#Privilege

[amillionmagpies]

I meant basically all forms of privilege, tbh. I'm willing to listen to alternate perspectives, but my belief is that no one is inherently morally bad for having privilege, just as no one is inherently morally good for not having privilege.

I believe that the existence of most types of privilege is morally wrong - that it is inherently harmful for some people to have advantages over others that aren't literally built in. (Things like abled privilege are a different case; I think it's bad that abled people have inherently easier lives than disabled people, but I don't think it's morally wrong, since it's not a decision people made. That said, there are privileges abled people have that aren't about their actual ability and are instead about society being set up for them in a way it's not set up for disabled people, and I do think that's morally wrong.) But I don't think think people are bad for having privilege, or good for not having privilege.

I think certain types of privilege can make you more likely to be a shitty person, but I also think certain types of disadvantage can make you more likely to be a shitty person, and neither actually predestines you to shittiness, it just impacts the odds. Fundamentally, it comes down to the choices you make, not the advantages you're born with.

And I think the idea that privilege makes people evil and lack of privilege makes people good comes from people in Christian cultures absorbing the cultural background radiation of "martyrdom = good, luxury = bad," often without realizing that that's where it comes from. I don't believe that everything about Christianity is bad, but I do think this is one of the pieces they got really wrong.

Tl;dr: I meant all types of privilege I could think of, I think privilege itself is bad but having privilege isn't necessarily, I think certain types of privilege and suffering make people more likely to suck (but I don't think it's the only factor), and I think the idea that suffering makes you good and privilege makes you bad is fundamentally rooted in some of the more toxic parts of Christianity.

Btw, that idea that privilege makes you morally evil and suffering makes you morally good is just repackaged versions of the Christian concepts of the evils of luxury and the holiness of martyrdom. Hope this helps!

[classycookiexo]

[cosmicportal]

[creature-wizard]

You have privilege! ...Now what?

This is my little guide for what to do and what not to do when you realize that you benefit from a system of inequality, because some people out there still need some help with this.

The first thing to do is recognize and acknowledge that systemic inequality is a thing. It's fine to feel upset and discombobulated. Handle your feelings with mindfulness. (If you have not learned mindfulness, now is a really good time to do so!)

Understand that privilege is not original sin, nor is it even regular sin. It does not affect your value as a person, nor does it mean you have to engage in penance or do something to "make up" for having it. You don't need to do any kind of performative thing as a response to having privilege.

Privilege is something you have due to a system of government and a set of social norms that you did not create. It cannot morally pollute you.

What it can do is leave you unaware of the realities of other people's lives. So what you should do is acknowledge that you probably don't understand the lives of marginalized people as well as you thought, and you need to plan on learning more about that.

As you learn, you will probably find yourself challenged often: you may learn that things you did or participated in perpetrate inequality. It's not going to feel great, but again - mindfulness.

Some things will be simple to give up - like slurs. Other things will be harder, maybe even impossible sometimes - like buying things from corporations. The important thing is that you do the best you can. (You might not be able to avoid buying from corporations all the time, but you can search for alternative options.)

You can also use your privilege for good. For example, if you're white, you might have white friends who won't listen to a Black person talk about racism yet, but they might listen to you, and maybe they might listen to a Black person if you recommend them. (Also see my post on persuading people.)

Remember that you'll mess up and get it wrong sometimes. This doesn't mean you're a failure or a bad person. (Activism and allyship does not mean hating yourself!) Just try to learn and do better when it happens. (Some people out there might be very harsh on you, and maybe say things that are very unfair. Try not to take it personally, try not to lash back, and just do the best you can to learn and move on.)

So there you go, these are the basics for handling your privilege.

[lifewithchronicpain]

Based on this post

I decided to be kind and add an answer between once or twice and annually.

Bonus question, how many of you as kids started to figure out the wealthy kids based on all your classmates who went to Disney every year and you never went once? I think I figured it out by 8.

[michaelpaul7]

[s00mia]

[onyxbird]

Are you reading this (i.e., literate, in English)? Are you listening to this because you have access to a device with decent text-to-speech software you know how to use? Are you reading or listening to this on an internet-enabled device? One that's available to you for leisure like browsing Tumblr?

I don't care who you are get comfortable with the fact that you have privilege over some people and groups

[queerpunktomatoes]

Hi, quick clarification for baby leftists.

Privilege is when you lack barriers another person faces due to your identity (or perceived identity!) and social position, and it's often unnoticeable that you're experiencing it until someone points it out.

An example: I have privilege over my POC friends because I am perceived as white. My man friends have privilege over me because I am perceived as a woman. So my Puerto Rican man friend and I have privilege over each other in different ways, him because he doesn't face sexism and misogyny the way I do, and me because I don't face racism the way he does.

