Personal Privilege List

I live in a country where I pay as little as $3500/year to study at university, which I can defer in an interest free-loan thanks to the government, who will also pay me as much as $200/week (as a single independant, more if I have a partner, child/ren or other dependants) to get a world-class education dirt-cheap.

Seriously, it pisses me off something chronic when people start complaining about this system.

I think being extroverted/introverted occour naturally, but being obnoxious/a show off or shy are learned things. Does that make sense?

And I thought of another one: because I’m not vegetarian, or diabetic, of suffer food allergies, or have high cholesterol, or have any other food issues, I can walk into a restaraunt and eat whatever I damn well please!

I have friends who are diabetic or vegetarian/ vegan, and who have had to pull out of dinner invites because there was nothing on the menu they could eat. A friend with the same strong stomach and love of meat as me recently made a comment ‘that’s what you get for being vegetarian’. I’m thinking of writing an article about lack of catering options for vegetarians and diabetics, let alone people with more unusual dietary requirements!

Because I’m straight, even if I’m unmarried, my defacto is automatically considered my next of kin.

Okay, compared to Sacrlett and Maartje, I did not have cheap university options, and indeed was unable to finish because of that. But even if the US lags behind Europe and other regions in terms of education (both quality and costs), I’m sure there are places where even my education would be envied. And some of them are probably in the US, given the huge differential between one public school and the next.

Because I have a traditional “job” health insurance is not hard for me to come by. For the self-employed and unemployed – both of which I’ve been – it’s pretty impractical. I feel this is an unfair privilege insurance companies extend to corporations.

-I will get a job more easily than someone who is not white. Of course it would be even easier if I was male and a little older.

I suppose this is true for me, but I have gotten some good jobs in L.A. because I was mistaken for Jewish (which I didn’t realize at the interview). I guess it’s all relative.

I have electricity, running water, a roof over my head, food on my table without ever having to give it a second thought.

I do now, but these were not always things I never had to give a second thought to. I’m not sure this is a “privilege” in the US. I mean, I worked very hard to move myself from “poverty” to “middle class”. In that sense, I earned it. In every sense that it was magically easier for me to earn it than someone else, I was privileged.

-I was born into a loving family.

I was… not. But again, is this privilege or the luck of the draw?

-When I vote I can trust the officials. My vote counts as much as anyone else’s.

I don’t feel either of these things are true for me. I’m privileged in that I can take action to open minds, change laws, etc. I’m at a disadvantage in that big corporations and the very wealthy are there ahead of me, and have greater resources with which to barter for changes in their favor.

-I have the right to say no and the right to defend myself should someone threaten me.

This is so murky in the US. In theory, we have the right to defend ourselves, but I’m not sure for example at what point in an attempted rape I’m allowed to kill the perpetrator to save myself from rape? I always rather thought I’d be prosecuted for robbing the US of a precious male resource when all he was after was a little jolly.

And I live in a country where I pay $5 for the most expensive of forgome contraceptions.
I need to start a list of my own. Oh, and I’m NEVER leaving Australia.

