@nikipedia I believe the biggest factor in determining who has the advantage in society comes down to money. Not race, not gender, not sexual orientation. It’s wealth. And if you don’t believe that, my contention is that you’ve never been poor.
Now, let’s look at who has the most weath in society. It is white men. However, these white men make up what…maybe 5% of the population? Doesn’t really have any benefit for the rest of us, does it?
To answer your question directly, yes. A man for example, whether he is poor or rich, will be taken more seriously by people (often times other men) in positions of authority. However if a war breaks out, that same mans life (unless he is rich) is treated as far more expendable than a rich man’s or a woman of any status.
There are positives and negatives for both sides. Among the middle and poor class, I think in 2011 we’re pretty equal. Rich white men may have a far greater advantage than any of us. However they do not represent the thousands of men such as myself who grew up on welfare, in government housing, and in short, have had to struggle and fight for everything they’ve had. Just like a woman. Unless she’s born rich, in which case she has a far greater advantage. And as I pointed out in an earlier post, in Toronto single young men are more likely to be poor than single young women, meaning in this city, they have an advantage.