Relative Privilege is when one person with the same identity as another experiences discrimination or barriers to a lesser degree than the other.

An example: My friend and I are both Autistic, and we both experience discrimination due to that. Our autism presents differently, and (generally speaking!), I am more disabled by it than he is. Thus, he holds relative privilege over me. He is still discriminated against more than an allistic person is, but he is discriminated against for his autism less than I am for mine. This is relative privilege. This can also be applied more broadly, for example, I hold relative privilege over many disabled people who are not Autistic but are also otherwise disabled, because they experience more barriers than I do.

Also please note that privilege, because it's given or denied from larger social structures, is often more about how people perceive your identities than your actual identities! For example, I am not a woman, but I am perceived as a woman, and thus experience discrimination based on that.

Experiencing privilege is not a morally bad thing, and experiencing discrimination is not a morally high thing. It's easy to fall into the identity olympics, but it's not helpful. Where you have privilege, use it to lift the voices of those who don't. You are essential. Where you don't have privilege, learn your history, find your community, and embrace yourself. You are essential.

[whereserpentswalk]

Remember that hope itself is radical. Believing that one day the specific injustices we face will be nothing more than historical events. Just like how we live in a world without the divine right of kings we will one day live in a world without capitalism, just understanding that is itself a radical action. If spreading despair is praxis of the ruling class, spreading hope is praxis against the ruling class.

[writingwithcolor]

Diversity Win: Is "Crazy Rich" POC Representation Necessarily Empowering?

sodapopsculptor asked:

I’m writing a story with two sets of protagonists: A trio with a Black girl, a Latino, and a Vietnamese-American boy who all come from middle-upper class to ridiculously rich families, and a pair of white working-middle class sisters. They’re all heroes of this story. I’ve seen way too many rich white people and poor poc people in fiction, and I’m kinda getting sick of it, but I’m worried that by having the poc kids be rich and the white girls not so much, I’ll be reinforcing the idea that poc somehow rule the world. The only time the rich kids use their status as leverage is when the Asian threatens to sic his cop dad on a bully (race unstated but I imagined him as white) picking on a freshman, and during the Black girl’s birthday party, when she pays the biggest jock there fifty bucks (And later says offhandedly that it was just what she had in her pocket) to chase off a creep hitting on her.

OP, have you ever seen the “diversity win!” meme before?

I understand that your motivation for these narrative choices is to give POC a chance, if you will, to be the rich characters. But it is evident from this ask that you have not asked yourself what this entails. I want to ask you to critically examine the race and class intersections you’re creating here, as well as these kids’ roles in oppressive systems.

You explain that these rich POC are heroes and only have righteous reasons for leveraging their power.

But is your Black girl character aware of the potential disciplinary and/or legal consequences her jock accomplice might face while she has the resources to keep her hands clean? Are you?

Is your Asian character aware of how much of an abuse of power it is to “sic” a cop on someone, and the sheer amount of harm a criminal record or incarceration does to a juvenile with behavior issues? Are you?

So you want to put POC in positions of power for #representation.

Does it resonate with the group you’re representing?

Do you research and portray the unique ways race, ethnicity, class, and majority vs. minority status come together?

Or are you putting these characters in oppressive hegemonic roles for the sake of a power fantasy, on behalf of a group you're not even in?

To your question, you're not reinforcing the idea that "POC rule the world" because such a generalized belief does not exist. Instead, you're reinforcing:

The idea that society has “winners” and “losers.”

The idea that the problem with disproportionately powerful people is the lack of “equal opportunity” as opposed to the power imbalance to begin with.

The idea that those in oppressive positions of power need only have the right intentions to justify their use of it.

To be clear: that is not to say that you can't have jerk aristocrat billionaire millionaire crazy rich POC. Evil or mean rich characters are fun! I have some myself! You can even have rich characters who are gentle-hearted and well-intentioned, but you have to know the ways in which they’re privileged and decide how aware of that your characters are. That’s no problem.

But if you think that wealthy and powerful POC would have the same values and priorities as their poorer counterparts, you’re deluding yourself. There’s a reason why the quote “power corrupts” exists. There’s a reason why no matter where you look on the globe, there are historical dictators and tyrants.

If you want bratty rich POC who lack regard for the consequences of their actions, because you want bratty rich characters, great! If you want them because it would be uplifting or empowering representation? You’re doing it for the wrong reason.

~ Rina

I fully agree with Rina, and truly want to emphasize the last paragraph.

