Do you think we are fully aware of the privileged position of males?
There is no way a well-educated white male can understand how much the culture is tilted in his favour, because it鈥檚 all he鈥檚 ever known and all he will know. And there鈥檚 no way a woman can understand the full import of that because being a female is all she鈥檚 ever known. I have seen both sides.
Special report: The origins of sexism
The imbalance of power between men and women is being hotly debated. But no one benefits from a patriarchal society, so how did we get here, and where should we go next?
When did you become aware of it?
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I was a tall, well-educated, affluent white male. From an American perspective, my privilege was complete. I had a cognisance of that, but no visceral sense of it. All that went away when I transitioned. The loss of this privilege was immediate and disturbing.
How did you experience it?
Initially, in not getting contracts that I previously would have gotten. In some of those cases, it was because I was transgender. In other cases, people had no idea. I was just a female. There was a very strong financial reality too, in that I was just not earning any money.
Also, when I now talk about my knowledge in areas that are typically seen as male, it鈥檚 not well received. We are more inclined to listen to information presented to us by males than by females. I鈥檓 generally taken less seriously than a male speaking on the same subject.
I hear from a lot of transgender people around the world whose experience is similar to mine. The males find that suddenly they are seen as people with knowledge, and the females no longer receive the respect that they received previously as males.
How should things change?
The answer is not in females behaving like alpha males. If you take a fortune 500 company, remove an alpha male and replace him with an alpha female, have you really made a change?
We are making progress on equality, but not on equity. I may have as fair a shot at a position as someone else, but if it鈥檚 a ministry position, I鈥檒l make 76 per cent of what a man would in that same position.
We have to make sure that women are elevated to positions of equality, so that they can begin working for equity from a higher place. Often we don鈥檛 begin at the same starting line as males, so we have a lot more catching up to do.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淚鈥檝e seen the patriarchy from both sides鈥�
