Privilege is a unique right, benefit, or immunity provided or available to only one individual or group. When it comes to being privileged I always felt like I didn’t have since I focus on the bad things going on. I didn’t realize how lucky I was. From the moment you are born, the society into which you are born can provide you an advantage over others. If you are born into a so-called first-world country, for example, your health, safety, and financial prospects are likely to be better than if you are born into a third-world one. I have the privilege of freedom of speech. I am privileged to be able to spend time with my family. Most people have either lost one or both parents, their parents are divorced, or they are completely alone in this world. Passport privilege refers to how easily you can travel around the world based on the passport you carry. I am privileged to be going to college. There’s obstacle that prevent people from finishing school. My parents did not have it easy growing up, but we now live in a house and have all we need. I have the privilege of showing my emotion. Due to the different movements now I have the privilege to vote, work, and many more.

Oppression is brutal or unjust treatment or control for an extended period of time. My experience with oppression derives from the fact that I am a Hispanic woman. The students at school would tell me to return to Mexico because I had nothing to do here. But the ironic part is that I was born in the United States, so I wouldn’t know what to do in Mexico. Growing up, I struggled to understand and speak English. When I spoke in school, the kids would laugh as if it were the funniest thing in the world. I was self-conscious. It was so awful that I just stopped talking in class. That hurt me in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Why should a person be subjected to such treatment? Simply to make the other person feel better about themselves. Reading the text and watching the film had opened my eyes like no other. Of course, I’d heard the terms privilege and oppression before, but I never felt the need to comprehend them, but I was mistaken. I feel more informed.

For reading this reflection I can say that women have had to deal with so much oppression and discrimination for a long time and we still have these kinds of problems. It is admirable to see our past and how women fought for their rights and faced difficult circumstances just to be able to make a change and try to include gender equality in our society. While reading the article about the Triangle Sweatshirt Factory Fire, I was frustrated and saddened to realize that this could have been prevented by giving the workers a safe place. 1Unfortunately, many companies, such as factories, are more concerned with making a profit than with the well-being of their workers. Allan Johnson’s “Patriarchy of the System” was very clear to understand and demonstrated the importance of recognizing patriarchy as a system and not as an individual. The term “patriarchy” means the socially constructed system of inequality between men and women as defined in the political, social and economic contexts in which they live. Johnson asserts that no single man can enforce the patriarchy; rather, it is a collective of people who continue to enable and allow patriarchy to persist. Most of the time at work, women are routinely exploited and underpaid compared to their male counterparts. They are then further exploited at home doing their chores, doing unpaid and undervalued work. As Americans we have the first ten amendments to the Constitution known as the Bill of Rights. Individual civil rights and liberties, such as freedom of speech, press and religion, are guaranteed. Above any circumstance we must fight for our future.

• In what ways do you experience privilege?

I think one way or another we all have been privilege. In my case as a Puerto Rican, I feel privilege of been a United states citizen from birth. When compared to another racial group which can’t have the benefits of Americans or have to wait to receive any type of benefits, resources or help. Many Immigrants doesn’t have this privilege when they come to United State and even to come to this country is a process which is not easy for them. Another way I feel privilege in a way is being low-income population we get some financial aid help to go to college compared to other people that have to pay out of package for their education which sometimes doesn’t guarantee a good job.

Now privilege doesn’t mean we won’t experience oppression. Yes, it is true as Puerto Rican I get to enjoy Americans benefits but also as a Puerto Rican, I felt oppress for not knowing English. Many times, I experience bullying I been told to go back to Puerto Rico and learn English because this is America, I been hearing this so many times not only to Puerto Ricans but to the Hispanic population overall. Jobs wise is another way to experience oppression example I was a temp for many years where I did not have any benefits as the permanent’s employee yes, I had the experience to work for them but did not have any privilege and always was treat as a temp whenever they needed to cut hours, I was the one getting the oppression.

The privilege of one is the oppression of other is the overall concept I got from this reading. White privilege is one of the concepts that stood out to me. My definition of privilege I will say is like a free grant, is something you might or might not deserve but is there for you regardless just because you are part of certain group. On the other hand, oppression is unjust treatment or control to certain groups or people like Afro-Americans, Latinos or any minority group. It can also be defined as mental pressure.

