(July 23, 2014 at 10:38 am)Rampant.A.I. Wrote: That said, the concept of privilege is a valid one, but when people over-use it the same way the religious right uses "liberal," "libtard," or any other "you disagree with me, therefore invalidating slur," it doesn't reinforce someone's position or make them seem more intelligent. It's just a proud display of uncompromising, narrow-minded bias.
Agree 100%. It's a conversation stopper.
Take for instance gender pay disparity. The often referenced study that results in a 17% pay disparity is significantly flawed in that it doesn't address real and valid variance driven by non-gender considerations such as direct comparison of work type/professions, education levels, relevant experience, and hours worked. When these items are taken into account there is still a 5% variance. Certainly not as bad, but something that should be addressed.
The problem is that honest dialogue doesn't happen because the "privileged" group will use the more accurate study to simply dismiss the claim while the extreme feminists will uncritically deny the merits of the new study claiming that it is only 'mansplaining'.
