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The Insidious Nature of Privilege
Jan. 4th, 2012 08:11 pmNow that I have come up with such a awe inspiring name for this entry I feel under pressure to follow through.
I have been rather irritated and angry on many occasion for some time now about the way people deal or rather don't deal, with their privilege.
Now that I've said this, I need to explain privilege and what it is in this context.
Everyone carries a back pack of privilege and it depends on who the person is, and their upbringing as to how or what they do with that back pack. Of 'stuff'. Privilege has various more overt cousins who tend to stand out more. We all know that yelling out to someone, that they are a bloody fag and it's unnatural, is homophobic. We know this is wrong and the broader population knows it's wrong, generally speaking most sane people don't do this. But if you carry heterosexual privilege in your backpack, you may be unaware of it and how it effects your behaviour. It is the assumption that everyone is 'straight', because you are straight and that is the world you operate in. You ask the new (let's assume she is) woman work in your office if she has a boyfriend or if she is married. You don't do this because you have a big bundle of heterosexual privilege sitting in your backpack that you haven't looked at.
A woman I worked with was (Australian) Aboriginal. She was worried about her son. He had told her that he was going to the movies in his holiday time. Mum sensed it was a bit different and on pressing her 14year old found out that it was a date with a girl. Mum had to then ask the son if the girlfriend was white, which she was. Mum was stressing about this situation because she feared discrimination by the girl's parents in the form of White Privilege. She was worried because her son didn't understand the wider implications of the situation and that she would have to go down the track of explaining this to him. She told me that on many occasion in her community and with her family one of them would become 'involved' with a white person. The white person would say they didn't discriminate, but it would 'somehow' come out in their behaviour. Unnecessary worrying or more worrying about what their son/daughter might be getting up to on a date with a black person. Many white people carry shitloads of white privilege in their backpacks.
Another type of privilege is male privilege. Although women have come a long way thanks to feminism in it's various forms, women across the world are still discriminated against and men have privilege over them. A woman executive may be passed over for promotion for man. Because she would be seen to be more 'unreliable' than him, for various reasons. She worries about this beforehand, and sees it for what it is, male privilege. He on the other hand does not even think about it, because he has male privilege which helps him move around in the world.
So people carry privilege in their backpacks. People who want to understand themselves better will attempt to unpack their privilege. They will get their hetersexual privilege out and have a look at it and attempt to be aware. They won't ask the new office 'woman' if she has a boyfriend or husband. They will not assume her sexuality, they will ask her if she has a partner, or if she has a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Some people carry more privilege than others. These people move around in their worlds more freely, than others. Privilege is the ability to not have to worry about something personal about you, because it is 'the norm'. It is what the majority of the population have as an advantage.
What is annoying to me is when someone suffers from lack of privilege, for want of a better way of putting it. A black, transgendered, gay man, who has mental health problems is someone with serious lack of privilege. He may have a steady job, be totally functional in regards to his health and live a life that is quite good. But the way the rest of the world makes assumptions around him would greatly affect his resilence levels, making it very difficult for him.
Anyway, that is the end of this rant, I just get upset and irritated when people cannot see their own privilege, or don't even know they have a fucking great back on their backs. I know I have one and I do try, and try to work on being a better person for knowing of it's existence.
I have been rather irritated and angry on many occasion for some time now about the way people deal or rather don't deal, with their privilege.
Now that I've said this, I need to explain privilege and what it is in this context.
Everyone carries a back pack of privilege and it depends on who the person is, and their upbringing as to how or what they do with that back pack. Of 'stuff'. Privilege has various more overt cousins who tend to stand out more. We all know that yelling out to someone, that they are a bloody fag and it's unnatural, is homophobic. We know this is wrong and the broader population knows it's wrong, generally speaking most sane people don't do this. But if you carry heterosexual privilege in your backpack, you may be unaware of it and how it effects your behaviour. It is the assumption that everyone is 'straight', because you are straight and that is the world you operate in. You ask the new (let's assume she is) woman work in your office if she has a boyfriend or if she is married. You don't do this because you have a big bundle of heterosexual privilege sitting in your backpack that you haven't looked at.
A woman I worked with was (Australian) Aboriginal. She was worried about her son. He had told her that he was going to the movies in his holiday time. Mum sensed it was a bit different and on pressing her 14year old found out that it was a date with a girl. Mum had to then ask the son if the girlfriend was white, which she was. Mum was stressing about this situation because she feared discrimination by the girl's parents in the form of White Privilege. She was worried because her son didn't understand the wider implications of the situation and that she would have to go down the track of explaining this to him. She told me that on many occasion in her community and with her family one of them would become 'involved' with a white person. The white person would say they didn't discriminate, but it would 'somehow' come out in their behaviour. Unnecessary worrying or more worrying about what their son/daughter might be getting up to on a date with a black person. Many white people carry shitloads of white privilege in their backpacks.
Another type of privilege is male privilege. Although women have come a long way thanks to feminism in it's various forms, women across the world are still discriminated against and men have privilege over them. A woman executive may be passed over for promotion for man. Because she would be seen to be more 'unreliable' than him, for various reasons. She worries about this beforehand, and sees it for what it is, male privilege. He on the other hand does not even think about it, because he has male privilege which helps him move around in the world.
So people carry privilege in their backpacks. People who want to understand themselves better will attempt to unpack their privilege. They will get their hetersexual privilege out and have a look at it and attempt to be aware. They won't ask the new office 'woman' if she has a boyfriend or husband. They will not assume her sexuality, they will ask her if she has a partner, or if she has a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Some people carry more privilege than others. These people move around in their worlds more freely, than others. Privilege is the ability to not have to worry about something personal about you, because it is 'the norm'. It is what the majority of the population have as an advantage.
What is annoying to me is when someone suffers from lack of privilege, for want of a better way of putting it. A black, transgendered, gay man, who has mental health problems is someone with serious lack of privilege. He may have a steady job, be totally functional in regards to his health and live a life that is quite good. But the way the rest of the world makes assumptions around him would greatly affect his resilence levels, making it very difficult for him.
Anyway, that is the end of this rant, I just get upset and irritated when people cannot see their own privilege, or don't even know they have a fucking great back on their backs. I know I have one and I do try, and try to work on being a better person for knowing of it's existence.
