From the Vault: The White Boy

On this International Women’s Day, I’m sharing a personal diary entry from 2018:

The white heterosexual boy is good, but not that good at things. You can easily outperform him in the job. The white boy talks a lot, because his entire life people have listened to him without interruption. You try your hardest to listen but he's just not saying anything useful. The white boy is favored in his looks, because he is the traditional "conventional" standard of male beauty. He is shown off to the public, because having a white male face of the company earns you credibility. The white boy is promoted, because he talks a lot, therefore it is assumed he can lead. But beneath the surface, you’re certain he has no actual leadership ability. You want to hurl at the fact that you have to now report to him. The white boy can get away with not doing work, because he can talk his way out of things. You know he has nothing to show for it.

But he is favored. He gets the promotion. He gets the leadership position. He gets the job.

You complain to your mom, and she tells you to work harder and learn different skills, because you can't beat the white boy at his own game. 

"That's just the way things are," she says.

Jan 30, 2018

Ladies, I know we’ve all met these White Boys in our lives. And we’ve had to work twice as hard to get half the opportunities they get. It’s the toll we pay for being women. But unlike the women in my mom’s generation, I refuse to accept that “that’s just the ways things are.” I don’t want to live in a world where I have to beat the white boy at his game.

I’m playing my own game.

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