“Male privilege” is the belief, enforced on his female victims, that a man has rights and privileges that are due to him simply because he is a man. The underlying assumption of male privilege is that women exist to gratify the needs of men, who are somehow superior beings, because they were born male.

Examples of exercising male privilege include:

• Insisting that she gives him sex whenever he wants it, no matter how she feels;
• Making her clean up after him (leaving a messy kitchen, bathroom, not picking up clothes, etc.);
• Making her fetch for him (“get me a drink”, “go to the store and buy me cigarettes”, etc.);
• Making decisions that impact her without consulting her, insisting on being the decision maker (on everything from which restaurant or house to choose, to which school the children will attend, where to live or whether or not to incur a debt);
• Expecting her to want what he wants when he wants;
• Making her do the nasty jobs (clean the toilet, warm up the freezing car, etc.);
• Demanding that she serves the food he wants, when he wants it;
• Requiring her to “act as if you want it” in the bedroom.