Check your male privilege: TikTok challenge goes viral

A TikTok challenge, asking men to acknowledge their privileges amid gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide in SA, has gone viral.

The challenge, which follows the format of the “put a finger down” game popular on the video-sharing app, highlights the realities faced by women daily.

It comes after the recent increase in GBV and femicide cases which have caused public outrage.

In his last address to the nation, President Cyril Ramaphosa said more than 21 women and children were murdered over the past few weeks.

In the viral TikTok video, with the caption “We are the problem and we need to stop”, comedian Mpho Popps Modikane and his girlfriend, Roseann Hall, both hold up 10 fingers, putting a finger down for each gender-motivated experience they have encountered.

The narratives include “drop a finger down if you’ve ever been offered a job in exchange for sexual favours” and “drop a finger if you’ve ever thought about or feared being raped”.

By the end of the game, which has been viewed more than 388,300 times, Hall can be seen with all her fingers down.

Modikane can be seen putting only one finger down for the narrative “drop a finger down if you’ve ever been mugged by a man”.

The video ends by saying, “if you any fingers left, that’s male privilege”.

Watch the full video below.