An urgent exploration of men’s entitlement and how it serves to police and punish women, from the acclaimed author of Down Girl “Kate Manne is a thrilling and provocative feminist thinker. Her work is indispensable.”—Rebecca Traister NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE ATLANTIC In this bold and stylish critique, Cornell philosopher Kate Manne offers a radical new framework for understanding misogyny. Ranging widely across the culture, from Harvey Weinstein and the Brett Kavanaugh hearings to “Cat Person” and the political misfortunes of Elizabeth Warren, Manne’s book shows how privileged men’s sense of entitlement—to sex, yes, but more insidiously to admiration, care, bodily autonomy, knowledge, and power—is a pervasive social problem with often devastating consequences. In clear, lucid prose, Manne argues that male entitlement can explain a wide array of phenomena, from mansplaining and the undertreatment of women’s pain to mass shootings by incels and the seemingly intractable notion that women are “unelectable.” Moreover, Manne implicates each of us in toxic masculinity: It’s not just a product of a few bad actors; it’s something we all perpetuate, conditioned as we are by the social and cultural mores of our time. The only way to combat it, she says, is to expose the flaws in our default modes of thought while enabling women to take up space, say their piece, and muster resistance to the entitled attitudes of the men around them. With wit and intellectual fierceness, Manne sheds new light on gender and power and offers a vision of a world in which women are just as entitled as men to our collective care and concern.

Provocative and compelling, this highly successful book explores one of today's most controversial social debates and provides some surprising answers that every man should know. Filled with revealing statistics and candid personal accounts, this book is an eye-opening guide for men navigating in an increasingly unconventional world.

"A powerful book. Nancy Dowd offers a novel and sweeping integration of feminism and masculinities theory. Her ideas about how to recognize gender asymmetries, understand 'male' work codes, and unravel prescribed social roles offer hope for changing workplace and educational cultures toward gender equality."-Nancy Levit, co-author of Feminist Legal Theory: A Primer --

"Privilege--the word, the idea, the j'accuse that cannot be answered with equanimity--is the new rhetorical power play. From social media to academia, public speech to casual conversation, "Check your privilege" or "Your privilege is showing" are utilized to brand people of all kinds with a term once reserved for wealthy, old-money denizens of exclusive communities. Today, "privileged" applies to anyone who enjoys an unearned advantage in life, about which they are likely oblivious. White privilege, male privilege, straight privilege--those conditions make everyday life easier, less stressful, more lucrative, and generally better for those who hold one, two, or all three designations. But what about white female privilege in the context of feminism? Or fixed gender privilege in the context of transgender? Or weight and height privilege in the context of hiring practices and salary levels? Or food privilege in the context of public health? Or two parent, working class privilege in the context of widening inequality for single parent families? In The Perils of Privilege, Phoebe Maltz Bovy examines the rise of this word into extraordinary potency. Does calling out privilege help to change or soften it? Or simply reinforce it by dividing people against themselves? And is privilege a concept that, in fact, only privileged people are debating?"--

Privilege is about more than being white, wealthy, and male, as Michael Kimmel, Abby Ferber, and a range of contributors make clear in this timely anthology. In an era when 'diversity' is too often shorthand for 'of color' and/or 'female' the personal and analytical essays in this collection explore the multifaceted nature of social location and consider how gender, class, race, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, and religion interact to create nuanced layers of privilege and oppression. The individual essays (taken together) guide students to a deep understanding of the dynamics of diversity and stratification, advantage, and power. The fourth edition features thirteen new essays that help students understand the intersectional nature of privilege and oppression and has new introductory essays to contextualize the readings. These enhancements, plus the updated pedagogical features of discussion questions and activities at the end of each section, encourage students to examine their own beliefs, practices, and social location.