owning my privilege

[sophiaserpentia]

On the way home, i started listing to myself the forms of privilege i enjoy, and was kinda shocked, when i put them all in one place, to realize how considerable they are.

I am white. This one is so big i'm not going to attempt to give a small summary of its impact. Every day is a new opportunity to unpack and examine the privilege i enjoy because of this, and i never cease to be amazed at the dimensions of it.

I am a citizen of the United States. As much animosity as there is in the world towards the US right now, i can't pretend that in most places abroad this would not grant me a huge amount of privilege. It does so even here in the US, where roughly 5-6% of the population are undocumented immigrants and/or incarcerated.

I am (by and large) neuro-typical. I say "by and large" because gender dysphoria is a psychiatric diagnosis i've been given, but in all other functional terms, and in the way i am treated by people in general, i am considered sane.

I am able-bodied. Not the picture of health exactly, but i am not disabled. This is a form of privilege invisible to most people.

I speak English.

I grew up in the middle class. We were never rich, but i ate well and had a secure home and a reasonably stable family.

I have a college degree. I earned this, and i'm the first person in my family to achieve it, but it counts for a privilege over people i'm competing with for jobs who are otherwise equal to me. It is also something to which i had more access because of my upbringing.

I am employed and have a stable home. Another thing i can say to one degree that i earned, and to another degree came to me because of other privilege.

I'm sure i could come up with more.

I know what it is like to be male and married. It's hard to put into words the difference between now and the way people treated me when i could hide under heterosexual male privilege. It's not that they were friendlier. To give an example, it's more like something that would get me an extra helping of consideration when dealing with businesspeople or bosses or employers. I'd walk in for an interview or for a meeting with my boss as a man with a wife and a college degree, and they saw me as therefore more serious and weighty.

Comments

[alobar.livejournal.com]

There is privilege in not having felonies on one's criminal record. Likewise never having been locked up on a Psych ward.

> I grew up in the middle class.

More than once, when I appeared before a judge, my ability to articulate, use complex sentences, and clearly delineate my memory of past events all gave me privilege, despite me having a Mohawk or purple hair.

[laeva.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing this. You've got the wheel in my head turning now.

[qilora.livejournal.com]

"I am able-bodied. Not the picture of health exactly, but i am not disabled. This is a form of privilege invisible to most people."

amen to that one, sister.

hugs
Jules & Co.

[igferatu.livejournal.com]

I think about this a lot too. It's hard to even begin to appreciate the implications of some of the things you mention, because it's not just 'being white' or 'having a degree', it's the countless connections and expectations, privileged awarenesses and attitudes that go along with it. Being a white American is more even than being given the benefit of the doubt as a citizen, or a better chance at a job; it is knowledge of access to power, personal social networks and safety nets...it is the experience of being a white American in a family which is similarly supported by continuously inherited privilege.

When I think of the impact of something like slavery, which not only has the stigma of hatred and tragedy even today, but probably even worse is the deprivation of that inheritance white America takes for granted. It's hard to start from zero as a white American, sure, but it's not the same zero as the great grandchildren of kidnapped sharecroppers and traumatized, penniless orphans. That kind of legacy doesn't just fade out over a half dozen generations, particularly when the privileges of imperialism continue to multiply at a faster and faster rate.

To me, the main advantage of the upper class over the middle comes with employment being optional versus mandatory. That alone provides a fundamental power to take one's time, to never have to be forced into an unpleasant situation indefinitely. The middle class advantage over the working poor is that there is an expectation of moderate prosperity - a social contract based on merit or at least endurance which is denied to the working poor. We may not have a guarantee, but we do know that there should be one. For most of the world, such an idea is a frivolous indulgence.

[zensandy.livejournal.com]

" I'd walk in for an interview or for a meeting with my boss as a man with a wife and a college degree, and they saw me as therefore more serious and weighty."

Speaking as someone who's been going through some serious penis envy lately (jealousy of the male privilege), I'm curious why you chose to change physical genders. Was it worth giving up the privilege? If this is too personal, just ignore it. I've often wished to be male in this life, and I can't wrap my head around the idea of giving that up...