New Privilege Topic

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

We've done this before, but I am interested in a slightly different take on it, especially in light of how it went before. I'm curious about not only what people recognize about their own privileges, but also what they see as their privilege detractions, and what others see as their potentially missed privileges. I would encourage everyone to recognize that privileges are not brags, but elements of each person's makeup which are unearned benefits. In that light, we are all making ourselves vulnerable by stating aspects of our being that we have been granted by no merit of our own.

I will start with my own privileges:

I am light-skinned, in a society which values light-skinned nonwhite people above dark-skinned nonwhite people.
I have good hair, by the above metric
I have fairly symmetrical and pleasing features
I have clear unblemished skin
Both of my parents are highly educated
I am above average intelligence


These are my privileges. I will talk later about my detractions. For now, I would like to hear about your privileges.

[P3nT4gR4m]

In (I think) order of importance

Male
White
Born lower middle class
Intelligent
No congenital defects
Parents divorced

[Pæs]

I'm a straight, white, able-bodied and fairly fit cisgendered adult male between average height and tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. My metabolism thus far has allowed me to pay no attention to the relationship between my weight/health and my diet. I have a youthful appearance and seem to possess features which encourage others to trust me.

I am neurotypical with above average intelligence and have not encountered any barrier to getting an education. I speak English and it is an official language where I live. I am not poor and further have an income which gives me a fair degree of freedom. If I lost my income, I have a network of family and friends who could support me until I regained my income and likely indefinitely.

I am monogamous and any kinks I have are within the realm of social acceptability; vanilla enough that their discovery wouldn't threaten my job or reputation. I'm married, so don't have to worry about people speculating on my singledom or the length of time I've been in a defacto relationship.

[Signora Pæsior]

Hmmm, this is interesting!

Privileges: Well, I'm a white, cisgender adult with a well-established career and a comfortable salary, especially considering my age. I'm in an opposite-gender, monogamous marriage. I'm neurotypical and have above-average intelligence.

"Passing" privileges: the aforementioned opposite-gender marriage means I no longer have to out myself as queer unless I am comfortable doing so. I also have severe issues with my knees which are invisible to most people.

Detractions: I'm a short, overweight, tattooed woman who grew up below the poverty line. I am infertile and suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

[Faust]

For the most part I have had the privilege to grow up in a country that had good education, free health care, with kind people to look after me.
I'm tall, male, moderately attractive and have a modest natural intelligence for mathematics and science. I don't know where interest in this stems from be it genes, family influence or the cartoons I watched as a kid.

As a male I automatically had an easier time with less social stigma in school college and the workplace although I was subject to racism in secondary school it was never excessive.

I was privileged with a grant that allowed me to go through college when otherwise I would never have afforded it. This is not a privilege that is readily available for anyone here any more, and those who have it have less then half of what I had.

Using this grant I was able to get a degree in Physics and Instrumentation, which in turn allowed me to get my first Job in Academia through contacts made while on the course.
Since then my standard of living has increased to about three times what it was when I was doing horrible work in security work and when I was working in a shop.

I am now employed in an engineering position when most of those my age have emigrated, and those who haven't 1 in 4 of them is unemployed. Those that are employed find it hard to get work meaningful to their degree if they can manage to go to college. The conditions of my job are relaxed, the work is rewarding, and though I work long hours I don't have to. From our building I can see across the road from me the junior doctors are striking because of the horrific conditions they face and the 100 hour work weeks they routinely do and it reminds me of how easy I have it.

Pretty much the direction of my life all stems back to that grant, it has brought me from the poverty line to living debt free and comfortably, it doesn't feel like something I had to work for despite having to go through college and pass the classes to get the job. And though I have paid the grant back in taxes over the last three years I don't feel that other 18 year olds coming out of school have half the chances I had. I think I would like to sponsor a student some time.

What I have seen is that so few women go for physics or electronics, I would very much like to be able to support that in some way.

[Lord Cataplanga]

From birth, I have the following privileges (these don't change over time):

• I am male.
• I have above average intelligence.
• I had a minor birth defect (bad eyesight) but because I was born to a middle class family, it has since been treated.

