Hugo Schwyzer discusses how sex, class, and ethnicity influence how we
argue.
"As anyone who’s ever been in a serious relationship
can tell you, one near-certain source of conflict comes from the simple truth that thanks to our experiences, we all see the world slightly
differently. That’s obvious enough. But do women’s experiences—as women—give
them “standpoint privilege” in arguments with men? The answer is almost
certainly yes."
Hugo Schwyzer has taught history and gender studies at Pasadena City College since 1993, where he developed the college’s first courses on Men and Masculinity and Beauty and Body Image. A writer and speaker as well as a professor, Hugo lives with his wife, daughter, son, and six chinchillas in Los Angeles.
Hugo's theory is called “epistemic privilege”, he explains that in a heterosexual relationship, it is
generally the case that the woman will see gender-based
power imbalances more clearly than will her boyfriend or her husband. This
isn’t because of “feminine intuition,” it’s because folks in a historically
oppressed class are always required to be more aware of power dynamics than
those who belong to the dominant group. The same epistemic privilege can occur
in race and class relations, regardless of the sex of the people involved.
After i had read this article (http://www.rolereboot.org/culture-and-politics/details/2012-06-why-women-are-more-often-right), the first thought that came to my mind was that in my experience women have this ability of see more than men although there are always exceptions when we talk about human beings because in my opinion genetics doesn't make us think the way we do, but our reality or context does.
Going back to Hugo's theory, from my point of view gender-based power it's definitely one of the reasons why women can see more when we talk about oppressed classes. Women have been one of the oppressed classes for centuries, their rights are relatively new if we think about it, and there are people who still deny women's rights. The example of rape and parking lots explain the reality of women and men, but it doesn't say that however women have more chances of being raped, men also can be attacked, for example may be robbed.
In conclusion, this theory is close to explain why women are often right, because they have a completely different vision of reality and as result they have a wide range of argument to show they're right.
What did you think about the article? Tell me in the comments!
