Privilege is when you have advantages or grants or even benefits you might have compared to others. You are placed somewhere where you partially have rights of benefits or advantages others may not have access to. In ways, I experience privilege like how the woman said at the beginning of the video “What is Privilege?” She states “Some people are born into families where they have to walk miles just to get water, All I have to do is turn on the faucet”.I agree that this is a huge privilege I have been born here in the United States and getting benefits that other countries might not have access to like having running water that I can shower in and drink because that water is considered cleaner than other countries who struggle to get just an ounce of water. I am very privileged in that aspect also in ways where I am so grateful to have what I have and should never take it for granted. Ways where I feel oppression is being a young female concerning my safety being out in the streets. Being approached by older men has been going on in my life since I was in middle school and still to this day being catcalled or even harassed to a point I feel so unsafe and scared not only for myself but for others who have to go through this too. In my personal experience, it was only older men who feel like they can take advantage of young women just because they can seem weak or sensitive and I still comment to them saying I’m a minor and they should feel ashamed even though I’m not a minor I still tell them that so they can reflect on who they are out here catcalling. How watching the video and doing the reading helped me define the concept of privilege and oppression by giving us clear examples of how one can have the privilege or be oppressed by others. My current definition of privilege and oppression stays the same privilege is someone who had advantages that others may not be able to have based on their appearance or status and Oppression means injustice to austerity or unfairness.

This experiment was so interesting to see. I love how a combination of diverse individuals were holding hands in the beginning as a form to show that they are united, but as everyone starts taking steps whether it was backwards or forward to accept where they stand on certain points, they realize that out of their own control, they are separated. Unfortunately, that is what society has made this out to be.

Growing up, my mom had a favorite line she would repeat to my siblings and I when we were picky about eating food: “There are starving children in other countries, you don’t know how lucky you are” . Of course as a bratty child, I would more than likely roll my eyes and continue my picky habits, not fully aware that what she meant is true. That word “lucky”- Lucky to have food options, lucky to have my mom at home making warm home cooked meals. That was my privilege. I started to understand my mom as I grew older, that she did not have the same food options when she was a little girl. Having been raised in a poor town in Guatemala… My mom always ensured to remind me of all the ways I was lucky. The opportunity to go to school, which to me was normal because everyone my age was in school. Having multiple pairs of shoes and clothing options, etc.

Though I had my ways of being privileged, Growing up I had moments where I didn’t feel so “lucky”. Having classmates that teased me for not having name brand clothing, not realizing that my family just couldn’t afford it. Or seeing how others would talk about summer travels, and I was unable because my family was immigrants and could not travel. Both children or adults treating me or my parents differently for not knowing proper english at a point. The list could go on with both “lucky” and “unlucky” experiences. I guess it’s all a matter of whos point of view is looking at my life to decide.

One way I feel oppressed is walking the streets hand in hand with my partner. Luckily, (it’s a privilege to live in NYC), we live in a city where not too many people give a crap but we still face judgement. Depending on where we are in the world or who we are talking to, sometimes we have to mask that by pretending that we are just friends or roommates.

Physically: Hispanic female, tattoos, piercings, colored hair. Not the immediate ideal candidate for pretty much anything.

Eromidayo Olayiwola (Harmony)

Prof. Hollis Glaser

GWS 100-1300

Discussion 4

In what ways do you experience privilege?

After reading the article, I understood that having the ability to breathe is a “privilege,” and it is challenging for me to recognize or appreciate these advantages on a personal level. Peggy McIntosh’s definition of “privilege” includes part of what I refer to as “people’s hard work”, benefits, or having unaware access to a better life in a functioning system. ‘Privileges’ are “unearned”, and my “skin color” was advantageous in any decision (pg. 2). Accordingly, “privilege” refers to a benefit or an unavoidable advantage beyond one’s control.

Looking back, it is a privilege to have been born in Lagos-Nigeria, to have beautiful surroundings, safety, easy commute, the freedom to sleep and wake up whenever I choose and to have attended school in one of the biggest cities in Africa. Being able to pay my expenses, send my children to a private school, find a place of worship, interact with other people in society, see individuals of my color, and feel comfortable in my skin are some things that have benefited my life. Furthermore, I have “privileges” as a result of my immigration to the United States of America, including access to a top-notch education, paid tuition, 24-hour electricity, medical care, and prompt emergency response. In light of this, do I deserve to have the “privilege” if it is an “unearned” advantage?

In what ways do you experience oppression?

            Being from Africa naturally places me in a position where I am a member of a minority group or culture, and I have encountered various forms of discrimination. After reading the essay by Mcintosh and Marilyn Frye and viewing the video, I have come to the opinion that oppression is not dependent on one’s social position and that anyone can experience oppression or discrimination simply for being a “female”. Being a “girl” and being born into a religious and cultural setting impacted the challenges I had to overcome when I was growing up. I had low self-esteem as a child. I received frequent criticism and humiliation for wearing pant trousers. The freedom to play and explore with “males” around me throughout my childhood was taken away from me. I recall being 17 years old and strolling down the street when an unknown man slapped my butt and fled. I was in awe! My mother said “aso tio wo ti fun ju,” which means the dress I was wearing was too tight when I informed her about it. Does that justify the action? No! Does that support what was done? No! How unfortunate that some of this prejudice stems from “female.” I’ve been consistently pressured to act by how “they” believe I should, and I’ve heard repeated warnings not to walk or wear a certain dress out of fear of being raped.

