I understand a lot of where you’re coming from but I don’t think “systemic male privilege” actually literally means “full and unconditional access to male privilege” even though some people are using it that way. for me, I pass as cis and I definitely feel the benefit of that in the workplace, where I’m stealth, and I have to go out of the way to ask my female coworkers who for example are the dudes who trade sexual favors for promotions are, because I wouldn’t know. I am frequently offered the work I want first, and regarded as harder working than female coworkers who I see as working just as hard as me, and people are *way* more sympathetic when I’m not in a good mood. These are just examples but I am treated this way because of systemic male supremacy and the fact that it is conditional based on me continuing to remain closeted does not change that it is the result of systemic misogyny, and I’m confused why “conditional privilege” is so often deployed as an antonym for “systemic privilege”. Obviously none of this exempts me from the misogyny and transphobia I experience in situations where I am outed, but I don’t think that bigotry makes the experience of passing as male insignificant either. (Ftr, I also think trans women who boymode have a similar experience, and I think we should all be more willing to admit it and talk about it instead of flinging shit at each other)
so systemic male privilege isnt being perceived as a cis man in public, its the way that the system our society is built on benefits cis men. like how systemic oppression is systemic institutions (government, healthcare, ect) oppressing a marginalized group. no trans man can have systemic male priviiege because we are systemically oppressed for being trans
social male privilege is different. social male privilege is literally just being read as a cis man and gaining benefits from that. trans men (and all trans people who are perceived as cis men socially) can benefit from social male privilege, which is what you're describing. people can benefit from social male privilege while not benefitting from systemic male privilege
however, trans men (and all trans people) who have access to social male privilege do not have unconditional access to male privilege in the way that cis men do. and the conditional aspect is important to a lot of us because being outed as trans, even if youre cis passing and stealth, is a lot easier than people think. ive effectively had to have been openly trans to at least every single one of my employers on account of having a legal name and gender different than the ones i have now, and when my name wasnt changed i would be outed when people would see my deadname, because it was very obviously feminine. im a healthcare worker and have to undergo background checks for work, and i intend to stay in the healthcare field indefinitely, so i will be continously outed at every job i have just to pass a background check. i think there is a discussion to be had about the fact that most trans people have to out themselves as trans to find work (namely with our "born sex" and deadnames/former legal names) unless we are self employed (mainly sex work, where trans people are also usually forced to market off the trans fetish), but thats another conversation. i also dont know how accurate that is to every field, my wife and i work in healthcare which is highly regulated, so it may be different in other fields
the condition of male privilege is important for all trans people. having to hide who we are for safety isnt a privilege. that's why being stealth isnt a privilege, it is usually done for safety or comfort reasons. passing as cis is a privilege imo as a passing trans person, and theres a certain amount of safety that i felt passing as a cis woman that i dont feel passing as a cis man (mainly when i am found to be "legally female" looking the way i do, i am immediately seen as trans as opposed to a gnc cis woman, which is less safe, not that being seen as a cis woman is safer than being seen as a cis man) but being stealth is mainly a result of oppression, not a privilege
another thing is that trans men have different relationships with their trans identity. some trans men want to live as cis men and their identity is affirmed by living as cis men, and some trans men (like myself) feel that their trans identity is an important part of who we are and dont want to live/be perceived as cis men. we are going to have different feelings surrounding conditional male privilege, because one side is having to hide who they are, and the other is affirming their gender. it is oppressive to have to hide who you are even if it comes with social benefits
regardless, if you are a trans man who is stealth and views himself to have social male privilege, youre probably right about that. but male privilege isnt just social, and the worst oppression I have faced at this point in my transition has been systemic when i am outed as trans. when people say that all trans men have male privilege, its disingenuous. some trans men might have social male privilege, but trans men cannot by definition benefit from systemic male privilege because the system in question literally knows that we are trans and can and will weaponize that against us. and beyond that, the conditional aspect is important, as well as if the trans man in question feels that hes being forced to hide that he is trans in order to gain access to social male privileged, or if the trans man in question wants to pass/live as a cis man and is just doing what is affirming to his gender, because that's also important. the reason we are talking about the fact that it is conditional male privilege is that the people saying that trans men (trans people in general as well) experience male privilege arent talking about social male privilege under the condition that you are seen as cis and never outed, theyre just talking about the same male privilege that cis men get, which unsurprisingly a lot of us have an issue with because a lot of us have been oppressed for being trans men even after we start passing
