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If I’m not wrong, being privileged means you’re in a situation that allows you access to a lot of things other people don’t.
With the rise of movements like #WeNeedDiverseBooks, and #OwnVoices, talking about literature in specific, the goal is basically to start paying attention and respecting other cultures, non-privileged ones; which is absolutely awesome.
The thing that irks me, is when things like this happens:
Person in twitter #1: We don’t need diverse books. Who wants to hear about people of color, or gays, yuck.
Person in twitter #2: You’re so ignorant. Obviously, you’re privileged.
Person #1 is definitely an asshole, and ignorant. That we can totally agree on. But what irks me is that we’re kind of labeling being privileged as a sin.
I know, I know how that sounds, but, let me put it this way:
Remember the Weasleys, and the Malfoys? They’re both Pureblood families. You could say they’re both privileged. But the Malfoys are ignorant elitists, and the Weasleys give a shit about status.
Why does this even matter when discriminated races and cultures are being appropiated and white washed?
It matters because we’d kinda be doing the same mistake. And yes, it might seem stupid, and also like a little distinction that doesn’t hurt anyone. But it does. It doesn’t have to become a battle between social levels, between discriminated and non-discriminated voices. It doesn’t have to be a war between people (even though there are certainly people who see it that way). It’s a war against stereotypes, against behaviors, against a culture that is too used to shutting other people out.
Besides, who in this earth is truly completely privileged? Very few, I tell you. For example me,
I’m privileged because I got to have a good education, I learned english and I write in english, and my skin color is on the fair side; and I’m not privileged because I’m latin american, which some people consider synonym of uneducated, rude, and loud. And some psychos even want to hurt me or snuff out ‘my people’ because we’re seen as inferior.
What I think about privilege
I stand by my earlier statement. Privilege is about having a certain advantage. That advantage gives us the opportunity to fight for those who don’t have it, and that’s what the diverse campaigns are about. Same as feminism isn’t about hating men, diversity isn’t about hating white, straight people. Even if you don’t see it that way, people might take offense.
Boo hoo, poor white people playing victim, who cares?
Umm… isn’t this the same attitude that led us to this situation?
Using the word ‘privileged’ against people who are being jerks isn’t helping anybody. Why don’t you use the correct words? There are plenty to choose, really, if you want to get colorful and creative with it ;).
Having privilege doesn’t mean you are a horrible jerk like the person in your scenario. But being a “good person” doesn’t mean you don’t have privilege, and having privilege plays into the world-view of your example person. I think I understand what you are saying, but we also don’t want to fall into the “not all men” type of thinking. As a straight white person, I disagree with your twitter user #1, but I think twitter user #2 is correct to say that their privilege is blinding them to the reality of the world.
This is hard to articulate, and I really appreciate you bringing it up so thoughtfully.
Yeah, it’s so difficult to truly come to a conscensus about this. Because privilege does change your view of the world. Since the writing of this post there have been a lot of things that have happened. I still don’t like the black and white view of ‘you’re with us or against us’ but, now, for example I can totally say I agree with you on your thoughts on twitter user #2. People’s understanding of life and other things varies greatly because of many things. In this case, privilege. For example with books. My sister once complained that she just doesn’t get why readers get so offended with some books. Why they have to attack authors and everything. I agree partially with her but reminded her that it’s not our place to say what should and should not offend other people. I’d like to believe she’s been thinking about that.
Thank you for your thoughts!
You make some fantastic points here. I know that I’m privileged and have had many advantages in life, and that means that I can never fully understand the experiences of someone in a minority—but that doesn’t automatically make me wrong or bad. Unfortunately, I think there will always be some people who have more advantages than other people—that’s not something we can completely obliterate (at least not easily), but it’s what we DO with those advantages that makes all the difference!
Yes! That’s what I meant! I’ve learned since the writing of this post that I can’t speak for the experiences of someone who isn’t like me. And not even someone like me because each person has their own experiences. But, for the people who share certain privileges, then okay, you have them, WE have them. It’s about not trying to speak over the others, but use that to help instead.
Thanks for your comment!
Yes, yes, yes, I agree completely! Sometimes, I feel like I can’t take part in discussions because I’m considered “privileged”. Just because my skin is fair and I’m straight, that doesn’t mean I don’t understand what other people are going through and I can’t stand up and talk about it.
That was an AMAZING discussion and I’m so glad we can share our “unpopular opinions” around blogosphere as well.
Oh, great, because I was so scared of writing this post at first. But I felt it really needed to be said. I mean, yes, in general, white, straight, able people have been the wrong doers this whole time, but one thing is asking for equality, and calling things for their name, and another is subtly introducing hate into the equation. That’s not the way to solve our current problem.