From circunstances, I have the following privileges (these may change over time):

• I am healthy and young, but not underage, so I have all the rights and privileges adults have.
• I have a very supporting family, so I have the privilege of going to college, and being able to work in a job I find interesting and enjoyable, instead of having to take a better paying but much less pleasant job.
• I have a very supporting family. Listing these twice because they paid for my Mystic Eyes of Depth Perception.
• I have a very supporting family. Listing these thrice because even though I didn't go to expensive schools, they made sure I had a good education. They paid for English classes and Internet access, and many books.
• I am light skinned and never experienced racism.

[AFK]

Tall, dark, and handsome white guy with great hair.
Extremely intelligent
Good salary, health care and benefits
In a position of leadership and influence
Connections to powerful white (and also some black) guys
French in a largely French community.


I have to admit, I've got quite a bit going for me. 

[Lenin McCarthy]

I live in a country where education and health care is freely available and of high quality, and unemployment is very low.
I was born into a well-educated upper middle class family. I've been formally employed for a total of two days in my entire life, but I still live quite comfortably, supported by my parents and my goverment issued student loan.
I am a largely straight, cisgender, neurotypical white dude.
I am fairly attractive and fairly fit, and seem to possess features that encourage others to trust me.
I am above-average intelligence.
I speak a dialect of Norwegian that has somewhat rural, working-class connotations, but I can easily code switch to a more standard Oslo dialect.

Detractions:
My parents divorced when I was 10.
I have a propensity for anxiety and depression.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

White, cis-gendered, conventionally attractive (highly symmetrical features, appropriate proportions, body gravitates towards a healthy weight, average height), intelligent, able-bodied, English-speaking, American.

Can pass as neurotypical, monogamous, and heterosexual.

Assorted other shit:
     ~ had access to excellent public school system as a child
     ~ test well
     ~ earned scholarship solely due to inherent ability to test well
     ~ first and second husband are the same race (white), so the kids can pass as children of their step-father if no one asks
     ~ all-white family
     ~ prefer a look that is generally considered "feminine" and "conservative" (no tattoos, no piercings, long hair, occasionally wear skirts and dresses, some jewelry)
     ~ parents stayed married and had a healthy relationship with one another
     ~ never experienced abuse or neglect as a child
     ~ never experienced significant trauma of any kind
     ~ of Irish descent in the Boston area

[Suu]

White, cisgendered, blue-eyed American female representing 2 of the largest former immigrant cultures in the country (Italian and Irish) and have roots back to the colonial period in which the family was Loyalist to the Crown of England during the Revolution. Raised in a lower-middle class household with a younger brother and a younger sister and both parents. I am college educated and have lived in 3 states in my lifetime, where I attended both public and private schools.

[hooplala]

I am a white male.
I live very comfortably.
I have an easy, cushy job a lot of guys would like to have.
I have access to healthcare.
I was born into a family of people interested in culture and art.
I live in a place where people are rarely killed, and little violence takes place.
I have a good sense of humor.

[EK WAFFLR]

Cisgendered white Norwegian male. News media knows about my kinks, but I pass as vanilla heterosexual most of the time.
I love comfortably even without a job.
Family worked their way from working class to upper middle class.
Educated in the field of arts.
Reasonably attractive.
Above average intelligence.

[Cainad (dec.)]

• White
• Male (cisgendered)
• Heterosexual
• Born middle to upper-middle class, depending how you look at it.
• Born to parents with higher education, who were themselves the children of at least one parent with higher education
• Born to extremely dedicated and supportive parents who successfully concealed any marital strife they had in order to provide a stable, safe home environment
• Learned to read at a young age (thanks to aforementioned dedicated parents), read extensively as a child. Developed a rich knowledge base upon which I learned new things more quickly than most of my peers as a result, especially in the sciences.
• Reasonably good health, and a high metabolism/low appetite that has made it relatively easy to stay thin in a severely fattening food culture.
• Average to slightly above-average height relative to the society I live in, which favors tall people.

[hooplala]

I thought cisgendered and heterosexual were the same thing??

[Cainad (dec.)]

I thought cisgendered and heterosexual were the same thing??

So did I, but that's because a large segment of the crowd that invented the term have the communication skills of a gnat and completely fucking failed to popularize the actual (useful) meaning of the term in the common dialogue.

Cis means you have the same gender identity as your biological gender. That's it.