Yes, you read correctly, I am a privileged white woman. It has come to my attention that a great deal of focus has been placed upon the word privilege. There's white privilege, gender privilege, class privilege, etc. Basically, the list is endless, and honestly I'm a bit confused - you might be too. Between trying to avoid offending everyone on your Facebook feed to being offended yourself, it's all a hodge-podge of what the heck is going on here. Let's take a minute to look at what privilege truly means.
If you do a simple Google search, you will find this definition, "a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people." I like to think of it like when my parents would ground me from using my cell phone because I had a poor attitude. "Having a cellphone isn't a right, it's a privilege we give you." they would say. A privilege that I am still blessed to be receiving because, honestly, they still pay for my cellphone bill.
Okay, now that we've established a basic definition, let's dive into what qualifies someone as being or having privilege. Media Smarts, a Canadian centre for digital and media literacy describes it as this, "Social justice activists and writers have built on Peggy McIntosh’s original essay on privilege in 1988, by adding to and modifying the original list to highlight how privilege is not merely about race or gender, but that it is a series of interrelated hierarchies and power dynamics that touch all facets of social life: race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, education, gender identity, age, physical ability, passing, etc."
To me, this means that no one is safe from having, or not having privilege. It's like when you say no one's problems are more or less important than another's - it's all subjective. I am a privileged white person in the fact that I haven't been denied any major opportunities based off of my race. However, because I'm female, it could be affecting my chances in the workforce, or in other areas. You see, there are a lot of grey areas to privilege, but I'm not justifying it by any means. There are serious social issues that need to be worked on. I believe the art to solving these problems stem from understanding the terms we throw around, and increasing our media and social literacy.
There are real barriers for people of all walks of life - particularly those of color. Historically, Caucasian culture has held majority of the money and status in the Western and European countries. I am Caucasian and I do hold these privileges, and that's not something I can help, Just like how someone on the other side can't change their status given based off their birth. However, I believe that I can use what I have in order to help those who have less. Being cognizant of my actions and words will help me to spread awareness to those around me.
The younger generations take a great deal of heat for being too sensitive and overly defensive. Think about it this way, you know what happens when you bottle up your emotions for too long, don't express your feelings properly, and don't address the issues that are bothering you? Mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety - which are very real and very dangerous. So, maybe what needs to be done is everyone spends a little more time educating themselves on both sides of social issues (the both is very important there) and a little less time being a jerk.
Privilege is real, social issues are real, and just because you on either end of the spectrum doesn't mean you can't help do your part to level the playing field.
