A Discussion of Privilege
Feb. 25th, 2014 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithHere's a terrific infographic about how privilege works and how to work around it. My thoughts ...
1) Almost everyone inhabits a mix of privileged and disadvantaged groups. By examining the areas in which you have or do not have privilege, you can extrapolate how to treat people gently.
2) The more privilege or other power you have, the greater your responsibility to use it kindly instead of cruelly. Just because you could hurt people and get away with it, does not make that okay.
3) Most of the good things in life are not particularly limited in supply, and many of them are more enjoyable when shared. So when you get some, turn around and hold the door for someone else.
For me, there's a lot of shear between how I appear and how I really am. Passing privilege has its perks, but can create great friction when I respond to things in ways that people do not expect or accept. Frex, I have mixed heritage, but it doesn't show unless you look very closely. This can shock people when I respond to certain types of attack in similar ways to folks who look very different from me. I have a lot of ancestors; I can choose to identify with the ones who are not bigoted assholes. For a lot of people, there is shear somewhere in their identity matrix, and it often takes decades to figure out how to handle that -- especially when society is screaming at you to do one thing and your conscience cricket is whispering something else.
Another factor that resonates for me is the matter of voice. As a wordsmith, I occupy many positions where what I say holds more influence than average. On a global scale, it's not so much; but within certain subcultures, it's a lot stronger, and it can have quite a potent effect on individuals. So I try to pay attention to what I say, that it may do the most good and the least harm. I look for ways to support other voices, especially in underrepresented areas. While I can't fix the whole world, I can work on making my little corner of it more representative.
1) Almost everyone inhabits a mix of privileged and disadvantaged groups. By examining the areas in which you have or do not have privilege, you can extrapolate how to treat people gently.
2) The more privilege or other power you have, the greater your responsibility to use it kindly instead of cruelly. Just because you could hurt people and get away with it, does not make that okay.
3) Most of the good things in life are not particularly limited in supply, and many of them are more enjoyable when shared. So when you get some, turn around and hold the door for someone else.
For me, there's a lot of shear between how I appear and how I really am. Passing privilege has its perks, but can create great friction when I respond to things in ways that people do not expect or accept. Frex, I have mixed heritage, but it doesn't show unless you look very closely. This can shock people when I respond to certain types of attack in similar ways to folks who look very different from me. I have a lot of ancestors; I can choose to identify with the ones who are not bigoted assholes. For a lot of people, there is shear somewhere in their identity matrix, and it often takes decades to figure out how to handle that -- especially when society is screaming at you to do one thing and your conscience cricket is whispering something else.
Another factor that resonates for me is the matter of voice. As a wordsmith, I occupy many positions where what I say holds more influence than average. On a global scale, it's not so much; but within certain subcultures, it's a lot stronger, and it can have quite a potent effect on individuals. So I try to pay attention to what I say, that it may do the most good and the least harm. I look for ways to support other voices, especially in underrepresented areas. While I can't fix the whole world, I can work on making my little corner of it more representative.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-02-26 06:50 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2014-02-26 06:52 am (UTC)I'm happy to hear that.
>> But, thus described, it says a great deal about menshlikhkayt. Κύδος. <<
Also, I love that you can code-switch across three different languages in one post, and trust that I'll parse what you said. The wordcandy, I must have it all.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2014-02-26 07:00 am (UTC)BTW, I just dl-ed that graphic to save, and am going to bookmark the site and maybe do stuff with more of his. Like Sleep Catnea and Cativan. Maybe even order some prints as gifts.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2014-02-26 07:16 pm (UTC)I'm glad I could turn you on to a new artist!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-02-26 08:07 am (UTC)And we are all inclined to forget it at times.
I have 'passing privilege' in the obvious minority to which I belong but I also get really upset when I hear Jewish, Baltic and Romani people being disrespected as I also belong to those groups and background and ethnicity, as you rightly state, are not always immediately obvious.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-02-27 06:49 am (UTC)You're welcome!
Date: 2014-02-27 06:52 am (UTC)