Throughout times of political and social discourse, it's common to see the word "privilege" thrown around. Depending on the context of this word, it can be an insult to many. A misunderstanding of privilege and our nature to jump to anger has created a negative context to a trait that isn't necessarily bad. It may lead you to ask yourself, "Am I privileged?" The short answer: probably!
But this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
To start, there are two kinds of privilege: born privilege and earned privilege. Born privilege is predetermined and often based on factors such as race, gender and sexual orientation. This means that if you are born outside of a marginalized group, you have certain societal privileges over those marginalized. For instance, if you're a heterosexual, cisgendered Caucasian man, you will have a born advantage over a bisexual, genderfluid African-American woman.
Earned privileges are advantages we work for, like a pay raise based on experience and hard work.
So why do people use privilege as an insult?
It is extremely common that people allow their privilege to blind them from the real struggles of those not as lucky. This idea prevailed after the women's marches on inauguration day. One of the biggest criticisms of the marches from men (and women, yikes) was that women in America are equal to men. Male privilege allows people to put their blinders on solely because they have not experienced persecution over their gender.
In Vedantam's novel "The Hidden Brain," the author states that:
“Those who travel with the current will always feel they are good swimmers; those who swim against the current may never realize they are better swimmers than they imagine.”
This metaphor for privilege shows us just how blind we can be to socioeconomic advantages we did nothing to earn. You can be privileged and know nothing about it.
You cannot avoid born privilege — you're born into it, and you die with it. There are, however, ways to use your privilege for good. Start by accepting it. If you recognize your privilege, you cannot allow it to blind you. Speak up against the marginalization of minorities. Your privilege gives you a voice, use it well. Understand that when those who are not as privileged as you are taking stance, if you do not side with them, you are against them.