Honestly watching the video open my eyes in many ways from the point of view of being privilege but also being oppress and not only me but the different cultures that experience it. The video impacted me and my view of many things.

I feel like privilege is something given to us without having to go through the obstacles and earning actually earning it. It’s something that many people have and don’t deserve and it’s also what many people don’t have and do deserve it. Privilege is a benefit that many people take for granted and some actually take advantage of (if that makes sense). It bizarre that privilege is defined by the color of our skin, when in fact we are human yet unique in our own ways. Peggy went in depth about white privilege as a white women herself with these benefits. She mentioned that white people don’t believe themselves as oppressors. We need to understand our privileges and take advantage of what we do have no matter the color, race, or religion. A privilege i would say I have is definitely having good education. My parents did the best they could to support 4 of us from the roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food on the table, which a lot of people may not have any of these things. Which always reminds me to be grateful for what I do have now and not what I wish I had. 

In the reading “Oppression” by Frye, I feel she made good points. For example, she went and mentioned on how from childhood to men not to cry because it makes them masculine or weak. I understand now that oppression really does exist in our society and being catagorized by who we are and what we choose to be whether that’s by our color, ethnicity, and gender. Oppression is exertion of power and or control by a group or individual of power to those who don’t. 

I experience privilege every day to an extent that I had not realized before reading the required readings and watching the very informative, interesting video. The video alone struck me in ways the readings were not able to because it was such a visual representation of the differences in hardships we face everyday. It taught me that although I may go through certain difficulties, there may very well be a long line of individuals behind me who face oppression in ways I am not subject to, such as sexual orientation and many more. The video made me even more grateful that I am able to wake up everyday with access to clean water, a roof over my head, and food in my fridge. I am able to attend college, unlike many other individuals around the world with no access to an education. I am able to work the job that I am employed in, which provides me with enough money to pay for my bills and the extra little things I want but do not necessarily need. I may not be rich, but I am able to sustain myself in a manner which many around the world, and maybe even in my vicinity are not. I also experience oppression, being a woman that belongs to a minority group, but lives in a capitalist country, and a young mother. The boundaries that are placed around me to not allow me to succeed work with each other to keep me oppressed. Furthermore, Marilyn Frye details how women are sexually discriminated, specifically in the country where I reside; “Another example: It is common in the United States that women, especially younger women, are in a bind where neither sexual activity nor sexual inactivity is all right. If she is heterosexually active, a woman is open to censure and punishment for being loose, unprincipled or a whore”. Due to the fact that I am a mother, when I walk down the street I know that it is evident that I have been sexually active and it construes an image of me in stranger’s heads which I cannot change. I also have to act a certain way and so does my child, so that my parenting skills are not questioned or challenged by society.

Watching the video and doing the readings clarified my definition of privilege and oppression. Privilege is having the ability to do or obtain something that someone else is not able to, although both parties have no control over this. It is something that you are born with or into that makes your life easier than another person’s. Oppression is the social act of severe restrictions that impede an individual, or group of individuals, from being able to successfully maneuver the boundaries around them. As defined by Marilyn Frye, it is comparable to a bird cage, in which all of the wires work together to constraint the bird’s flight to freedom.

I think im incredibly privileged, in many ways that i honestly didn’t even think of before watching the video. I grew up here in NYC, as hectic as it can be its very liberal and accepting of others, at least in my experiences. Although im not rich, im also not poor and im able to do things like see a doctor whenever, not worry where my next meal will come from, etc. However, after watching the video i realized there are many ways of opression for one, im a woman not only that but a minority, bisexual woman, ive dealt with being called homohobic slurs, racial slurs etc. Being a woman i believe is where i have faced the most opression, ever since i was 13 ive been sexualized by men outside, sexualized online through video games. As one of my classmates stated im also a plus sized woman and i do feel opressed by my size, i never wouldve thought my weight is something ive been opressed more so judged, but ridiculing, not feeling feminine or beautiful enough is something i struggle with. Just today i went into the doctors for issues and ive been having and i felt the only thing that was focused on was my weight , as my other concerns were glossed over and ignored. The video and reading opened my eyes a bit more in seeing opression isnt just about race, i was ignorant to the fact that other parties also exprience opression . Opression comes in the form of gender, sexuality social status, social class and so much more.

