Privilege: We All Have It

"Becoming aware of privilege should not be viewed as a burden or source of guilt, but rather valuable opportunity to learn and work toward a more inclusive world," ~Anon

When I think of privilege I think of a white, heterosexual, cis-male who is economically stable and physically and mentally capable of doing everything he needs to do. Though the person who fits this image would be considered privileged, privilege is not binary.

A challenge that I face is being able to see past my oppression and analyze my privilege. There are different aspects of my life that affect my privilege, so it's not simple to just say "I am a privileged person" or "I am an oppressed person." The reality is that we are all both privileged and oppressed.

I am going to demonstrate an exercise in which I assess the different aspects of who I am. These are not personality traits, but rather aspects that I was born with. I am black, female, Christian-raised, bisexual, able-bodied and physically able, economically stable and have the ability to get any tutoring or assistance that I would need, and I was born female and identify as a girl.

Now I am going to compartmentalize my privilege an oppression, and I invite you to do the same.

Oppression: Black, female, bisexual

Privilege: Christian-raised, able-bodied and physically able, economically stable, cis-gender

Let's say, for instance, I am a white, cis-gender male, Christian-raised, gay, a mental illness but am physically able, come from a low income family and am a first generation college student.

Oppression: Gay, mentally ill, low income, first generation college student

Privilege: White, cis-gender, male, Christian-raised, physically able

These are only a few examples and do not cover all of the ways someone could be privileged or oppressed. They also do not discuss aspects that do not affect privilege or oppression.

But, why is recognizing privilege so important? (Here's a great time to revisit the opening quote) When we recognize our privilege we can use the resources that we have available to us to help others who don't have access to these resources.

Because of my privilege I can help people who don't have access to tutoring by tutoring them myself. I can assist those who may suffer from a physical disability (by helping them travel from place to place if their disability affects their ability to walk for example). I can also use my privilege of not having a mental illness by acting as an ally to their cause.

By acknowledging my privilege, I have come up with ways to use my privilege to help others. Being privileged has developed a very negative connotation, but in reality it represents the resources that a person can more easily access because of some aspect of their life they had no control over.

How are you going to use your privilege?

#privilege #feminism #checkyourprivilege #oppression