
Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is - jhuckestein
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-the-lowest-difficulty-setting-there-is/
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unit_testing
Tell this to an unattractive, poor white male[1] who watches enviously as an
attractive, middle-class black male is given a subsidized college education.

 _"Your life is easier because you're white. Feel_ guilty _. Feel sheepish
about any of your accomplishments, because they were made easier due to your
lack of melanin."_

Perhaps this white male – with his lack of melanin – has sun-damaged skin with
several large, prominent moles, all of which contribute to his lower self-
esteem.

 _"Your life is easier because you're white. Feel_ guilty _. Feel sheepish
about any of your accomplishments, because they were made easier due to your
lack of melanin."_

People in the past with his same skin color have done bad things, so belittle
at him when he complains that it's acceptable and politically correct to be
bigoted toward pale people. Call him backwards for feeling resentful and
bitter. Remember, you are _better_ than him—his life is easy.

Some people feel powerful and superior when they bash their perceived peers.
John Scalzi is one of those people.

[1]: Excuse me—I meant "white trash".

~~~
Vitaly
not buying. an "unattractive, poor white male" will still have it easier then
an "unattractive, poor black male".

Re-read the article. People do indeed get different numbers of "points" to
start with, and the variation within a group is still bigger then differences
between the groups, so someone can be black, and yet attractive, physically
fit, extremely intelligent and from a wealthy family - a very 'easy'
difficulty level to play at, and yet, replace 'black' with 'white' and it will
become even easier still.

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blackjack160
Alexis Ohanian said it better and in a less incendiary way @ HN's event in NYC
last year:

Being a middle-class white male with loving parents is like playing the game
of life on easy mode. One has an obligation to do good things for the world -
in acknowledgement that there is more to be done and that others deserve the
same environment you were born into. (Paraphrasing)

That's a balanced viewpoint, one that's hard to resent.

~~~
unit_testing
Why add the "white" qualifier?

Think about it: By many measures, _all things being equal_ , it's actually
(institutionally!) easier to be a non-white (non-Asian) male.

The _all things being equal_ qualifier is extremely important, of course—being
born white is _correlated_ with being born middle-class with loving parents.
But it in-and-of-itself, it does not make things easier.

If you are born black, it's less likely that you will be born middle class,
and it's _far_ less likely that you will have loving parents. But _that's_
issue we need to focus on.

Being born white does not make your life easier. Being born middle-class with
loving parents _does_. Love your kids—don't teach them to hate themselves (and
their peers) if they're white.

~~~
MaysonL
Why add the "white"? Because in general, it's true.

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carsongross
"Straight white guys don't react well to being told they are privileged. I
will, therefore, come up with a condescending, stereotypical metaphor in order
to tell them they are privileged, in hopes that this will...

well, get some clicks anyway."

~~~
gtg092x
That would be the nail you just hit on the head there

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astrofinch
Society's stereotype is that straight white men have it easy, but I haven't
seen any careful analysis supporting this conclusion.

For example, I would guess that gay men have an easier time getting laid. Was
that factored in? See also "female privilege" lists like this one:
[http://www.feministcritics.org/blog/2008/06/08/female-
privil...](http://www.feministcritics.org/blog/2008/06/08/female-privilege/)

Is there any point in arguing which faction has it the worst? Let's just help
each other out without regard to demographics, eh?

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rdl
This would account for why the highest scores recently, and most high scores
we have a record of in history's leaderboard, were from people "playing on
easy mode". Some of history's high scores were from people abusing bugs or
using cheat codes, but outside of a few parts of the game now (finance...), a
lot of those have been patched.

(As the game shifts to technology, I think at least some subset of Asians, at
least those with access to the US and global markets, are on easy mode too,
and showing up more and more on high score lists.)

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jandrewrogers
They mean intelligent, tall, handsome, straight, white, male.

~~~
mc32
I think there's also a western bias. Put a white male outside their element
and I'm not sure, an average, a white male would do much better than an
equivalent local‡, if not worse.

For example, I lived in SEAsia for two years. In some places, you cannot own a
business (as any foreigner). If you do want to own, you marry (a local) or get
yourself a (business) partner. Due to cultural differences, the white male
westerner would just not be able to compete with the local.

Living in East Asia, I saw two predominant types of white male westerners,
those who tried to eke out a living in E asia (somewhat less educated) and the
professionals (typically better educated). There was a third class, and that
was hired guns (tantamount to high level consulting).

‡Of equivalent background, education, etc.

~~~
rdl
In most of the world I got treated as well as a particularly high status local
by being a white educated American male.

(in some cases, sure, a huge security risk too, but they basically assume the
white foreigner can solve their problems for them -- at least in Asia, Middle
East, etc., which are lacking in white people.)

In the middle east this could cause some serious problems where people from
Iraq/Afghanistan assumed any idiot from the US who happened to be white
actually knew what he was talking about on any issue. They'd go with a totally
uneducated or domain-ignorant white guy giving advice he made up on the spot,
over a non-white (local or South Asian) credentialed or highly experienced
expert.

In China (and some other places, Thailand, etc.) this leads to hiring white
guys to act as public faces for organizations. It's also one of the things
international management consulting firms have to rely on in some markets.
It's really stupid.

~~~
mc32
I think the ME is a bit complicated.

First, most middle easterners are white/caucasian (and classify themselves as
such, even if some Americans erroneously might not), so I'm not sure race is a
factor. On the other hand, I think power is a big factor. Imagine an alien
(ET) race (but humanoid looking) came and took over the US (gov't). Yes, many
people would be upset, many would take up arms, but on the other hand, many
would assume they had something to offer (as they proved themselves superior
militarily). Two, I don't think it's only white Americans they would indulge
with this assumption, but rather, any American --not to say they exhibit no
racism.

In China, yes, whites are used for company brochures and faces on web
presences --but that's token. White guys (and actually, more white girls) are
paid pretty low to have their images used for marketing reasons (to appear
more international). Conversely, female white-slaves (trafficked peoples from
E Europe) do get paid okay, I suppose, vis a vis locals. In most of E Asia,
it's Japan that's looked up to and emulated, not so much the US or Europe
--altho they are, just less so.

In Africa where China has a large presence and investments, likewise, China is
held up to be superior (this also has generated some backlash in those
places).

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baxrob
What is this, slashdot?