  I think I’m very privileged. I grew up in a favela in Brazil, and though we had happiness and family, there weren’t as many opportunities to further ourselves in life as there are here in the U.S. Though I dislike this country and its politics. It’s clear that you can move up in life through its capitalist system through its educational opportunities. This isn’t the same case in Brazil. I’m fully aware of the hardships in the U.S, I too, fight against them. However, it is needless to say that the poverty experienced in Brazil is not as drastic as the one here. And yes, I’m aware that these are two different worlds I’m comparing (brazil is considered a third world country vs. u.s being considered a first world country), but it is precisely my point.

Growing up in the u.s made my relationship with my parents very inexistent. As fresh immigrants, they were trying to make ends meet and excel and grow. This meant more time by myself because I could not see them all the time. I remember when I asked my dad for a photo of my mom when a couple of months went by because I rarely saw her, and I had forgotten what she looked like. This has bought a vast space between my parents and me, where I don’t necessarily feel like I have to talk to them every day, and I can go probably more than a month or two without speaking to one of them. Another oppression I experience is mainly during the times that I tan out. I don’t like to tan or wear my hair curly because I realize how differently I’m treated. I noted this when I decided to tan during the summer, waiting for my dad outside my apartment. And this white man called the cops and said that I was trying to break in and didn’t live there. I was so sad and scared because he had been taking pictures of me, yelling at me, and telling me he would call the cops. He said people like me aren’t good.

This past summer, I decided to tan and wear my hair curly most of the time. I was embarrassed to be in my skin. Since then, I chose not to tan or wear my naturally curly hair. I would notice how nothing would happen during the months where I paled out. I spent some time in Brazil and noted it is celebrated to get as tan as possible in my region. I hadn’t had applied heat to my hair for a while, and I was just me. I just hated it. I didn’t like just being me. I consistently complained about my appearance and talked about how much I regretted allowing myself to tan as much as I did. This is something I’m trying to work on. I at least can stay away from the sun and do things that change my appearance, which is saddening really. Writing this makes me feel awful to admit how I tend to comply even aware of the effects of the white narrative. Which is the opposite of what I tell others to do. But anyways. Yeah, it’s something I’m working on not caring about and just being me without fearing someone not accepting me.

  I believe that systems in place affect those who want to live a life where they are not harassed or traumatized by experiences. Privilege is being able to live a life fulfilled. You do not fear your emotional or physical well-being because all those boxes are checked out. Oppression is constant harassment and the inability to move up in life or just live because of who you are and how it does not fit into society’s checkbox. It is disgusting as humans that we allow other humans to have only the right to exist but not experience or live.

I feel that I have expired privilege throughout my entire life. Since I was little, my family always told me all the things they had to do and everything they went through back then. One of these things as the video says was to carry very heavy gallons or buckets of water and walk miles to their homes. My mother told me that she didn’t have shoes to go to school and therefore she had to go barefoot.  I also remember hearing that my mother, along with her sisters, had to wash their clothes in the river which was a little far away. These are only a few things that my family had to go through. There’re many people who are still going through moments like this. Despite everything, my family and many other people are very grateful and feel very proud to be who they are today. The simple fact of having a home with food and water is already a privilege. Some of my privileges are having had the opportunity to study and go to college, having had the opportunity to come to this country to follow my dreams, receiving the love that many people give me, being able to work, being able to travel, and go on vacations, being able to have a home with food, water, and clothes, etc. I am not rich, and I do not have everything I would like to have, and I will not deny that sometimes I complain about things I should not, but at the end of the day, I feel very grateful to God for everything I have.

The way I experience oppression is because of the simple fact that I’m a Hispanic woman. Being Hispanic for me is a source of pride, but there are many people who take advantage of that to discriminate. When I first came to this country, it was very difficult for me to adapt and learn the language because many people used to make fun of me instead of helping me or correcting me. Now I know how to speak English almost perfectly but when I say something incorrectly, people still make fun of me. A lot of times I get very embarrassed, and they make me feel insecure. Being a woman is one way in which many of us have experienced oppression.  Many women are judged and treated differently even because of the way we dress. Many people believe that a woman who respects herself should not go outside in inappropriate clothing.

