i’m going there.

i want to talk about privilege. not because it’s a bad thing or because i feel like i’m under or over privileged, but because i think it’s a really important, complicated topic. a lot of people deny it, or feel that the terms “white privilege” or “male privilege” or “hetro privilege” are forms of “reverse oppression”. i really ask people reading this who believe that to continue reading, and invite them to argue their point, more or less (if your arguement is really dumb or is racist,sexism,homophobic it’s going to be fucking deleted) it’s also really hard for me to talk about. i really don’t know where to begin, and certainly will leave things out and write about this more than once. i also really want other people to write about and talk about it. people really fucking deny it, which is fucked up because privilege most definately doesn’t deny you, and it can, actually be used for good.

privilege is most definately hard to define, but let’s get some sort of definition for this entry. i’m going to use a very basic definition from Merriam-Webster Online: a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor. there’s also a wikipedia entry about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privilege

with “privilege” more or less briefly defined, let’s go on.

i have always found privilege hard to talk about, especailly with other white people. i find that most white people have had more resources than me, but will deny that they are “privileged”. there are lots of reasons for this, that i will discuss later. but, in general, lots of things i consider “privilege”, others consider “rights”. simularly i’m sure many things i consider “rights” others think of as “privilege”. just depends on your resources ans background, ya know?

anyway, i feel like as a young, educated, able bodied white woman i have a lot of privilege. i truely believe that being white comes with a certain amount of privilege in America. White Privilege is most definately real to me. in “researching” this article i found this website whiteprivilege.com, which define white privilege here: http://whiteprivilege.com/definition/ even with a definition, it’s complicated to understand, and needs it’s own (furture) article. for now, let’s say i fucking believe i have been subject to white privilege in my lifetime.

other ways i am privileged: i can read (not everyone can or is taught to), and write (another thing not everyone is actually taught), i speak the language spoken in this country and was raised speaking it, i can see and hear well, i have no diagnoised mental ilnesses (again, this may seem trival, but imagine how having to take medication everyday, or a stay in the psych ward of a hospital may effect how others treat you), i could go on and on. in general, i feel i have been very lucky in my life. even though my parents had little to no money growing up, i always lived in a house and almost always had food.

now, there’s this privilege assasment that looks like it was for college students. the Racialicious blog is the first place i read about this, they have some mega interesting, worth reading analyzation of this in Has Class Trumped Race part 2?
it’s been going around the internet and people have been applying it to themselves (mostly, it seems, then denying it means they have privilege). I did a simular exercise at a white privilege workshop at CLIT Fest a few years ago. it was actually fairly mind blowing for me, we stepped forward or back based on statements and by the end of it some people were way ahead of me and some people were literally backed up against a wall. i did this exercise, but since it’s just me i bolded the things that were true for myself (in the same fashion as Racialicious Special Correspondent Latoya Peterson does for herself in the article).

If your father went to college, take a step forward.
If your father finished college
If your mother went to college
If your mother finished college
If you have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
If you were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
If you had a computer at home
If you had your own computer at home
If you had more than 50 books at home
If you had more than 500 books at home
If were read children’s books by a parent
If you ever had lessons of any kind
If you had more than two kinds of lessons
If the people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
If you had a credit card with your name on it
If you have less than $5000 in student loans
If you have no student loans (i’m not bolding this because the reason i don’t have student loans is because i never went to college)
If you went to a private high school
If you went to summer camp
If you had a private tutor
If you have been to Europe
If your family vacations involved staying at hotels
If all of your clothing has been new and bought at the mall
If your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
If there was original art in your house
If you had a phone in your room
If you lived in a single family house
If your parent own their own house or apartment
If you had your own room
If you participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
If you had your own cell phone in High School
If you had your own TV in your room in High School
If you opened a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
If you have ever flown anywhere on a commercial airline
If you ever went on a cruise with your family
If your parents took you to museums and art galleries
If you were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.

i would like to now add some things that i feel should be added, please add, too if you can

If you never had to contribute money to your household as a teenager or young adult
If your parents never argued about money in front of you
If your parents stayed together
If you can turn on the TV or open a newspaper/magazine and see politicians and law makers from the same background as you
If you can turn on the TV or open a newspaper or magazine and see actors with the same skin color as you
If can find a variety of clothes your size at clothing stores
If you can kiss your significant other in public without fear of harassment
If you can walk home at night without fear of harassment or violence
If your family bought a new car more than once

this is just scratching the surface of privilege. i think it’s one of the hardest issues to talk about… to deeply rooted within us. but the more we talk about it and define it, the more we can identify it, and use it for revolution instead of racism and sexism. please, please, please share your thoughts and add anything of importance.

also, start thinking about how we should start talking about white privilege and male privilege, as those are the next articles on privilege i’m thinking of writing.