Thursday Thoughts: What Has Entitlement Got To Do With Gender?

This morning, I came across a Tweet by a lady. She narrated an event that happened to her at the ATM. She was on a long queue and from her description, she was the only lady. The tweet described how the more-than-twenty men who were in line to use the ATM before her were not ‘gentlemanly’ enough to allow her to use the ATM. In essence, she believed she was entitled to use the ATM before the men who had been waiting for minutes just because she’s female.

And my question is: why? Why should she have been allowed to skip the queue just because she’s female?

We’ve seen this behaviour exhibited by men too. There are men who demand respect just because of their gender, ignoring the fact that respect is a phenomenon that can only be earned.

The idea that one’s gender should be enough to appropriate them certain reactions or put them in a place of entitlement is erroneous and misleading. It takes away the input of effort and responsibility.