see whiteness as a race. Likewise, many men don't see women's studies as influencing their existence because they're male.

Race and sex aren't the only advantaging systems, there's also age, work ability, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, etc. There is recent talk on heterosexual privilege and it's even more taboo than race and privilege.

She has a second list of her heterosexual privilege:

Since racism, sexism, and heterosexism are not the same, the advantaging of them should not be seen as the same.

She then talks about just changing how you feel about race doesn't change the system. Like, man just treating women better doesn't change the advantages they have. Big macro changes need to occur with privilege.

So, now what will we do with this knowledge? (That's about how she ends it)