Please, share your opinions in the comments. What does being privileged mean to you? Do you consider yourself privileged? Do you think the definition of privilege should be applied in the areas I have mentioned? Why do people get defensive when they are called privileged? Do you think the word privileged is evolving?
Privilege noun definitions from vocabulary.com
- A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group
- A special advantage or immunity or benefit not enjoyed by all
If one is privileged, there is a chance he or she does not realize the granted luxury. One of the great aspects of being a person with privileges is having the ability to go through daily activities without realizing they are privileges at all. Consider hot running water to shower in daily as an example. For those people born with many privileges, it may be difficult to understand that other people do not have the same opportunities because certain benefits, which a privileged person does not recognize as benefits, just daily things, are not available to all people.
The word privilege has yanked my heart in many directions since starting college. While I am now aware of the privileges I have, I still feel uneasy about the life I was born into. When I began to learn more about this topic, I pictured one dividing line: privileged people on one side and those not privileged on the other side. I also put myself on the privileged half of the line. With this new label, I soaked in a sea of guilt. I have a stable family, I have more than necessities, I went to a great school, I went through life never worried about being discriminated against because of the color of my skin, and worse, I never used to admit that people are still discriminated against.
As I consider the people in my imaginary, privileged labeled, half of the room, a sour taste erupts in my mouth. The idea of easiness makes me want to puke. Entitled faces force me to cringe. On my side of the line, we are blind to the burdens of others, which we didn’t know are called benefits for us. Soon, I begin to hate my upbringing. I question how I was ignorant for so long and wonder when my biases will finally all sweat out of my pores because I have been conditioned to conform.
In my experience, privilege carries a negative connotation, and I have a hard time settling with this. Because I consider myself one with privileges, I do not want to dislike who I am or what made me the person I am today.
A class I took at Ball State University, Diversity and Media, introduced me to SCWAMP, which stands for Straight, Christian, White, Able-Bodied/Minded, Male, Property Owner. This oddly pronounced acronym breaks down privilege by pointing toward six dominant groups in the United States. These identities are at the top of the pyramid in terms of who the United States tailors its culture. However, these six categories are not the only hierarchies of ways privilege is presented. The letter "E" could be added for education. Think of the advantage one has with parents who have a savings account prepared for when he or she enters a college or trade school. The letter "B" for beauty is another logical addition when one looks at how people fitting the stereotypical body image standards in the fashion industry are treated in comparison to those who do not. Also, privilege can be deceiving. For example, one may appear to embody all SCWAMP letters, putting them at the top of privilege's hierarchy, but he or she may be missing one or both biological parents. They may even come from a split household, which brings on challenges often left out of privileged conversations.
I began to unfold privilege and quickly realized I had no sense as to how many licks it would take to get to the center. Having not realized how many folds there are, SCWAMP was a quick solution to comprehend what people really mean when throwing the "p" bomb at another. Also, for the first time, it made me realize that there are areas in my life where I am not considered privileged. For instance, I am not a male, I am not able-minded without medication, and I do not own property. Does this mean I am 50 percent privileged because, on the other hand, I am straight, Christian, and white? No.
Privilege is messy. One can try to formulate it, which might make it easier to dissect, but it is not as though every human is going to be assigned a "privilege number" based on a scale of 0 to 100 to share with others to move on in life. And just because someone has a large number of privileges, does not mean that an individual is void of problems and does not work hard to earn what they have. It means that they did not have to overcome certain obstacles someone with fewer privileges had to. I appreciate learning about SCWAMP because it made me think even more about how I view people with various levels of privilege.
Below, are a few reflections I have on SCWAMP, privilege, and how it reveals itself during this divisive state of our country:
1. Those Straight, Christian, white, able-bodied, and sane males with nice houses who can checkmark all six SCWAMP letters did not choose to be born. They were only fortunate to be born into that position, and I can not hate them because of it. Unless they are assholes. I can hate assholes
2. Not all privilege is visible
3. Being born privileged does not mean one is immune to ever becoming less privileged. In contrast, while it may be extremely difficult, people born with less privilege can gain more over time
4. One should not hate his or her privilege but see it as a gift and use it to help the world become a better place
5. If someone is privileged in one area of life, he or she will never fully understand what it is like to not be privileged in that area of life
6. Saying black lives matter does not mean my life as a white person does not matter. It simply means that black lives matter. Because they do
7. Contrarily, there is a difference between believing that the human race "black lives" matter and believing in the movement Black Lives Matter
8. People pay attention to the extreme - looting and violence are morally wrong, but people are paying attention
My privilege journey has only begun, and I will continue to unravel its edges for the rest of my life. I have come a long way from ignoring privilege to seeing it as a divisive line to where I stand with many more questions today. One aspect of privilege I know for sure is that people need to stop labeling people, especially strangers, with this term. Privilege presents itself in many ways other than the color of one's skin. Instead of spreading hate for the profiles of others, let's spread stories, and listen to the people we see on the other half of the privilege line. Then, everyone might find it's impossible to divide a straight line among people. We were created to be more complex than a label.