Olivia G.

Long

Professor Scott

RC 1000-119

21 February 2023

How Trans Men Expose Female Privilege

Women have a certain level of privilege in regards to companionship. There is a certain

level of comradery amongst all women that is unbeknownst to men. These social differences lie

within the way we typically portray friendships between men and women. Friendships between

women tend to develop quicker largely due to having power in numbers. Men however have a

harder time developing and maintaining friendships because being vulnerable as a man is seen as

“soft” or “gay”. This narrative can also be seen in the media which usually only portrays

friendships blooming between men when there is a competition where they more or less have to

come together. There is of course the fact that women are wildly more victimized than men

because of men but this video is not highlighting or discrediting the fact of those statistics and

very real fears of women. In a broader sense this video is highlighting differences between

women and men socially.

This topic on “female privilege” is all explained in Anna Akana’s “How Trans Men

Expose Female Privilege” video, uploaded July 7th, 2022. In this video, Anna discusses a viral

tweet created by a trans-masc user, Zan. Zan, in this tweet describes how he was treated

differently socially when presenting as a woman versus as a man. Anna recreates portions of

Zan’s tweet with short funny sketches that include her and her friends dressing up as dudes with

fake mustaches performing what Zan ultimately narrates.

 From the start of Anna’s sketch we start to hear a quiet frantic violin playing in the

background when she is reading aloud Zan’s tweet. This creates the notion that something is

slightly unsettling as it is also fast paced. During the frantic violin, Anna begins the retelling of

the tweet. Zan goes on and writes about how there is almost always female companionship

amongst women which is easily attainable as a woman. As a man however, It’s harder to

experience friends and usually results in men feeling more lonely than women. Anna is then

cutting back and forth from funny sketches to just herself to talk to the camera in a serious

manner. Zan describes being a man as feeling “emotionally malnourished” with examples such

as women coming off as aloof due to not wanting to communicate with a man out of fear. With

men being platonically vulnerable with other men that tends to not fair too well. Zan brings up

the argument that men are brought up from a young age to repress signs of being “soft” as well

as the media only portrays male friendships when they are teamed up against something as a

competition.

Anna created this video to share the perspective from someone who has first hand

accounts of each social situation experienced by different genders. Anna brings up the important

topic of how our society neglects men emotionally. This video was widely aimed at everyone,

this one message isn’t just for women telling them to be friendly towards men (which is not the

point of this video) or for men to all the sudden start being extremely vulnerable. This video was

simply created to show to light that socialization of young boys and girls growing up are vastly

different that affect our relationships with people when we’re older.
 This video was created by a cisgendered bisexual woman during a time where mental

health is less taboo and we are finally recognizing men’s mental health. Having a woman speak

on this helps persuade the audience when she addresses her own shortcomings. There are little to

no jump-cuts when she is speaking directly to the camera, this feels sincere, honest, and

vulnerable. Having this topic be a video essay really helps the original post Zan posted persuade

the audience. Without the sketches from Anna the raw post can be definitely interpreted

differently especially with the usage of the words “female privilege”. Without visual context

(which a video essay provides) and a woman reading the post aloud the original post can come

off wrong since the person who wrote this is a man.

The video also has select coloring that may subconsciously persuade the emotions of the

audience when watching. For example, during the sketches the background is very blank and

white which leads off a very neutral tone. However, during the serious face to camera portion of

the video the background has one side pink and the other blue. In this pink could be used to show

femininity since, sadly, pink is associated with women and blue is associated with men. Pink also

subconsciously invokes feelings of love and kindness which might soften the general message.

Blue is associated with masculinity, calming authority, and safety. During these portions of the

video it’s interesting that Anna is wearing a yellow shirt, yellow generally associated with joy,

intelligence, and clarity. Whether or not these colors were picked out on purpose or not there is

on a subconscious level, an impact on the viewer.

Whether or not you agree with this video you will leave with a different perspective

tucked away in your back pocket. The visuals, the sketches, the length of this video (seven

minutes), and editing style will keep the viewer engaged even whilst in disagreement. Anna did a
very good job presenting the information in an easy to digest format and visually appealing

experience due to the coloring in the video and sketches.