Introduction 15these privileges and certainly recognize
heterosexual privilege.
What is male privilege? Historically,
women were not allowed to vote or own
property. At one time, only men were al-
lowed to serve in the military. Today, men
have greater access than women to certain
jobs and to political office. Until 1972, only
men could run the Boston Marathon. The
first two women who ran the marathon,
in 1966 and 1967, disguised themselves,
one by dress and one by name; upon rec-
ognition, their completion of the race was
dismissed, questioned, and not officially
recognized (Rosenbloom, 2000). It was not
until the early 1990s that women were al-
lowed to enter the Citadel and the Virginia
Military Institute, all-male military schools.
In 1993, Shannon Faulkner applied to the
Citadel by omitting any reference to her
gender; she was admitted, but on learning
of her gender, the Citadel withdrew its offer
of admission. Today, women are still not al-
lowed membership in the Augusta National
Golf Club, the club that hosts the premier
golfing event, the Masters. Annika Sorens-
tam, however, did compete in the Colonial,
one of the PGA tours in 2003, becoming
the first woman to do so in 58 years and
causing some men to withdraw from the
tournament.
Today, great strides have been made
in the United States toward gender equality.
Obviously, women can vote, run for politi-
cal office and win elections, and have gained
in occupational status. However, women
are not nearly as prevalent in government
as men, and women are rarely found in the
highest occupational statuses, such as chief
executive officers of industry. It was not un-
til 2007 that we saw the first female Speaker
of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy
Pelosi. In 2009, we saw the first femaleand parents are just as likely to have a third
child if they have two sons or two daughters
(Kippen, Evans, & Gray, 2007).
Other evidence that males are more
highly regarded than females comes from
the effect of a child’s sex on the structure
of the family. In an analysis of census data
from the last half of the 20th century, Dahl and
Moretti (2008) found that firstborn females
are less likely to live with their fathers than
firstborn males. Several factors accounted for
this difference. First, women whose firstborn
child was female were less likely to marry
the father than women whose firstborn child
was male. Second, women whose firstborn
child was female were more likely to divorce
than women whose firstborn child was male.
Finally, upon divorce, fathers were less likely
to have custody of firstborn females than
males. The investigators noted that families
with firstborn females also ended up with
a greater number of children than families
with firstborn males. Because the research is
archival, one cannot discern cause and effect.
However, these data provide circumstantial
evidence that people—especially fathers—
prefer sons over daughters.
The dominant group in a society has
rights and privileges not available to the
subordinate group. In our society, we can
talk about male privilege, White privilege,
heterosexual privilege, class privilege, and
even attractiveness privilege. People who
have the privilege are often unaware of it;
those who lack the privilege are aware. For
example, heterosexual privilege entails the
right to marry, to have a public ceremony
that entails celebration and gifts from fam-
ily and friends, and to have children with-
out being questioned. Heterosexuals do
not view this as a privilege because it has
come to be expected. Most homosexuals in
the United States, however, do not haveM01_HELG0185_04_SE_C01.indd 15 6/21/11 12:17 PM