If you want bratty rich POC who lack regard for the consequences of their actions, because you want bratty rich characters, great! If you want them because it would be uplifting or empowering representation? You’re doing it for the wrong reason.

I don't think you need to aim to subvert or purposely make all the BIPOC rich and powerful and the white people poor and suffering. Add diversity and include upper class rich and class privileged BIPOC, sure thing! And you can avoid your fears of intentional subversion message by including rich and powerful white characters as well, even if they're not the focus of your story. Just their existence helps. You could also include middle-class characters of Color as well.

More reading: Black in upper-class society

~Mod Colette

[creature-wizard]

People talking about privilege like it's this mystical aura that metaphysically benefits you, rather than something based on how people choose to treat you based on their perceptions of you, sure are... something.

[justalittlesolarpunk]

A lot of people are radicalised by suffering, which is a valid and sadly all-too-common experience. But you wanna know what really radicalised me? Softness. Joy. Freedom. I spent so much of my adolescence deeply sad and uncomfortable in spaces that weren’t right for me, navigating a body that didn’t feel like home. Despite many many privileges, and lots of moments of genuine happiness, I often didn’t overall enjoy my life. But then I got gender-affirming surgery. I moved into my own modern, clean, comfortable flat in a friendly, walkable city full of nature and beautiful buildings. I started being able to take care of myself. I keyed into robust local social networks of people who shared my interests in nature, creativity and ameliorating the world. And I am deeply, thoroughly content. It has been incredibly radicalising to realise that, contrary to what I thought for so long, it is very easy for human beings to be happy if their material and emotional needs are fulfilled. So alongside my joy there’s this constant simmering rage. I deserve all the good things I have now, sure. But not any more or less than anyone else. The children being bombed deserve this too. So do the homeless people being moved on by police outside my local supermarket. So do the people starving in famines, imprisoned by immigration systems, brutalised by their employers, their families, the state. All I can do is fight for a world where everyone has these things. It’s a choice not to share them equitably.

[sunbeamedskies]

It is a PRIVILEGE to be able to say that the entire population of a country or region are inherently guilty and deserving of death. It is also exactly the same shit the alt right does.

I've seen people do this to both Palestine and Israel. If you honestly celebrate the murder of Palestinians or Israelis and try to justify it, you are no better than an alt right cult member.

Real people are dying and suffering while you pretend this is a video game.

[thisrandomstuff]

Unlike some people, I actually DO blame families (and general audiences) who take their kids to watch live-action slop.

In the 21st century they have the option to:

Wait for something that's not a live-action remake to come out;

Watch something at home;

Search for indie animation online and watch that;

Buy popcorn, milkshakes, sodas, etc. outside of theaters/cinemas and just consume it at home while watching something at home

Wait for a screening of the older films in theaters, because those DO return to the big screen every now and again.

Adults aren't helpless children with no options; least of all those who can afford to go to the cinemas for this shit. Y'all just need to let go of your learned helplessness and start putting some respect on the creative process and animators.

Elio is coming out soon. So if you so badly want to watch something in theaters... there you go.

And DreamWorks movies DO return to the big screen from time to time. I've seen it happen with Kung Fu Panda 2 years back.

I also never got to watch the animated How to Train Your Dragon in cinemas when I was a kid. My family were also varying levels of broke back then. But I'm not here going to see the live-action remake just because "this might be the only time I get to do watch httyd in the cinemas".

This isn't a MUST. This isn't like needing to buy clothes, or food, or anything like that. You can go without watching movies in the cinema. That's a privilege, one some people are clearly keen on abusing to support this soulless plague of live-action remakes.

You know, there are people out there that went to school for animation in hopes it'd be their full-time job one day.

It's bad enough that these studios far too often underpay or exploit people. But for them to completely cut them out, or stomp over their works, or barely include animation so they can avoid paying for it?

Those of you who pay to see this sort of live-action stuff that only pushed studios away from animation pay to encourage studios to keep avoiding better treatment and more respect for their animators. You pay to keep the disrespect going and you pay to keep this a thing...

Remember how 2D got phased out of studios like Disney and DreamWorks?

So, no, you don't get to keep making cheap excuses. Learn from history, learn from the other remakes, and learn to control your urge to see everything on the big screen.

The great thing about those animated movies that got remade (not because there was much to be "improved", but because they were a commercial success, therefore presumed "safe") is that you could come out of it loving it without that cinema hype to build them up. You could fall in love with them long after they've stopped being the IT thing, because they're THAT good.

For the record: I DO also blame corporations. But you support these corporations when you don't HAVE to. You're all acting like Disney/DreamWorks has a gun to your head and is whispering "watch the live-action remake or you'll never get to see another movie again" into your ear.