Let’s Talk About Privilege

Let’s talk about PRIVILEGE, baby.

Let’s talk about you and me.

Let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that maybe…

Before starting anything off, let’s do a privilege check.

• Are you reading this article on a gadget/phone/laptop/tablet etc.?
• Are you well-fed/satiated? Have you eaten your meal before reading this?
• Do you have access to clean drinking water? If you felt thirsty at any given instance, would you be able to quench it?
• Are you sitting in a well-lit, comfortable room with a stable electricity supply? If it’s hot outside, is there a fan or an AC to keep you cool? If it’s cold outside, do you have a radiator turned on?

If your answers to the questions above were mostly “yes”, chances are that you’re probably more privileged than about 71% of people in the world.

Now let’s delve into what ‘privilege’ is.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, “privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.” In simple words, it can be boiled down to the certain social benefits, compensations or esteems that a person has by its association with certain social identity groups. As history has made it pretty evident, some of these privileged (read ‘advantaged’) social identities comprise whites, heterosexuals, males, and people belonging to affluence. It is remarkable to mention that privilege, by default, is intersectional in nature. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary describes ‘intersectionality’ as “the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups”.

Read more about intersectionality here.

There are numerous types of privileges, but we’d be shedding light on the six most common ones below.

Race

White privilege is a kind of societal privilege that welfares white people over non-white people. This mostly occurs in societies where the same (or similar) political, social or economic situations are observed. American academic Peggy McIntosh, like other academics who presented theories like the ‘Critical Race Theory’, called all the advantages that white people exercise and non-whites do not “an invisible package of unearned assets”. These privileges include the freedom to move, travel, work, play, and speak fearlessly, societal and cultural affirmations of an individual’s worth, and lastly a pre-conceived assumption of them having an exalted social status and reverence.

Jimmy Kimmel rightfully stated “White privilege doesn’t mean your life hasn’t been hard. It just means the colour of your skin isn’t one of the things that makes it harder.”

According to Melissa Zeffero, racism is stridently pronounced when white supremacist activity is adamantly ignored and black and Latino activists are profusely investigated. Closing down poll stations in neighbourhoods where a large population consists of people of colour and/or are under-resourced is also an act of overt racism. If there is prevalent violence against people for racist assumptions and stereotypes, e.g. vehemently atrocious behaviour towards Asian people for COVID-19, it also marks explicit racist behaviour and these people are, therefore, underprivileged as a consequence.

Religion

There have always been congruent prejudices against people of a different religion than ours. A way we practice privilege without knowing too much about it here in Pakistan is when we get common Muslim holidays off from work but no other religious holy days off. If we are able to worship freely without the fear of facing violent misconducts because of our religious inclinations and beliefs, we are privileged without even putting second thought into it. If your faith is only a marker of your identity, without being a defining characteristic, you belong to a little percentage of highly privileged people in the civilization. In Pakistan, if your peers see you as a Christian or a Hindu friend, and see their Muslim friends as “just friends”, you’re already being looked at through a lens of entrenched prejudice.

Ability

Privilege is not being labelled on the basis of what activities you cannot carry out, that other people carry out with implicit ease. Attending an event without fretting over or caring about the presence of a ramp or an interpreter or being able to manoeuvre around a space with effortlessness is a privilege too. If you’re at a social gathering and you don’t have strangers gawking at you or asking for an explanation about your physicality and/or appearance, it counts as a privilege as well!

Class

You are privileged if:

• You have the means to hire someone (housemaids, nurses, housekeepers, assistants etc.) to do mundane, everyday tasks for you and your family.
• You live in a house (like that of your parents, spouse etc.) where you do not “have” to contribute financially. Or, if you don’t “need” to get a job to supplement your family’s consolidated income.
• You have access to dependable and sanitary healthcare and do not have to go on days without getting your teeth, vision or hearing fixed because of lack of resources, financial constraints or because there was no way for you to book an appointment.

Sexuality/ Gender/ Gender Identity

You exercise gender privilege if:

• You mention that you’re heterosexual/straight to someone and their response isn’t, “Are you sure it’s not a phase?”
• Making use of amenities like toilets, locker rooms or garment trial rooms doesn’t make you feel anxious or afraid.
• You don’t have to worry that your gender will hinder opportunities for you to receive appropriate medical treatment or that all of your health concerns would be viewed as a consequence of your gender.
• Your clothing isn’t a matter of discussion in social gatherings. You’re respected for how “gender-appropriately” you dress. You do not get labelled as a tom-boy, or a cissy, or as androgynous etc. because of your sense of style. Your usual, normal clothing doesn’t get labelled as something that is “defying gender stereotypes”.

 

Education

It is a privilege if you’re part of an institution that is adequately staffed with teachers, nurses, counsellors and classroom aides. Also, if you have access to fitting and updated technology for classroom use (if you’re a teacher, student, or a parent) and have up-to-date information about success and college access including where to find scholarships, registration processes and campus visits, that counts as a privilege too. Moreover, if your school fee is paid by a parent, a caretaker or the government, you’re amongst a few privileged percentiles of people who have an entitlement to receive an education in the first place.

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What to do if you’re privileged?

Remember that privilege is nothing to be ashamed of, it’s just to be aware of. Most of us are privileged in one way or another. And that doesn’t mean that we didn’t strive hard enough for the things/successes we acquired, or that we didn’t experience any adversities in doing so. It just means that we didn’t experience the hardships that someone else did just because they belonged to a marginalized community that is viewed inferiorly by others. So, the least we can do is to acknowledge our privilege, not take it for granted and make efforts to ensure that this world is a more equal, just and unprejudiced place to live in for everyone, not just for us!