Rosie Motene & Lebo Mashile tackle male privilege on the TL after #IWas

Activist and renowned poet Lebo Mashile and actress Rosie Motene have lifted the lid on male privilege in the entertainment industry and society at large. 

The rise of the #IWas campaign earlier this week, where women from all over Africa opened up about their experiences with some sort of sexual violation, ignited a heated conversation between Lebo and Rosie over disgusting examples of male privilege. 

“Male privilege is keeping silent while women post rape threads year after year. Male privilege is calling demands for accountability 'male bashing'. Male privilege is waiting for the conversation of Twitter to change from gender to something else before you participate,” Lebo tweeted.

Her tweet saw a lot of people comment with their real-life experiences of male privilege. One of the people who had a lot to say was Rosie, who gave a few chilling examples of how she's seen male privilege play out.

“Male privilege is being a known sex pest, rapist, and abuser and being repeatedly hired, empowered and enabled because you’re 'so talented'. Male privilege is blocking career opportunities for the women who tell the truth about what you’ve done to them.

“Male privilege is getting his patriarchal princesses to gaslight and intimidate survivors after they have spoken out. Male privilege is getting international grant money to develop work whilst his victims are fired as their trauma affects their work!” Rosie said.

Both women have previously spoken out about the treatment - either prejudiced or abusive - they have endured as female entertainers in the industry at the hands of men and patriarchal bias.

Read the rest of their thread below.