Identifying A Person And Their Level Of Privilege

In this world we can find roughly seven billion people. Sure, science may prove that people share similar traits and personalities, but no two people are exactly the same. We all have different life experiences. With these different occurrences we can infer that we all have different levels of privilege.

In her essay McIntosh, discusses how “[p]ower from unearned privilege can look like strength when it is in fact permission to escape or to dominate” (31). Like McIntosh, my social status has allowed me to meet inspirational people who are willing to give me the opportunities I other wise would not encounter. For example, I can say with confidence that my own social ranking has allowed me to experience life with no limitations, “I could think of myself as belonging in major ways and of making social systems work for me” (31). One’s social class is determined due to several different factors. However, our economic standing is a huge part in determining the social rankings we are part of.

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. Many people will argue that she is correct

We are always trying to figure out where we are in this world, or how we got where we are today. Obviously you have no choice of parents or where your born and these are two major contributing factors of who am I today. Being born white and a male society has immediately granted social advantages or white privileges. But, how privileged was I really? Being born in a highly populated city to first generations Americans without high school diplomas. I did have some advantages and I realized them growing up around my non-white friends. But compared to other white people I didn’t see my self privileged in many ways.

According to McIntosh's list of privilege, I meet 10 out of 14 or so applicable categories. These categories vary based upon nationality, gender and sexual identity. According to this I am very privileged but my background has led to a much different experience.

The ways some of my privileges are related to race are to the fact that my mother is white. She is very educated, and a successful business owner. By having the upper hand in life, my mother was able to take care of me great.

In this sense, I noticed how privileged I am because of my sexuality, socioeconomic status, and country of origin. I was raised in a European country where I had the same ethnicity as the majority. Coming from an upper-middle class family, I never suffered from poverty or the stigma associated with it. This means that I grew up in a nice house and in a nice neighborhood where my neighbors were also middle-class families. I could walk alone around my neighborhood without the concern that I could be assaulted or robbed. This means that I was part of a privileged group, but without being aware of it since, as a kid, my parents could afford healthy food, medical bills (such as dentists, dental brackets, or new glasses) but, also toys and clothes. Furthermore, I was able to participate in extracurricular activities or go to college without worrying about the financial cost. Moreover, I have not struggled with stereotypes or stigmas that come with lower socioeconomic statuses such as thinking that they are less educated. Thus, I was never questioned for being intelligent, honest, or hard-working. Overall, I never faced discrimination or racism and that makes me unaware of how it truly feels like. For that reason, I need to acknowledge my identity

This article deals with the seen and also the unseen aspects of white privilege. The article discusses how male privilege and white privilege are connected to one another. Additionally, this article give 46 examples of how an individual white woman is able to navigate her day with the unseen privileges of her being the part of the dominant group. The dominant group is taught not to see their privilege and most of the time do not even realize they benefit from such a phenomenon.

Privilege applies to certain people who benefit more than other people in the same social, political or economic spaces (Henderson, L., week 1, 2014). Somebody might be privileged only because that person is wealthier or more powerful compared to the others. Privilege is an advantage enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most. “Privilege is expressed as an advantage based on status or rank that is used to maintain status quo” (Collins, J., et al., 2011). Privilege can applies to different concept, such as male privilege, white privilege and heterosexual privilege, all of which have implications for education. Although it is still taboo, with evolution, we have come far and we are now starting to accept equality between men and women, white and black and starting to acknowledge heterosexual.

A privilege is any unearned advantage available to a particular person or group of people. As McIntosh had described, privileges are invisible, weightless knapsacks containing special provisions, maps and passports (White Privilege). The privileged rarely see themselves as the oppressor, but instead take the majority of their rights for granted, which protects them from many kinds of hostility, distress, and violence. In the following paper, I describe the hardships associated with disability and homosexuality through the perspective of Connie Panzarino, as portrayed in her memoir The Me In The Mirror. I will then relate her experiences to class readings and describe how able-bodied and heterosexual privileges are threats to those who do not fit into either category.

Ethics of Privilege Introduction Prior to beginning my social work education, I thought little about privilege. I felt as though I knew what it was, but now I realize that I had little idea about just how privileged my life has been. Mary E. Swigonski defines privilege as "unearned advantages enjoyed by a particular group, simply because of membership in that group" (1996). Some kinds of privilege are obvious, some are much more subtle.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, privilege can be defined as, “a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor” (Privilege). Through reading this paper you will learn about the key points from the stories, 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 you will be informed about how privilege affect people and how they can positively affect people who do not receive them.

Roxane Gay concedes that “One of the hardest things [she has] ever had to do is accept and acknowledge [her] privilege” and that “It’s also really difficult for [her] to accept [her] privilege when [she] consider[s] the ways in which [she] lack[s] privilege or the ways in which [her] privilege hasn’t magically rescued [her] from a world of hurt.” We must reach this very epiphany that Gay has in her essay. It is that, as humans, we are all in some way advantaged and disadvantaged. We are all in some way powerful and

Privilege always occurs at the expense of others. Allan Johnson states, “The trouble we’re in privileges some groups at the expense of others. It creates a yawning divide in levels of income, wealth, dignity, safety, health, and quality of life” (Johnson 7). Allan Johnson states this in Chapter 1 of his book Privilege, Power and Difference and it is one of the most powerful statements in the whole book. Privilege creates a great divide between people. This can have a negative lasting effect, if not under control. Society has divided people into two groups: superior and inferior. The superior groups are the ones that are privileged in society and the inferior ones are ones that are

The three principles of privilege are that they provide certain people with sociocultural and economic advantage, often yield negative judgments and unfair treatment, and that most people are unaware of the statuses that privilege them. If we take the first principle, the people that have sociocultural and economic advantages are the white people in American society. It has been shown through statistics that African Americans are the ones whose rate of unemployment is the