Most of these could be applied to men and white people (men/whites earn more, media is directed towards men/whites, men/whites are treated as more intelligent, etc.). And I have a sneaking suspicion that many of the religious conservatives who would applaud this list for standing up to secular privilege would also criticize the idea of white/male privilege as a liberal invention. I often hear conservatives say that white/male privilege is either imaginary, correlation rather than causation, whining, or free market at work. Would they say the same about secular privilege?
I know this topic is not about "white privilege" as such, but I've always felt that the people who complain about it are getting things backwards. The concept of white privilege has an unspoken assumption that the expected norm is one of oppression and disadvantage, and any absence of those things is somehow a privilege. But why not make the absence of oppression and disadvantage the baseline of expectation, and declare the presence of such things to be the deviation.
From such a mindset, whites are not privileged - they're merely being treated fairly, as everyone should be.
The concept of social privilege, like most progressive tenets, seems to be a great cesspit of cherry picking applied to the whole. I can't speak for other countries, but the United States is anything but a homogenous society. The privileges you enjoy depend entirely upon your community. If you live in the Bible Belt, as I do, being a Christian is hardly a strike against you, but the heat that is sometimes brought to bear against local atheists is quite excessive at times, so there is no "secular privilege" in my area. Being a Christian in other areas can definitely invite ridicule, so "Christian privilege" is only a thing if the demographics favor you. Much like any other type of privilege.
I will accept claims of being an inherent possessor of certain privileges if it can be demonstrated that this privilege extends throughout society, rather than merely being the logical consequence of demographics and cultural differences, and if the specific ways in which I am benefiting from this privilege can be enumerated (the list in the OP's link about examples of white privilege is ridiculous and, again, does not apply in every area and depends on averages rather than comparing apples to apples). If these things can't be done, then it's safe to dismiss "privilege" as nothing more than a tool for progressive minorities to claim oppression and to exert disproportionate influence against those declared to be oppressors.
If your view the world as the oppressed vs the oppressors, avoid victory at all cost. If you win your struggle against being oppressed, you are now the oppressor.
4 comments:
Most of these could be applied to men and white people (men/whites earn more, media is directed towards men/whites, men/whites are treated as more intelligent, etc.). And I have a sneaking suspicion that many of the religious conservatives who would applaud this list for standing up to secular privilege would also criticize the idea of white/male privilege as a liberal invention. I often hear conservatives say that white/male privilege is either imaginary, correlation rather than causation, whining, or free market at work. Would they say the same about secular privilege?
I know this topic is not about "white privilege" as such, but I've always felt that the people who complain about it are getting things backwards. The concept of white privilege has an unspoken assumption that the expected norm is one of oppression and disadvantage, and any absence of those things is somehow a privilege. But why not make the absence of oppression and disadvantage the baseline of expectation, and declare the presence of such things to be the deviation.
From such a mindset, whites are not privileged - they're merely being treated fairly, as everyone should be.
The concept of social privilege, like most progressive tenets, seems to be a great cesspit of cherry picking applied to the whole. I can't speak for other countries, but the United States is anything but a homogenous society. The privileges you enjoy depend entirely upon your community. If you live in the Bible Belt, as I do, being a Christian is hardly a strike against you, but the heat that is sometimes brought to bear against local atheists is quite excessive at times, so there is no "secular privilege" in my area. Being a Christian in other areas can definitely invite ridicule, so "Christian privilege" is only a thing if the demographics favor you. Much like any other type of privilege.
I will accept claims of being an inherent possessor of certain privileges if it can be demonstrated that this privilege extends throughout society, rather than merely being the logical consequence of demographics and cultural differences, and if the specific ways in which I am benefiting from this privilege can be enumerated (the list in the OP's link about examples of white privilege is ridiculous and, again, does not apply in every area and depends on averages rather than comparing apples to apples). If these things can't be done, then it's safe to dismiss "privilege" as nothing more than a tool for progressive minorities to claim oppression and to exert disproportionate influence against those declared to be oppressors.
If your view the world as the oppressed vs the oppressors, avoid victory at all cost. If you win your struggle against being oppressed, you are now the oppressor.
Post a Comment