What is Privilege?

A lot of times when we talk about "privilege" we expect everyone to know exactly what we are talking about. Here is a brief explanation about what privilege means and how we can use it to understand our identities and the identities of others around us. Privilege isn't about making you feel bad, it's about creating understanding.
Want curriculum that supports healthy educational systems? Visit:
Bit.ly/LINQTPT
meghanbenavidesconsulting.com

[@petrastastna937]

Nice video

[@learningisnotquiet7371]

Thank you! Stay tuned for more!

[@parkerdedrick8967]

Why would being a Protestant cause one to be privileged, along with someone being thin, or employed? From what I understand religious beliefs, whether a person is employed or not, and the body size of a person are all things that can be changed for any gender or ethnicity. And why male’s, in the past yes; but in the United States there isn’t that big of a difference. I suppose you could even argue against that. There are examples of inequality in all groups of people, but that’s never fixed by emphasizing someone’s pedestal.

[@learningisnotquiet7371]

Thank you for your questions! Curiosity is the best way to approach these topics. I'm not putting anyone on a pedestal in any way, shape or form. Again, privilege doesn't mean your life is easy; it just means it wasn't hard by design. Not all of these things are equal in terms of privilege and oppression. Privilege isn't static; it changes throughout your lifetime. I had skinny privilege when I was younger, but now I don't have that privilege. Here's how being Protestant and Male are advantages:
-Protestant: This is specific to a US context. Other religious groups, such as Muslims or Jewish people, face hate all of the time. Protestants in the United States don't face this same level of hate and abuse for their religion. As a teacher in diverse classrooms, I physically witnessed Muslim and Jewish students bullied, and a school system that was unwilling to address this bullying and hate because they didn't want to "interfere." Yet, other issues, they were all over. I'm Catholic; historically, my ancestors were looked down upon for immigrating to the United States (from Italy) because of their faith. This is subjective, however. In Iran, for example, being Protestant would be an oppressed identity.
-Male: I have been sexually assaulted at work multiple times (as an elementary teacher by another teacher). I don't know a single woman who hasn't been sexually assaulted. This is, in general, much more common among women than it is among men. I have to constantly think about what I wear, where I go, and how safe it is in a way that my husband doesn't have to. Even though the US has come a long way, we still have a long way to go. There is a pay gap still. While some people argue this is because of job choice and child-rearing, the pay gap still exists when controlling for these factors in key industries. Additionally, we have lower wages in essential jobs that were traditionally for women. As a teacher, for example, we aren't paid very well because historically, it was a "women's job" and "wasn't meant to support the whole family." Even though we've had the women's movement, teacher's salaries haven't really gone up. I earned 45,000$ as a teacher with 7 years of experience and a Master's degree.

[@georgequinn240]

Privalige isnt bad, it's sad thing to say but it is life, one will be always above another it's the same in dogs and other species like lobsters ect

[@learningisnotquiet7371]

When you say that one will always be above the other, it doesn't mean that someone is always going to be better than someone else. I hope that you mean that fairness is really difficult to achieve in complex systems and to this I agree, but we can always take steps to make it more fair. Understanding privilege means that more systems were designed with them in mind. Privilege isn't good or bad, it is a way of talking about how easy it is to navigate a system.