So a judge in Ontario has said “nuh-uh” to a deceased doctor’s plan, set forth in his will, to set up scholarships for straight, white, single students.
As the National Post reports:
[Dr. Victor] Priebe’s will asked the trustee to set up bursaries for students planning studies in science …
It said one should be directed to “Caucasian (white), male, single, heterosexual students,” while the other should be reserved for a “hard-working, single Caucasian white girl who is not feminist or lesbian.” …
There were other odd stipulations, too, such as that the male bursary should not go to anyone who plays inter-collegiate sports, and that the recipient should ideally demonstrate “they are not afraid of hard manual work in their selection of summer employment.”
But the judge, a known woman by the name of Alissa Mitchell, says she can’t let something so blatantly discriminatory to stand.
Naturally, the good folks in the Men’s Rights subreddit are outraged by this assault on all that is good and decent.
“I am a white heterosexual single male, and I quite like myself that way,” a fellow calling himself CompayViejo declared, in a comment that got more than a dozen upvotes.
And I associate with other white heterosexual single males, and I generally think my friends are really a great bunch of people to be around. Does that make me racist and homophobic too?
Although we’d really have to read the guy’s entire will for an informed opinion, it’s just harrowing that nowadays, apparently you’re a racist homophobe just because you want to do something for a certain defined section of society after your death. …
Men, white heterosexual men, really have it quite bad these days in many Western “civilized” countries and are increasingly being marginalized. In a world like that, if you really think that scholarships for white heterosexual men are against the interest of the state, then that’s just pathetic.
Maybe this video will help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ESgWlzQQag
H/T — r/againstmensrights
@Bina:
This always struck me as genuine misandry. When people say “boys will be boys” and mean “sexual harassment is innate in men’s nature and can’t be prevented” then they have a very low opinion of men.
I’m male and am capable of not harassing people. It can be done.
Razwick,
I think the hardest thing for people to grasp is that privilege can mean just not having to deal with certain obstacles and stressors. They don’t notice their absence because they’ve never dealt with them. Both men and women have to pay a fare to get on public transportation. Free bus rides aren’t a male privilege. But women have the burden of worrying about being sexually harassed on transit. Men don’t. I don’t get go to a store and grab stuff for free because I’m white. I pay the same price for the wares as black people. But I have the privilege to not be immediately suspected as a shoplifter. I don’t worry about being harassed by security. Black people do.
To understand these invisible privileges, the privileged person has to be willing to listen to marginalized people. I’ve yet to meet an MRA, PUA, gamergater, incel, etc who is remotely willing to do such a thing.
@Rhuu and @dlouwe – Thanks for the info! I also found this link that explains the differences between “college” and “university” for four different places (U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia) – and they’re all different differences. Life is confusing: http://www.diffen.com/difference/College_vs_University
As for the scholarship, I wonder if this man thought through the logistics of his plan. You’d probably have people applying just for a laugh. I’m imagining the letters:
“Dear selection committee, please consider me for your scholarship because I am white as paper and neither a lesbian or a feminist. Proof: I like to wear skirts and the colour pink, which obviously makes me straight, not to mention that feminine women cannot be feminists. In my spare time, I like washing and doing chores for my father and brothers, which will prepare me for eventual marriage. Currently I’m not dating anyone because I want to stay pure for my future husband, like pure orange juice without additives or preservatives.”
Of course, it’s better that the thing not exist at all.
@Tracy
Seriously? How the heck does someone doing their job “distract the boys?” God forbid we should expect boys to have some kind of self control.
Also, I was confused on whether this takeout pizza place was unrelated to Tracy’s school? They hired her and then noticed she was a popular sex idol among local male youth, and that was too much for their prestigious business image?
@Arctic Ape
You win the thread.
I just had to troubleshoot a problem with a literal plant stem to see if it was a literal bug. It was not, thankfully. It was actually a feature of the plant.
I see what you did there.
God forbid you … know anything at all about what I’m talking about, beyond a single sentence, before deciding it offends the universe?
Yeah, except that there’s a problem with things like food stamps and housing vouchers, in that they are a direct transfer of money from the government to … wealthy business owners. A guaranteed stipend is only half a step above that. Every penny a really poor person receives in benefits, whether in cash or in kind, winds up in the pockets of the more-privileged folks who provide them with the services they need. If all the poor (or everyone period) got a cash stipend, service providers would accommodate that by raising prices to divert as much of it for themselves as possible.
The way social welfare works today is within the structure of capitalism, and trusting capitalism to take care of the poor if we just pump in enough money is … not something I am personally willing to do. It certainly doesn’t seem to be working very well now, and I don’t think that the solution is just a lot more of the same.
The only way to cut capitalism out of the equation is for the government to provide those services directly. It’s not a perfect idea, but nothing is, and a lot of social problems stem from how devastating homelessness is. The threat of homelessness causes a lot of shit in our society. If anyone could leave a bad situation and have a good, safe place to live and a good meal before midnight that same day, no questions asked, lots of problems would instantly become much more manageable.
Hmmmn kinda see what your saying but each would have to be judged on its own merits otherwise feminism could arguably fall this category.
From the POV of the low-status male – Billy Joel’s track “Allentown” covers the perspective.