The privileged life

When I was a child, my parents used to instill in me how lucky I was to have all sorts of great things in my life.

They emphasized I had gifts —I was handsome and precociously  intelligent.

“You have a great family life,” they told me. “You go to a good school and get good grades.”

I can’t really deny any of those things. I do have a good, stable family life. My primary and secondary educations were decent. They instilled these things in me not to make me brash, but to make me thankful for all the good things in my life.

As I’ve gotten older and more aware, I have realized that I have other privileges. These are different though. These are inherent, and they were given by chance.

I’m white, for one.

I am healthy and able-bodied. I was born with male sex characteristics, and my gender identity conforms to those. Unfortunately, these things are all privileges in American society.

I don’t have to worry about being profiled by the police, being at a higher risk for incarceration or being stereotyped by media and on the street, as people of other
ethnicities do.

I don’t have to worry about employment discrimination or predatory insurance companies, because I’m healthy.

No one is going to inadvertently or obstinately refer to me as the wrongly gendered pronoun.

Society isn’t going to shame me for my sexual urges then deny me the right to do what I want with my body. No idiot is going to try to decide if rape of people like me is “legitimate” or “forcible.”

Sure, there are a few bad things about being male — very few.

But these problems are caused by the same patriarchal pressures that hurt women.
I know many others are realizing their own privileges. This is undeniably a good thing. It can, however, lead to a sense of guilt or shame.

My view is privilege is not something to be ashamed of, nor is it something to flaunt. It is something to be aware of.

More importantly, the realization of this privilege should lead us to want to help others reach equal footing.

We all need to realize our privileges. We need to realize those who do not have the same privileges are not inferior, whether inherently or through action. They have simply been unfairly placed on a lower rung.

We need to do these things not out of a sense of pity, self-hatred or a savior complex.
We need to do these things because they are righteous.

­— estahr@indiana.edu