Oh gosh, I think you just put your finger on something really important at the intersection of a few different parts of the conversation about privilege!

(Pardon me, I'm having a moment.)

There's that anecdote (I wish I had the source!) about how when a white woman looks in the mirror she sees a woman, but when a Black woman looks in the mirror, she sees a Black woman.

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[–] tess@mastodon.social 3 points 9 months ago (7 children)

And so, when a white woman thinks about privilege, because she doesn't see her own race (since she is the societal "default") she only thinks about the ways men are given advantages over her.

Whereas the Black woman also sees the way that white women and men of all races are given advantages.

And a disabled, queer Black woman... you get the picture.

So "privileged relative to what?" is based entirely on the individual's experience and perspective 🙃

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@Nath @Zagorath

[–] tess@mastodon.social 3 points 9 months ago (6 children)

And this is obviously BAD because it means any time you talk to a straight, able-bodied white man who hasn't actively unpacked all of this about privilege, he's immediately going to think about all the ways he's disadvantaged relative to his own baseline, which is, what? Tall, handsome, rich white men.

When you mention privilege, he feels attacked because he immediately thinks of all the ways in which he lacks it, not the ways he has it.

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@Nath @Zagorath

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