To be honest, I have encountered persecution, mockery, and bias on countless occasions since moving to the United States of America. I remember a “female” employee calling me an illiterate. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a meeting with my “female boss” and write a report as well. My coworker overheard this and told me that I had no business attending “the meeting,” that I was uneducated, and that Africans don’t go to school, and I grinned as I stared at her. And this from a black “female” high school dropout.

 How does watching this video and doing the readings help you define the concepts of privilege and oppression and what are your current definitions?

According to Mcintosh, “privilege” refers to advantages based on one’s “skin color” rather than one’s class, religion, ethnicity, or geographic location. In other words, those who share the same race as “white” get privileges at the expense of others who are different from them (pg. 2,3). For instance, “I can switch on the television or open the front page of the newspaper and see people of my “skin color” well portrayed” (McIntosh). People without this skin tone are consequently viewed differently because it is not the dominant “skin tone”. Another quote to use is “I can be quite sure that if I ask to talk to the “person in charge,” I will be facing a person of my race” (pg. 2).

This is the problem with privilege—it fails to recognize that other people lack or require what you take for granted. One must count the “things” they have access to and can enjoy without having to work hard to comprehend the concept of privilege. It’s also important to hear other people’s perspectives or experiences.  Profiting from or taking advantage of a “functioning system” without having to work hard or acknowledge your advantage is what is meant by “privilege.” In an equitable society, McIntosh contends, there should be no exceptions to the rule of reasonable expectations, such as the expectation that your neighbors would treat you well or that your race won’t be a factor in legal proceedings. such as the ability to disregard the needs of the underprivileged and to deform both the holders’ and the ignored group’s humanity. All people should be able to enjoy privilege equally (pg2,3).

On the other hand, is oppression when a member of the underrepresented (female) group may experience discrimination in the form of barriers or disadvantages concerning the central thesis of “feminist” that women are oppressed? (Frye pg. 2). Yes, in a world where “men” dominate, women are oppressed, viewed as inferior, not good enough, and prevented from having equal status with “men.” Do “men” believe that being “man” gives them privileges? No! Perhaps males don’t realize how much they oppress, limit, marginalize, and press “female” under the pretense that “men are tormented too.” To put it another way, “man” is “privileged” and “benefits” from institutional systems since they are mostly in power or political influence. I receive harassment for my appearance regularly—I’m told I can’t go out at night, I can’t do well in politics, I can’t go to the front lines of battle, my dressing may attract rape, I am barren, I have to do domestic labor all the time, I’m pregnant and deemed to be “temporarily disabled”—it’s labeled “oppression,” “discrimination,” and “limitation.” As a result, up until this point, I had to modify my behavior to be perceived as a “female”. It’s an unfair system!

When privilege and oppression intersect

This essay caught my attention meanwhile “everyone” or “anyone” might relate to it. He discusses intersectionality and how it differs, the possibilities, the experiences, and how privileges and oppression are connected. it also discusses how the obstacles we face are particular to us based on our identities. It demonstrates how social identities operate on several levels, resulting in various possibilities, challenges, and experiences for every individual. the idea that social classifications such as race when they apply to a particular person or group can result in multiple, components of discrimination or disadvantage (P.O.I).

It makes me think of how I was treated at work in 2020. At the time, covid was high, and I was pregnant. I coughed, was exhausted, and my head hurt. I asked my “supervisor” to let me go home. She apologized for not being able to authorize it and instructed me to speak with the “director,” even though I couldn’t get her on the phone. I kept saying that I was growing weaker after 45 minutes, but she still refused. I sent an email to my “director” and left work to see my doctor and tested positive for covid 19. When I returned to work two weeks later, she scolded me, threatening to withhold payment because I had quit, adding that “African women” are resilient because they face adversity, and that I should not have left my job. I said “I was ill”, and she retorted, “But you weren’t dying.” She was given a two-week suspension after I told my “director” everything that transpired. I’m oppressed by my “supervisor,” a “African American woman,” and I’ve been given “privileged” treatment by my “female White Director,” who has paid my full wage and helped me achieve justice after being harassed.

Privilege describes benefits that belong to people because they fit into a specific social group. From watching the video I can say I was privileged because I grew up in a two-parent household where both of my parents worked hard to provide for my siblings and me. Growing up I had friends who parent/parents were addicted to drugs and their living conditions were like mine, I remember being told ” you’re so lucky to have parents like this”. When I was younger I didn’t appreciate the parents I had I thought they were controlling and overbearing but the older I got once I built a better relationship with them I learned to appreciate them more. My sibling and I never need for anything growing up, always had a roof over our heads and food in the fridge. Not everyone can say their childhood was the same way so that’s one way I feel as if I was privileged in life. I didn’t think I was privileged before watching this video because being Dominican and Jamaican, a female, and a bisexual female at that I dealt with a lot of oppression for how I looked. I’ve been working in the technology community since I was 18 years old and I get judged on the way I looked daily. For example, I was told by a customer before that they rather work with a male because I wasn’t “techy enough this is a male industry” and I just had to walk away. There was a time when I was working at T-Mobile in a middle east neighborhood when a middle eastern man walked in refused to work with me and ignored me because I was a female and wasn’t middle Eastern, it took my middle eastern manager to speak to him in the language to let him know it okay to work with me. The entire time I worked with him after I said anything he would look up at my boss before responding to me. I’ve been judged on the color of my skin, my tattoos, my sexuality, and my gender so I never felt as if I was privileged. After watching the video my definition of privilege is that it is unearned access or benefits granted to specific groups of people because they are part of a social group. Privilege can be based on a variety of social identities such as race, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, ability status, sexuality, age, education level, and more. Oppression is the unfair or cruel use of power to control another person or group. Oppression is often used about the oppression of minority groups such as women and racial minorities.