as a late 50 something introvert, I can definetely attest to thefact that introversion is ones personality make-up that isn’t somethin one chooses. I would never have chosen to be beaten up through-out myschool days and upon being beaten-up because I was weird (?), I would have chosen to not be weird, sinceit hurt less. My mother tells me I was always a quiet childcrying only when hungry or needing a change. I wasn’t shy, liked people but would become tired of their presence. Growing-up, I was made tobelieve I was shy and that was confusing, because I never felt averse to people, anxious, or socially inept. I just could never understand why others needed to be with people all the time, they just never seemed to wind down for me. I always needed my space and time without all that chatter, running around and what looked like mindless activity. My mother have my quiet and would create such drama I would just watch and wonder…what is she doing and why ? My Dad never made me feel in any sense strange or different, I always felt okay being me. In school I was this freak that had to be corrected in some way, at work I have been subjected to the same but with the aggression that comes from adult ignorance and fears. Some people say I am arrogant, haughty, antisocial, hate people, have been traumitized, am evil, untrustworthy or the person tolook to when something is awry. After all “it’s those quiet people you have to watch”. My few friends, few because not everyone can be a friend tome, usually let me remember the good things about me, I am stable (emotionally, mentally), reliable, make sense out of their dramas, care deeply for humanity and sometimes go out of my way to ensure someone else’s dignity. As a teenager for a few years I hated me, really believed I was some kind of abnormal freak but also during those years I became acquainted with people who saw me as justa quiet human and liked who I was. I remember being the person people came to when theywanted to talk (I was not emotionally all stirred up). Even afterall these years the bullying hasn’t stopped, nor has the ability to sit with someone, when they need to be quiet and with someone at the same time. At some point in my younger life I realized that this was ME, not a freak, not different or needing to be changed. I am not wiser than anyone else, more learned or in any way better, just true to mybetter instincts becauseI have actually been able to hear them without the chatter. If there is anything about me that I feel blessed with, it’s the sense that people feel safe in my presence when safety is what they need! They one lesson I learned from being bullied, beat-up, ostracized and demeaned in so many different ways, it was that I never wanted anyone to suffer what I had and never have those acts come from me. I just feel for those introverts growing up in our current culture of violence, meanness and narrow minded ignorance. Brutality towards others who maybe different isn’t a moral / ethical issue anymore it just seems to be a right of expression and much too acceptable when it’s acted upon. Without others nurturing me and my humanity, Imight have lostsightof being a human being and adopted the belief that I was some creature who needed toassert my existence. I am a minority person, female, introvert and in no way born to any privelege. The only thing special about it, is that I never lost sight of the preciousness of being human.

No problem.

I don’t have anything to add, but I do agree about the ridiculous stigma against introverts.

The Checklist of Neurotypical Privilege from http://aspergersquare8.blogspot.com/2009/07/neurotypical-privilege-working-document.html
* I have never been asked to prove that I am neurotypical.
* I am allowed to use the word “we” without being accused of trying to speak for all neurotypical people.
* I can share my opinions publicly without fear of being accused of not really being neurotypical.
* I can assume that police officers will not become alarmed at my natural body language, and find it necessary to subdue me in advance of any wrongdoing.
* I can reveal to my boss and coworkers that I am NT, without fear of losing my job.
* I can assume that most restaurants, theaters, stores and other places I would like to go will not be so loud or brightly lit or crowded that I will become unable to function at a basic level.
* I can easily find other NT people in movies or on television shows that are not explicitly about being neurotypical.
* When people realize I am neurotypical, they do not ask me if I am like a particular character they have seen in a movie.
* I do not have to fear that important decisions about my life will be made by autistic or other non-neurotypical people, just because I am neurotypical.
* I am not expected to alter or suppress my natural ways of moving, interacting or expressing emotion in most circumstances.
* If I fail to alter or suppress my natural ways of moving, interacting or expressing emotion, I do not fear public ridicule or exclusion because of this.
* When seeking medical care, I am not expected to reveal that I am NT.
When attempting to purchase health insurance, I do not fear I will be rejected because I am NT.
* The majority of people who make the laws of my nation share my neurology.
* I am never or rarely asked to explain what it means or what it is like to be neurotypical.
* I can talk about my life without being asked what I think may have caused me to be neurotypical.
* If I have a medical problem, I do not worry that my doctor will dismiss it as part of my neurotypicality.
* If I am happy with the way my mind works, no one questions this or argues that most people with similar brains would prefer to be different.
* People don’t usually confuse me with another neurotypical person, or expect me to take responsibility for what the other person has said.
* I am not assumed to be incapable of empathy or compassion.

