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*Thread*
How about since we acknowledge being white is a privilege, and being male is a privilege, we concede other, even more privileged, privileges exist? Like being wealthy, or being beautiful, or being intelligent, or being talented, or being healthy?
How about since we acknowledge being white is a privilege, and being male is a privilege, we concede other, even more privileged, privileges exist? Like being wealthy, or being beautiful, or being intelligent, or being talented, or being healthy?
All of those things are arguably even more of a privilege than being white, if not male. There are plenty of fat, ugly, stupid, poor, diabetic white men in this country to prove it. Would you rather be a poor white man or a rich black woman (Hello Oprah)?
An ugly white man or a beautiful black model? (Hello Naomi "I won't get out of bed for less than $10,000” Campbell). To whom does the world offer more opportunities? Being healthy is arguably the biggest privilege of all.
Would you rather be black, or Latino, or have ALS? Pick one. Following that, probably wealth and beauty. Being born in the US is maybe one of the biggest privileges, as well. Being born after 1980 and not before 1880 is a privilege.
Being naturally charming and sociable vs. being socially awkward will make a massive difference in the trajectory of your life, Zuckerbergs of the world notwithstanding. There are studies on this. I'm going to start protesting against all the most beautiful people.
The world treats them FAR better than regular-looking folk. In fact, models specifically should be condemned for using that unearned privilege to succeed in the world, just as white men use being white and male. Actually, even more blatantly than white men.
How has the mere existence of models affected the way regular-looking women have been treated by society? Here we have these unfairly advantaged people making livelihoods, if not fortunes, off their unearned genetic luck.
How have we allowed them to get away with this abuse for so long?! Not even just models. Beautiful men and women get preference for all manner of things in life. Are we mad at them? Should they have to apologize and “interrogate” their beauty privilege?
Orrrrrrrrr..... maybe life isn't fair. Society deems being white and male to be privileges. And they are, even if less so today than 100 years ago. Society also says, being beautiful, being wealthy, being intelligent, and so many other attributes are privileges.
Some people have more privilege than others, and it's not fair, nor is it their fault. Everyone uses the advantages they have to get by in the world. It’s a human thing, not just a white thing, or a male thing.
I’ve never tweeted anything that received anywhere near this much visibility. The number of people who seem to think I’m actually advocating for more so-called “privileged” groups to be identified and scolded is truly surprising. This is the opposite of what I believe.
I thought I was clear in demonstrating how ridiculous it is to target any individual group because of some perceived advantage. We all have advantages and disadvantages that we have little-to-no control over.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. To attack, or blame, or accuse people of something malicious based on those things is stupid and wrong. Everyone’s just trying to do the best they can with what they’ve got.
