My privilege knapsack would include not worrying about anything really. The list that McIntosh gave most definitely applies to me, and now that I am receiving a college education, I'm pretty much set in the world. As for being a girl, this has been no problem for me, in fact my vagina and tendency to be girly is what got me a job at Hooters, where I happily gave into my sexuality and used it to my advantage to receive bigger and better tips on a smaller bill.
If I had to list some items in my privilege knapsack they would go like this...
1. I can legally marry the person I love
2. I can apply for a sales job in most places (rest. grocery, dept. stores, etc.) and not be worried about being turned down because of the way I look.
3. I can easily find flesh toned products that compare to my skin tone (i.e. tights, band-aids, etc.)
4. I can easily match my skin tone for make up and eye shadow
5. I can not be afraid of racial disricimination in the legal/justice system.
6. I can easily find a hair dresser who knows how to style/color/cut my hair type.
7. I can afford to go to college
8. Doors are opened for me and if someone is yelling at me in a threatening manner I can depend on a nearby stranger/man to speak up for me
9. I have the oppurtunity to go to an accredited university for a higher education and thus can broaden my horizons by exposure to new cultures.
10. I can count on my looks and physical attributes to receive a job/position
Of course there are many other things I have the ability to do simply because the way I look/act is the social norm. However I have to wonder what the social norm is anymore? A couple hundred years ago when slaves were in existance and aristocracy ruled the social elite, I was most definitely the social norm, but now? In todays world, not society, we are connected by an array of media and communication, so the 'social norm' really isn't the norm anymore. The world today is a diverse planet in every aspect of features and landscapes and cities and especially people.
The only logical start of a resolution to me for this problem would be for people who have all these born luxuries to go on strike, so to say, until everyone has the same luxuries, however in reality I don't see this solution ever coming to being. The problem with people is greed, and there will always be those few who refuse to change if that change means a distruction of their power. I'm not saying it will always be the heterosexual, white man who is the elite, but I am saying that there will always be 'the man' who stands on top.
1 comment:
Great post! You did an excellent job of identifying multiple types of privilege (heterosexual, white, female, etc) and discussing them. One thing that your discussion of Hooters did make me think of is the question of whether opportunities like this for women are empowering or oppressive? It can be framed either way, I think, and there's no simple or correct answer. It's empowering in that you have agency, you decide to do it, you make lots of money. And even empowering in a pro-sex sort of way. Oppressive in the sense that most of the routes to female power in our society depend on sexual objectification, e.g. buying into the male-dominated view of what women should be. Then again, you have to work within the system to gain power, and even to change it, right? It's an interesting thing to think about. But you're absolutely right that there are opportunities to use femininity to an (even economic!) advantage. :-)
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