theoriginalblurker | Back to Privilege

Upon continued reflection, especially, as I pointed out last time, reading through this discussion of privilege, I am finding ways to understand where my own defensiveness lies, and thus (hopefully) helping myself to find ways to discuss privilege with others.

There are several areas where I clearly have privilege, two of which are white privilege and heterosexual privilege.

Delving into white privilege is more likely to get me defensive than heterosexual privilege. For some reason, the idea of heterosexual privilege really pisses me off. Perhaps that's because it's much more obvious to me. I was able to marry the person I fell in love with, simply because he was of the "appropriate" gender. It is still considered acceptable to make jokes about homosexuals, at least it seems that way for several of my coworkers, and the word "gay" is used as an epithet by young people all over the country. This is an obvious area where I have enjoyed unearned privilege of being of the "correct" persuasion.

Seeing my white privilege is harder to deal with, although I am well aware of its existence. It might be that it is all the more insidious because I am not made aware of it every day, the way I am with heterosexual privilege. I think that might mean that I am not as proactive about smacking it down when I see it around me, and that is something for me to work on.

The saga clearly continues.