“Aggrieved entitlement” does not have a formal definition. At least not one that I can find. In fact, I first learned of the term while reading the book Angry White Men by Michael Kimmel.
Kimmel never really formally defines the term either except to describe the white men he interviewed for his book, which he describes as “stuck in a permanent dysfunction in which they refuse to even be dragged kicking and screaming into that inevitable future of greater gender and racial equality”(Kimmel, 2013)
Of course, it is easy enough to define the words “aggrieved” and “entitlement” separately (per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary):
Aggrieved: 1. troubled or distressed in spirit; 2. suffering from an infringement or denial of legal rights; 3. showing or expressing grief, injury, or offense.
Entitlement: 1. the state or condition of being entitled; 2. a right to benefits specified especially by law or contract; 3. belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges; 4. a government program providing benefits to members of a specified group;also : funds supporting or distributed by such a program.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aggrieved
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entitlement
For the purposes of this writing, I will define aggrieved entitlement using the above tertiary definitions in bold for both “aggrieved” and “entitlement”.
Ergo, aggrieved entitlement is defined as “showing or expressing grief, injury, or offense over the perceived loss of a privilege or set of privileges that one falsely believes that they are deserving of and, therefore, are entitled to”.
Given my semi-formal definition of aggrieved entitlement, to think that only deluded white men are capable of subscribing to this type of flawed thinking, as our more politically and socially liberal brethren are want to do, is equally delusional.
The Men Going Their Own Way movement, or MGTOW, are full of men of all colors and ethnicities who suffer from aggrieved entitlement. This is a point I wrote about at length in my series of posts on the so-called Manosphere.
In my estimation, MGTOW is the male equivalent of modern feminism. I posit that like MGTOW, modern feminism is also full of bitter, jaded people suffering from aggrieved entitlement. In this case, the aggrieved just happen to be women instead of men.
People suffering from aggrieved entitlement often claim that they seek equality. I posit that this is decidedly not the case…
MGTOW (full of men’s rights activists) are aggrieved because they think women have more rights and benefits in society than men.
Modern feminists are aggrieved because they think men have too much power and hegemony in society and seek a level playing field (aka: equality).
Both of these movements have two things in common:
1. They see themselves as victims (rightly or wrongly).
2. It usually is not equality that they seek, but rather preferential treatment.
MGTOW feel entitled to the adoration and sexual attention of women regardless of their own ability, or lack thereof, to generate wealth and resources and without regard to their own obligation to make themselves appealing to women. They wish to be insulated from their own poor choices in women that led to their financial loss in a divorce or being stuck with child support or loss of the custody of their children.
Modern feminists feel entitled to the protective overreach of a legal system that tends to give women the advantage in divorce and child custody disputes, but then cry foul when that same system has them paying a man alimony or child support because they focused on a career instead of their children. Modern feminists also lament when they become the family breadwinner after they settled for and married a feckless male simp. Like MGTOW, the modern feminist wants to be insulated from her poor choices in men.
Whether we are talking about MGTOW or modern feminism, the same objective is central to both…
They want equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity.
When I served as a recruiter for the United States Army, my recruiting station commander had a plaque above his door that read “if you ain’t the lead dog, the view never changes”.
I stipulate that not everyone can be the lead dog. The proverb in my old recruiting station is really just a humorous metaphor meant to provide motivation to go out and work hard to meet quota in the competitive environment of recruiting. However, it does tie in nicely with the quote that opens this post.
You can dream about success or lament over whatever you think you are being denied through aggrieved entitlement, but unless and until you do something about it, all you will ever have is hatred and your view will never change. You’ll never have the opportunity to be the lead dog pulling the sled that is the metaphor for your life.
A very unhealthy way to live life, if you ask me.
-The Rational Ram
The Rational Ram 