Personal Growth 3
Privilege and Oppression go hand in hand. Some people get more of one than the other. What is privilege and how has it affected me? How could I build a society that maintains these equal among everyone.
Privileges
The following are characteristics that apply to me and how they have affected me.
I am a woman. As a woman, I hold the privilege of being assumed to be much more innocent and less likely to try to do something to harm another person. Even so I have been assumed as being weak, emotional, irrational, and unreliable when it comes to things of importance.
I am a Latina woman. This makes it so that people might assume that I don’t have papers and may even cause people to believe that I don’t know English well enough. This hasn’t been much of a problem for me at this moment, but I can see it becoming a problem as I get older.
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Here in the US I could see it as giving women equal pay to men, having an equal amount of programs for single dads as single moms, and extending the definition of marriage as for any gender and number of individuals. A patriarchy couldn’t exist, there would have to be equal input from all sexes, genders, etc. This is completely different from the US today. We still are very much a patriarchy, whether it be in the professional field or at home, men are seen as more reliable than women in many aspects, thus giving women lower pay. Marriage has been something that the US has fought over just recently, so extending it outside of a monogamous marriage would be outrageous. While there is more visibility for single dads, people still assume that a man cannot take care of a child by himself. This lack of programs could also be because they assume that a man can earn the money needed to shelter himself and the baby while also providing a
In conversations many people get defensive when someone says, “You have this because of your privilege” they feel as though that the person they are talking with doesn’t understand that they have worked hard for what they have, however that is not the point that anyone is trying to make. What someone in that position is saying is that although you have worked hard to get where you are your journey have been well furnished with privilege on account of your race. It is said to think about that you got somewhere in life due to the color of your skin, but it is also sadder to think that someone got declined a job, got stereotyped, or got overlooked because of their race or
Today in the United States of America people are both privileged and oppressed based on their diversity markers and social locations. These advantages and disadvantages are put in place by the people whom are in power, or otherwise known as the government and other leading officials. This is a major issue in today’s society that often tends to be masked by the many other issues within the country as well as by the privileged people. Many people who experience privilege tend to believe that privilege and oppression do not exist and that everyone has equal opportunity, but that is not the case privilege and oppression does exist and it can be seen every day in society. After a careful review of Dena Samuel’s “Matrix Model of Oppression and Privilege” I identified myself as rather privileged due to my social and diversity locations on her model.
When I read “Checking My Privilege” written by Tal Fortgang, a freshman at Princeton University, it made me stop and think. What does privilege mean, how should it be used and does it affect me and my life? Fortgang never really states the exact meaning of the word privilege but goes on to complain about the mistreatment of the word and how it is a form of reverse racism; could that be true, I wondered? However, he also claims that privileges do not exist based on race or gender, and that is something I do not agree with. I imagine many people will not agree with his stance on the word privilege or mine, as a matter of fact. Mainly because the word privilege has a different
According to the Oxford Dictionary privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). Furthermore if you add white to privilege you get white privilege which highlights the societal privileges granted to those who are white particularly in Western culture. In the novel Ceremony by Lesli Marmon Silko captures white privilege through the highlighted differences between whites and Native Americans. The narrator Tayo is aware of the privileges that whites have in comparison to Native Americans. Tayos awareness of racism is identified by his examination of the U.S. Army uniform, his analysis of Floyd Lee, and his inspection of Leroy 's truck.
Privileges are things that a person receives that gives them an advantage over most people (Merriam-Webster). These are benefits that only certain people receive for being in a certain group or discourse. Peggy McIntosh, director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, wrote “White Privilege and Male Privilege” and states “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privileges, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” (605). She argues that whites and males receive certain privileges, yet they do not even notice them. This shows that different races and women are still put at a disadvantage, but the people who receive the benefits are blind to the problem.
Privilege is a topic with, any definitions and many angles of interpretation. My definition describes privilege as a step-up or positive opportunity in a specific situation or circumstance that is not available to everyone. These privileges are sometimes earned while others are totally unwarranted by the recipient. An example of what I consider an unwarranted privilege would be a child living in a certain county and being able to attend a highly sought-after school strictly due to the way an area is zoned by the county. The privilege of a military veteran having his tuition paid for by the Government is a earned privilege by my beliefs. Privilege far extends far outside the boundaries of education. You will find privilege in virtually all facets
What is privilege? What does it mean? Is privilege inherited or is it earned? As an American resident of color I’ve learned that privilege in this country is something that is innate and inherited. The privilege that I speak of is that of White privilege.
White privilege is a benefit that society gives to a white person. It is embedded in and supported by institutions, where it overtly manifests and reproduces as inequality (Cox & Taua, 2016, p. 48). This translates into preferential treatment for white coloured individuals. Such injustice results in the oppression of those who are not white, leading to unequal access to education, healthcare, housing, and employment (Gorski, 2003, p. 9).
This social construction created the system of privilege and oppression. Under the system, “some have advantages in accessing resources while others are disadvantaged by unequal access to right to life and happiness” (44). Privilege
The way I have come to understand what the Matrix of Privilege and Oppression means, is that everyone everywhere feels both privilege and oppression at the same time, and how much they feel of it depends on where they are on the scale of oppression and what position in society that they are in. This could mean that a Black man whom is judged by his skin color every day and it heavily oppressed in many ways, ends up getting into a college over a white man because of the school wanting to be a more diverse campus. The white man does not get judged by his skin color on a regular basis, but it did not work out well for him while applying to schools.
Through reading this paper you will learn about the key points from the article, A Social Worker’s Reflection on Power, Privilege, and Oppression written by Michael S. Spencer and the article White Privilege: Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh. Then the paper will include my personal beliefs on the topic of privilege and even some of my own personal privilege that are in my knapsack and that have helped me along my way in life. Finally, There will also be a point in the paper where I will have the ability to informed you about how privilege affect people and how they can positively affect people who do not receive them. Privileges impacts many groups of people in many different ways. They can be effected by
"The idea of privilege- that some people benefit from unearned,and largely unacknowledged, advantages, even when those advantages aren 't discriminatory."(Rothman, 2015) "Race privilege refers to the advantages that people receive because of the color of their skin."(Simpson, 2015)
1. (a) Privilege is defined as a favor or right granted to some people, but not to everyone.
2) Utilizing Glasberg and Shannon, Chapter 1 Introduction, and the works of Karl Marx explain to the reader the structures of oppression, in reference to power, politics and the state? Utilize the concepts of patriarch, racism and heteronormativity.
“Oppression, to divide and conquer is your goal. Oppression, I swear hatred is your home. Oppression, you mean only harm.” -Ben Harper