Terms That Need To Die: Privilege
priv·i·legeˈ /priv(ə)lij/
noun
- 1.a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.”education is a right, not a privilege”synonyms:advantage, benefit;
verb
formal
- 1.grant a privilege or privileges to.”English inheritance law privileged the eldest son”
Do you believe that men, heterosexuals, and white people are privileged demographics? Are you straight, white, and/or a man? What if I were to tell you that you are being a hypocrite who is overstepping your own bounds of your own social stack ideology every time you spew the word privilege from your fingertips? (Let’s face it, you’re not doing it to anyone in person.)
Did you know that in many parts of the country some, and even many, straight white men are withheld from advantages as their non-straight, non-white, non-male counterparts? It’s true! Smug people typically call them “white trash,” but that’s none of my business, I guess.
Do you believe that men, heterosexuals, and white people are privileged demographics? Do you have access to clean water, food, clothes, shelter? Are you not in immediate danger of a SCUD missile landing 20 feet from your kitchen? Are you never going to be forced to work in a sweatshop? Do you have a laptop, access to any type of open internet, and the freedom to criticize anyone you want, including your government? What if I were to tell you that you’re an armchair activist who takes full and complete advantage of first world privilege?
You see, in some parts of the world, children are regularly sold into sex trafficking rings, and women are forced to work intense jobs working 12-14 hours a day with little access to medical care, forced to get abortions against their will, and the starving kids in Darfur on those commercials that make you pissed off because it actually made you have to feel bad about a legitimate problem are actually real! In some countries, the people don’t get a vote. In some countries, people are servants to their masters. In some countries, you can be beheaded for being gay.
Don’t pretend like just because you have a darker skin tone, have a vagina, and because of any other way you were born that you somehow lack privilege on that basis alone. Contrary to popular belief, straight white men aren’t just given cushy jobs, homes in nice neighborhoods, discounts on ballpark hot dogs, and access to tight pussy just because they want it. So, the next time you wanna shit out the word privilege on Tumblr, or Twitter, or Facebook, or on your useless petition at change.org - hold your overpriced smartphone in your hand, turn on your front facing camera, and take a good hard look into that $500 makeshift mirror as you remind yourself that the children who mined the materials in third world countries for you to be able to have it will never be privileged enough to be able to afford one.