Comments on: Thinking About Privilege

By: Danine

Danine — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:39:08 +0000

This is a great post and something I’ve been thinking a lot about. I’ve been meaning to write a post about how I am privileged as a white, middle class cis-woman growing up in a predominantly white, middle-class community in the Midwest but haven’t gotten around to it. Hopefully, I’ll get my butt in gear and do it soon. Thanks for the food for thought!

By: Steph

Steph — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:35:28 +0000

@Austin: Shit, I didn’t even think about that, and you’re right. I`ll definitely keep that in mind, and thank you SO MUCH for politely checking me on it. Totally 100% my fault there, and again, I`m really thankful that you told me about it so I can try to change the terms I use. Would ‘unaware’ be a better choice?

@Dave: I agree with your definition of privilege, but I disagree that being aware of your own privileges and seeking to change that – not to bring everyone down to the lowest level, but instead to bring everyone up. Sorry if I was unclear about that.

By: Dave Rickey

Dave Rickey — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:34:44 +0000

You know why arguments over privilege go nowhere? Why “fighting against privilege” or “denying your privilege” is useless as a way of advancing equality?

Because definitions of what “privilege” *is* are sloppy, vague, and mostly wrong.

As some who has been on both sides of the “Privilege” fence, inarguably having and not having it under similar but critically different circumstances, I can define it for you, and explain why the typical “privilege” oriented strategies go nowhere:

Privilege is being treated the way everyone instinctively understands they *should* be.

–Dave

By: Austin

Austin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:08:24 +0000

Heya, just a pointer but talking about being “blind to privilege”, i.e. using blind in the perjorative, is ableist terminology and an exertion of ability normative privilege. I’m sure it’s just something you hadn’t thought of – another example of how pervasive privilege can be and how part of the privilege is not knowing about it.

By: Steph

Steph — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:26:10 +0000

For sure! I live in an area with lots of Chinese and Chinese-Canadian people, and I`ve heard (generally older) folk complaining about it – it`s ridiculous and offensive.

By: Kath

Kath — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:53:44 +0000

I’ve become aware of my privilege of living in the country I was born in, as in, I’m not an immigrant. I never thought about it until I became good friends with someone who immigrated to my country (Canada), and he expressed frustration that every time he told someone he was Filipino, people would ask questions about the Philippines, ask him about his first language and act like he didn’t know anything about Canada. They also assumed he was poor and couldn’t speak English as well as he could. I never asked him, but I imagine it would feel unwelcoming. Canada is his country as well, but it’s as if born citizens work to remind immigrants that they aren’t REAL Canadians. For example, I commonly hear “There are a lot of Filipino people, they are outnumbering white people”, which reinforces an “us” and the “others” idea.

By: Steph

Steph — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:15:39 +0000

Emily, I totally agree that men are under pressure as well – my issue is the pervasiveness of the ‘women must be thin and sexy (and the second requires the first)’ concept in our culture, and how it’s considered not just *normal*, but *good* to aspire to unrealistic portrayals of the human body.

And yeah, there’s privilege for everything under the sun. A pretty fascinating thing to do is to sit down and try and list all the privileges you’re aware you have – by writing them down and being aware of them, you can help to unpack those privileges in yourself.

By: Zoe

Zoe — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:46:39 +0000

Good point, Emily, in the religion aspect. People will naturally assumed that a person is a Christian in my hometown. That, or an atheist.

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:30:41 +0000

Another one that people rarely think about is the privilege that comes with believing in a god(s). Case in point: the atheist billboard that read, “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.” had to be removed due to death threats against the person who owned the land.

The only line that I couldn’t completely agree with was “Men are under less pressure than women are to be thin and sexy.” I’m not denying that, but anorexia and bulimia amongst men is a problem as well; the desire to have the chiseled abs and beefy arms that the male models and actors have today can be just as damaging.

Very good article though, this is certainly something that needs to be addressed.

By: dare2believe

dare2believe — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:33:07 +0000

YES! Yes, that’s so true! Also, there is social class privilege, which is not to be forgotten.