Examples of Privilege

For those who find that word inflammatory

The concept of privilege enrages some people because they think it means that it is being asserted that they never have any problems or that their life is easy. That isn’t what this term means at all. It simply indicates that you don’t have to deal with certain things or think about certain things that others in a different demographic do have to think about or deal with on a regular basis.

“Privilege, simply put, is societally granted, unearned advantages accorded to some people and not others. Generally, when we talk about privilege, we are referring to systemic or structural advantages that impact people based on identity factors such as race, gender, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexuality, class, and body type. We might also include level of education and other factors of social capital under the umbrella of privilege.

Privilege is inextricably linked to oppression, because, while systems, social norms, and biases are advantages for some people, there are others who are disadvantaged by those same systems, norms, and biases. For example, think of a flight of stairs. Stairs are in virtually every building with more than one floor and in many outdoor spaces. It is generally assumed that people have the physical ability to walk up the stairs to access higher floors. However…