Privilege
I just need to say something. Just to vent.
Privilege (white privilege, class privelige, male privilage, what have you) is not necessarily a bad thing. You don’t choose how or where or in what situatuon you’re born. I have privilege by accident of birth, and I do try to explore that privilege and what it means within the greater picture of society.
So, I don’t see being privileged as being a bad thing. What IS a bad thing, though, is entitlement. To expect certain things to be handed to you because of your privilege is wrong. To deny someone something that you expect to be handed to you just because they are less privileged than you is wrong. To pretend that privilege doesn’t exist is wrong.
I just read an article – of course, I can’t find it now, but will post it if I do – that said that the pay gap between women and men is a myth. And that is just one example, but I’m sure you can think of others. I’ll spare you from a list of them all here. And it just struck me then that we have such a long way to go. If people can’t even admit their privilege and admit that discrepancies exist, we have farther to go than I thought.
That is all. Thanks for letting me vent.
the pay gap between men and women is not a myth…men still make an average of $30 thousand(i think) more a year than women..keep in mind that most of that is due to women taking time off to build a family thus thier career is behind…and there are other things…like sexism..haha but mostly it has to do with babies
Maybe I just misunderstood what you said but I feel I should still point this out, just in case.
Privilege is bad. Not /having/ privilege (as it isn’t something you can control) but privilege as a thing overall is very bad. It’s a symptom of hegemonic systems of control and dominance, and a symptom that can make it really hard to spot those systems and dismantle them. And that’s all very negative.
So you aren’t bad because you’re privileged, nor am I. But that privilege is certainly a bad thing, because it seriously affects our ability to fix this society and is certainly a bad thing because it’s built off the backs of others.
You just said exactly what I meant! Thank you!
🙂
I have always believed in “To whom much is given, much is expected.” I agree with what genderbitch said but I simply can’t help that I was born a white, cis, middle class female. What I can do is acknowledge it, not take it for granted and continually work to expand rights for everyone. That attitude may be condescending but it’s the best I an do. I can do my best to be an ally.