A sense of entitlement refers to our belief that we should receive what is due us – this may include money, possessions or friendship.
People with a sense of entitlement often fail to express gratitude for what they possess and can even become greedy; furthermore, these individuals tend to demand constant praise and admiration from others.
What is Entitlement?
Entitlement refers to the feeling that something should be provided as part of one’s social status, whether that means money, social status or resources such as money or time.
A sense of entitlement can severely disrupt how you live your life and lead to decisions that are self-serving and eventually detrimental to yourself or others, including women relationships.
Understanding entitlement can be confusing for some people, but it is crucial that we all are aware of its impact and its risks. Gaining awareness can help prevent potential instances of entitlement from impacting our lives negatively and become aware of its possible effects.
Men’s attitudes about entitlement can be greatly influenced by their environment. If they come from low-income or economically unstable areas, their entitlement may be higher compared to someone from a more affluent family background.
As part of becoming aware of how entitlement affects you, observe your behaviors and interactions with others. For instance, if you find yourself leaving your partner at the door when leaving for an event or flirting excessively with strangers despite them not being your partner at that event – these could be signs that an entitlement mentality has an adverse impact on your relationship.
Studies on these behaviors demonstrate “subtle narcissistic abuse.” Not only are they narcissistic in nature, but they are also very insensitive towards others involved – which may be particularly painful for women who do not feel treated fairly.
To better understand how you can counter the symptoms of an entitlement mentality, read this article from Psychology Today by a licensed psychologist that offers tips for breaking free of this mindset.
Our results indicate that a man’s gender, and its perception in his culture, can have an effect on how they view sexual pleasure as part of their entitlement to sexual pleasure. This could influence both his attitudes toward sexual relations as well as how he views women overall.
How Has Entitlement Changed Over Time?
Under entitlement reform, an increasing proportion of Americans now rely on means-tested social welfare benefits as a key source of government revenue, with their numbers steadily growing over time.
Entitlement critics often suggest that entitlement programs promote laziness by creating an American class who would rather collect government benefits than work. According to these critics, these benefits divert resources away from lower-income workers and instead support an ever-increasing group of working-age Americans who no longer wish to work. Yet federal budget and Census data reveal that over 90 percent of benefit dollars used by entitlement and other mandatory programs go directly towards providing aid for elderly, disabled people or members of working households–not towards helping able-bodied working-age individuals who choose not to work.
These data disprove the belief that entitlement programs take heavily from middle class taxpayers in order to benefit those at the bottom, or give benefits primarily to wealthy individuals. Furthermore, changing definitions such as who constitutes a “working household” or “disabled person” makes no significant difference either way.
Benefits going to working households have steadily increased from 65 percent in 1983 to 82 percent by 2012 and have continued to do so due to more people working low wage jobs and rising retirement ages in the US.
These Americans include many men whose participation in the workforce has steadily declined over time, as well as single parents – an issue which has been compounded by Medicaid and Obamacare provisions.
As more Americans rely on means-tested social welfare benefits, taxpayer costs rise accordingly. Acting now to curb excessive entitlement spending could save households thousands each year and hundreds of thousands over their lifetimes; additionally, reforms would help decrease unfunded liability of federal health care and retirement programs, making debt reduction easier and easing taxpayer burden.
How Does Entitlement Affect Men?
Men are often accused of acting sexually entitled. They may think women owe them sexual favors, leer at them, make sexual advances to them in the workplace or even ejaculate on them while riding public transportation.
These types of behaviors have serious repercussions for women. They can damage their reputation, harm relationships and lead to criticism or avoidance from peers and society alike.
Women may experience feelings of rape as they fear rejection by their partners and become part of rape culture (an attitude whereby it is permissible to sexually exploit someone without consent).
Many men who appear sexually entitled are also highly sensitive to being rejected by their partners, leading them to feel angry and blamed. This may lead them down a path toward engaging in more illicit sexual behavior and turning toward misogyny.
Male sexual entitlement can have lasting repercussions for women and their bodies, including impacting self-esteem, physical and mental health, relationships and more. Furthermore, this entitlement often has detrimental ramifications on egos causing them to react in harmful ways when not receiving what they think they deserve or expect.
Men must recognize the consequences of their behaviors and be mindful of them; although this may not always be easy, it’s essential.
Men can find ways to overcome their negative mindset and behavior towards women by becoming aware of themselves and how they interact with women. A good place to start would be focusing on yourself when engaging with female partners or friends, checking yourself against how others treat you, being conscious about how your actions impact their interactions and being mindful about how your interactions with female friends or coworkers impact women as you interact with them.
There are various strategies they can employ to assist their partner with this issue, such as being supportive and nonjudgmental while creating a safe space in which their partners can openly discuss how they are feeling.
If a man feels that he or she is being mistreated by their partners, he or she should speak up and find ways to work through it together. While this may be challenging for them, talking it through can help their partner understand how they feel as well as free them from negative beliefs that cause unhealthy and detrimental actions to occur.
What Can We Do About Entitlement?
A man’s sense of entitlement refers to their belief that they deserve special consideration or rewards from society, regardless of their position in it. It is largely determined by social class.
Problematic entitlement enables men to maintain power over women across many areas of life and may lead to discrimination and violence against them.
Entitlement can be devastatingly destructive when it is founded in misogyny. Stanford associate professor of philosophy Sara Manne details these effects of entitlement when applied against women through misogyny in her new book entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women. Manne explores ways sex oppression erodes gender rights while misogyny often leads to male-dominated societies.
She notes how male entitlement can manifest itself in various spheres, from healthcare and intimate relationships to legislation regarding pregnant and transgender people’s bodily needs which cis-gendered men often create without consulting women, even though these basic needs should not be seen as privileges but essential needs for survival.
Men often believe they have the right to sexual pleasure, often experiencing more orgasms than women do – known as an orgasm gap.
Manne suggests in her book that we can work toward rectifying inequity by reimagining gender roles and treating women with respect and kindness. To do this effectively requires re-educating our culture on how women are supposed to act according to traditional gender roles; furthermore it will require altering how we view men.
If you or someone in your life feels entitled, now may be the time to discuss how these feelings could be hurting others and how you can address this situation. By understanding where and why your behavior harms others and developing plans to address the situation.
There are various strategies you can employ to overcome feelings of entitlement, and working with a professional will be invaluable in finding the most suitable one. Seeking counseling or reaching out for support from friends or family could also help as can searching online resources to assist in dealing with entitlement. Learning to accept differences will also be key.
One reason a man might develop an entitlement mentality is his upbringing in an environment which values giving and receiving. This might include being raised as a spoiled child or receiving gifts and praise from parents.