Thanks to the video and the readings I learned a lot more about the concept of privilege and oppression. I realized that I am more privileged than I thought. I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and thought about all the things I should be super grateful for. I didn’t have much knowledge about oppression, but I can say that it is the unjust treatment act, of oppressing, suffocating, pressuring, subduing, either a person or a community.

After watching the video and doing the readings I was able to get more knowledge on what the term privilege means. Privilege can be obtained through race, sexual orientation, class, ability, or other identity. All of us has experience privilege in some kind of way and disadvantage in other ways. Privilege is not something we earn or choose; it is a structure in our society prioritizes some groups over some. For example, men are more likely to get managerial positions in a company over women, that is unearned privilege. While I sit back and explain privilege, I realize that I too have numerous experiences were privilege clouded opportunities. For example, I grew up in Jamaica and moved to the United States to live permanently. It was more of a smoother transition that a normal Jamaican because I am a citizen of the U.S. Most natural borne Jamaicans would have to go through a difficult visa system in Jamaica were twenty percent of people are chosen to travel and if denied one would lose their money in the process.

I have faced oppression in many ways. I have experienced oppression based on my Gender being a woman especially being amongst men. I have also experience oppression which my race from my own race and I saw it in my eyes as oppression because it was done by a black man to satisfy whites. Oppression is one group of people being superior to the next group of people for example White supremacy. Currently the societal structure is oppressive to especially non gender conforming people because they go against traditional structure of there only being two genders women and men. To demolish oppression all people, need to recognize it and work on all levels so every individual can feel empowered and be there authentic selves.

Marilyn Frye uses words such as barrios, forces and limiting of options so people could get a simple idea of what oppression means. She also uses the analogy of a bird cage to showcase an idea that social structures are like the cage and once they get everyone to conform to a certain idea the bird cannot be freed. The “What is privilege” video allowed me to understand that privilege can come in the variety of ways whether you recognize it or not. It can be the communities we live in, the types of schools we attend or opportunities we get and then it can be even more critical like, our race, gender, and ability. The video allowed me to see that everyone experience privilege in some kind of way even if it seems simple to us.

I believe there are multiple ways that I experience privilege. In some ways the privilege that I experience are sometimes things I cant control but for others I can. For example my skin color is not something that I can control but my environment is. A Way that I experience privilege is by getting treated better in most instances than someone who may have a darker skin color than I. I’ve seen this through multiple different aspects in my life or interactions with others.Another way that I also experience privilege is by where I live. Even though America is not perfect and still has its faults it is a better place to live in than many countries who prohibit many basic human rights. This can even go as further as just turning on the faucet for clean running water where as other countries don’t have this. Being able to have access to education and living in a society where it’s more modern and up to date with technology making it easier to not only travel around but also communicate with family.

However ways that I face oppression is just by my gender alone. I am a woman.When my friends and I play video games we tend to talk online to people and when men hear my voice thats when I get a wave of sexist jokes of how ” I should be in the kitchen” or ” why are you playing this game dishwasher?” or even get threatened or told how they would want to ……r (fill in the blank). Another way that I face oppression is by my physical appearance. I am a plus size women meaning I am on the heavier side and my entire life i’ve had to live and try to love myself in a society that hates “fat/bigger” people. I’ve faced oppression being a bigger person by the medical field multiple times. I have many health problems that I deal with personally and have went to a doctor before that straight up told me ” maybe if you stop eating all your problems will disappear ” and she refused to check me. After experiencing this I went to a different doctor and was told my health issues had nothing to do with my weight but instead tied back to my genetics.

The reading and the video helped me broaden my perspective of privilege. I always knew that in some ways we are more fortunate than others and vice versa. However my mind about white people and their privilege has changed because I always thought “yes they might go through xyz event but they’re still white” but after reading I realize that there are different things can either give an advantage or disadvantage to anyone. Usually this topic of privilege has always upset me because I find it unfair how life can treat a white person better than others just based on their skin color but after reading this I realize I have to approach this differently. We have to talk about this and push this conversation forward if we want to understand each other because we all face privilege in different ways.