You might also want to check out this article on non-plural privilege: http://exunoplures.info/privilege.html

Having two out of three parts of the Mr. Hetero Honky trifecta, I was born with quite a bit of privilege:

Race privilege:
* I can enter a store and be reasonably confident that I am not being followed by “detectives” trying to catch me committing a crime.
* I can go about my business without instilling fear in white people by my very presence.
* People do not assume that I lack basic language comprehension because of what color my skin is.
* I can pick any generic hair care product off a shelf and be reasonably confident it is compatible with my hair type.
* I will not be forced to act as an exemplar, representative, or “role model” for my race.
* If I carry something expensive or reveal a large amount of cash in my wallet while paying for something at a checkout counter, people will not suspect that I am a thief just for having that item or that money.
* People do not assume I am a religious fanatic or potential terrorist because of my race.
* If I complain about the way I have been treated by law enforcement I am likely to be taken seriously.

Gender privileges:
* I can walk about freely without attracting lewd comments about my body.
* If I were to bleach my hair blond people would not start assuming I am a vacuous airhead.
* I could take a job in the food service industry without wearing being forced to wear uniforms that sexualize me.
* I am not forced to wear cosmetics to be considered presentable.
* I can talk to sales representatives in electronics stores and not worry about them talking down to me because of my gender.
* I will not be expected to take great pains to conceal my actual age when I grow older.
* Traits and attitudes associated with my gender are considered noble and desirable by society.

Some less obvious forms of privilege, such as national privilege:
* In my country I can rebuke members of the government, actions the government has taken, or the government itself without being prosecuted.
* Most entertainment products available are in my native language.
* I can talk to people from many countries and be confident that they will be able to converse with me in my native language.
* I can acquire entertainment products that would be censored or banned in many other countries.
* When I reveal that I live in America I am not bombarded by people asking what life is like in America.
* I do not have to worry about my country being invaded and subjugated by a foreign power.
* I do not have to worry about being made to serve in the military against my will.

Hmm, maybe, but it’s NOTHING like the loathsome “dumb blonde” stereotypes and the bizarre and contradictory attitudes toward blonde women in general (the pure golden-haired maiden, the whore, the dumb blonde, the beach bimbo…it’s one complicated and ugly set of stereotypes).

The mentions I made earlier of language made me realize that being an Anglophone gives you privileges by itself:
* Hundreds of millions if not billions of people around the world are taught my native language, but I never had to learn any of their languages.
* My native language is not constantly subject to aesthetic appraisals by people who do not speak or understand it.
* My native language is not associated with demeaning ethnic stereotypes like “ching chong” or the snarling, spitting, Hitlerish German.
* I am not laughed at and mocked for speaking another language poorly like a foreigner speaking broken English might be.
* I will never be mistaken for being Dutch or German or Danish despite all the above groups being mostly white like me and speaking languages closely related to mine; my language is not conflated with other languages by non-Anglophones (contrast to people who describe Asian ethnicities and their languages as “all the same”, and see also white privilege).
* My name is not considered “funny” for being of English origin.

JK: I really hate the societal prejudice against black women with natural hair. The sorts of ordeals black women have to go through lest they be labeled “nappy headed hoes” are frightening (and I’ve seen some of the effects of them in some of the black women I work with, including balding, which leads to even MORE uncomfortable and unpleasant hair alterations being done to cover it up). NO ONE should be made to put lye in her hair to be accepted. It’s just WRONG.

My family is middle class, so with each of my parents working a full-time job, they can afford to send me to a $50k/year American college.
I am tall but not stick thin, so people respect me and give me a better sense of power.
I’ve been able to go to fantastic public schools because of the wealth of my suburban neighborhood.
My parents are together and support me.
I’m bisexual, so I don’t have to turn down a date because of the person’s gender.
My parents are Democrats so they support and understand my sexual orientation.
My parents are Catholic, so my church hired me for a part-time job, even though I am quite anti-religious. Also, people assume I’m Catholic also because I was baptized and confirmed, so I’m not automatically deemed amoral for my Atheism.
My parents’ jobs have insurance benefits, so I can afford birth control and anti-depressants, as well as immunizations for college and routine check-ups.
I feel a little hungry, so I can go downstairs to my refrigerator to eat some food, and afterward, go into bed with the air-conditioning on and sleep peacefully.

I feel like I’m bragging about all these things that I’ve taken for granted for so long. Thank you for this website; it’s really helping me see how screwed up society is and how to help, though in small increments.