Geek Feminism Wiki

Magical Man Sparkles is a term coined by Valerie Aurora for the tendency of men to possess a special property that makes people actually listen to them.

Examples:

  • "My colleague just re-proposed an idea I've brought up fifteen times, but he actually got listened to, due to his Magical Man Sparkles."
  • "He sprinkled Magical Man Sparkles all over his resume, and got promoted over me."

Note: using a term like this is a better description of male privilege than something like "magical penis", since not all men have penises, and not all women with penises partake of Man Sparkles. In addition, men who have conditional cis privilege can take advantage of Magical Man Sparkles without literally displaying their penises, suggesting that the presence or absence of a penis is irrelevant.

Magical Man Sparkles Used For Good[]

Men may be able to use their Sparkles for good when objecting to sexism.  This is especially useful when dealing with, for example, a harasser whose lack of respect for you makes educating them yourself nigh-impossible, a well meaning friend who just can't seem to really grasp the resources you send him due to his deep seated unconscious bias that he refuses to acknowledge, etc. Sometimes, sexist men will only listen to other men but this can be key in raising consciousness.

See also[]