Food, bloody food!
Unbelievably, in establishments such as cafes, restaurants and pubs where a man and woman might choose the same dish and therefore pay the same, there are still some places who think it somehow acceptable to give men a larger portion. Now, I accept that plating up isn't always 100% reliable and that items like steaks, chops etc can differ in size but I have actually sat there while the server giggles and states they've given my partner a 'few extra' chips/potatoes/whatever. I always call this out when it's blatant as I think it's outrageous that the purchasing power of my ££ is somehow less than his. It's nothing to do with greed but everything to do with respect and treating paying customers equally.
Along similar lines, and it pains me to say that it's often women who do this, how many of you have had meals at home with family or friends and see that men are automatically given larger portions. Okay, we could argue all we like about men's frames generally being larger and their calorie requirement therefore being greater too but it doesn't always follow they are feeling especially hungry on a given day, or conversely, that a woman isn't feeling ravenous. In other words, individuals aren't asked how much they'd like or not - and men's plates are simply piled high regardless of size or appetite. Similarly, the perceived 'best bits' of a meal are very often offered up to the men at the table first (the choicest slices of meat, the pork crackling, the skin off the rice pudding - doesn't matter what it is, you get the gist) …. thus reinforcing that they are somehow more deserving. I have had to point out to my MIL that although I might not want to eat a whole turkey drumstick at Xmas I would quite like some dark meat on my plate (didn't go down well) and no doubt others would too.
I'm kicking myself as I write this as in the overall scheme of things it might sound petty (particularly compared to some of the more serious examples of male privilege already described) - after all, I get fed, what's my problem? But while food is a necessity it also has significant social connotations attached to it. As a guest, you get a warm fuzzy glow when someone's gone to the trouble of cooking you a nice meal. But when other - male - guests seem to benefit more from the occasion it does make you feel somewhat 'less'. And that's it …. it's cumulative, all these small things - which in absolute isolation might just be an annoyance - add up to something far more significant and disturbing.