New Privilege Topic

[hooplala]

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.

Ooooooooooh.  Schooled.


Sorry for the threadjack.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Others have brought up a number of good ones that apply to me, which I completely forgot (because that's the nature of privilege) such as:

American-born
Cisgendered
English as a first language
Physically able
Functionally heterosexual
Functionally neurotypical enough to get by

Pretty sure there are more I'm forgetting or have never seen.

[Suu]

Others have brought up a number of good ones that apply to me, which I completely forgot (because that's the nature of privilege) such as:

American-born
Cisgendered
English as a first language
Physically able
Functionally heterosexual
Functionally neurotypical enough to get by

Pretty sure there are more I'm forgetting or have never seen.

I am also all of these things.

Suddenly, every little fucking first world problem is a joke.

[Junkenstein]

I think my main ones (White/Male/UK/CISHET,) have already been covered, not too dissimilar to P3nt really. One that seems worth stating is "Literate". I'm considering this separate to any intelligence aspects as it's a choice that seems largely determined for you. If you have a supporting home environment and schooling system then your chance of being functionally literate is considerably higher and I would strongly suggest that this affects later quality of life to a large degree.   

Interested to see where this goes though, I've been considering my own relative level of privilege on and off since posting here.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Privileges are, pretty much by definition, things we take for granted and unless we have it pointed out to us are typically things we don't think about other people not having. One of the interesting things about the interplay of privilege and culture is that those who lack one or several privileges afforded to others often forget about their own privileges, which is part of what I like about this particular exercise; I am a woman of color and I was raised in poverty, which means I lack the privileges of being a white middle-or-upper-class man, but I nonetheless need to be aware and conscious of the privileges I do have.

I'll add "raised in an intellectual environment".

[trippinprincezz13]

White
Blue Eyed
American-born
Born middle class
Above-average intelligence
Learned to read young
Fairly symmetrical features
Parents still married
Parents well-educated
Supportive home environment
Mother retired to stay at home when I was born (I assume there must be some privilege in there)
Heterosexual
Cisgendered
English as a first language
Fairly quick metabolism
Physically able
Functionally neurotypical

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

Some of these posts are including things that are making me question where the line is drawn for "privilege" and just "shit that's going awesome for me." Is having a job really a privilege? Is "not being homeless" one?

[Demolition Squid]

In no particular order...

White.
Male.
Upper-Middle class household, incredibly supportive parents.
Given access to computers in one form or another from the age of 2.
Socialized in a cosmopolitan environment and exposed to a wide number of races, religions and sexualities from an early age.
Never forced into a religious environment without my consent.
Able to attend university.
Born in the greater london area.
Functionally neurotypical.
Born in a place and at a time when the fact I was a very early baby merely meant 'severely damaged eyesight' rather than 'dead'. I found out a few years ago that I had an older sister who was not that lucky, which hammers it home.

[Faust]

Some of these posts are including things that are making me question where the line is drawn for "privilege" and just "shit that's going awesome for me." Is having a job really a privilege? Is "not being homeless" one?

I think roger defined it well before with (and I am paraphrasing) "A privilege is something that can be withdrawn" Is a job a right, is a home a right? They should be be but in reality it doesn't appear that way.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

White or mostly white and appear white
Cisgendered
Good IQ/literate , at least relative to a lot of the yahoos where I live
Not disabled
Weight in what's considered the normal range
English speaking
Straight

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

Some of these posts are including things that are making me question where the line is drawn for "privilege" and just "shit that's going awesome for me." Is having a job really a privilege? Is "not being homeless" one?

I think roger defined it well before with (and I am paraphrasing) "A privilege is something that can be withdrawn" Is a job a right, is a home a right? They should be be but in reality it doesn't appear that way.

That doesn't match up with the things we've been talking about, though. You can't withdraw "white." I've been operating with "privilege is a thing you are born with or is otherwise given to you through no action of your own that fairly or unfairly gives you an advantage in life."

[Faust]

Some of these posts are including things that are making me question where the line is drawn for "privilege" and just "shit that's going awesome for me." Is having a job really a privilege? Is "not being homeless" one?

I think roger defined it well before with (and I am paraphrasing) "A privilege is something that can be withdrawn" Is a job a right, is a home a right? They should be be but in reality it doesn't appear that way.

That doesn't match up with the things we've been talking about, though. You can't withdraw "white." I've been operating with "privilege is a thing you are born with or is otherwise given to you through no action of your own that fairly or unfairly gives you an advantage in life."

I think it all falls under the "otherwise given" category. White in and of itself doesn't offer many advantages other then camouflage on snowy hills. It's the predisposition that people have to treat you differently because you are white that gives the advantage and that mindset can be withdrawn. Or maybe I misunderstood the Right V's Privilege.

I have a right to find a job and I have the privilege of being in a Job. The first can't be taken away (excluding prison scenarios and such), the second can.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Some of these posts are including things that are making me question where the line is drawn for "privilege" and just "shit that's going awesome for me." Is having a job really a privilege? Is "not being homeless" one?

I define privilege in this context as something that I enjoy the benefits of without having done anything, myself, to earn it. So, while some of the circumstances that led to me purchasing a home were derived from privilege, I don't consider owning my home to be an inborn privilege.

The same could be said of a job. It is probable that privilege (being white, for example, or being highly intelligent) factors into having gotten a job, but having the job, itself, isn't a privilege, it is the fruit of privilege. If you had an active hand in achieving something, it isn't privilege... though it is certainly influenced by privilege. I am doing well in college and own a home because of my privileges, but they are not inborn privileges in and of themselves.

[LMNO]

So, "being a good drummer" isn't, but "growing up in an environment that provided the time and resources for learning to play the drums" is, yeah?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

And Faust is also right, privilege is itself contextual. In the context of a different society, being white would not be a privilege.