Undeserved privileges have separated made society seem more
and more separate. Peggy McIntosh’s essay enlightened me on the truth about
undeserved privileges. I can’t relate with the white undeserved privilege but I
can relate with the male undeserved privilege. Males have always been in power
since the United States was founded. Even now, a majority of people in congress
and in the United States government are male. Males are associated with being
in power, the people on top. It many years for women to gain power and even
then, women seem to be discredited for positions in the government. And even if
we, the entire United States, tried to forget about these undeserved privileges,
a more equal society seems unlikely. The entire country has been around the
idea about white males in power and other types of undeserved privileges that
we cannot forget about them. Undeserved privileges seem like they will always
be embedded into our subconscious and if that is what it takes for us to have a
more equal society, the result seems unlikely. I also feel that since we are
aware of these undeserved privileges, people will take advantage of them. And
people have. People in office seem to have understood that undeserved
privileges are powerful and they have taken advantage of it. When it comes to
living our everyday life, I believe that we are subconsciously aware that we
all have some type of underserved privilege and we take advantage of them
without really knowing we are taking advantage of them. Undeserved privileges
find a way to influence our many decisions in our lives. Granted, there are
many individuals that do, or at least try their best, not take advantage of
their undeserved privilege but since this country has become so accustomed to
having undeserved privileges, we naturally tend to lean more towards this
invisible power that we seem to have. Maybe one day we’ll be able to have a
more balanced society, but as of right now, underserved privileges have buried
themselves in our mind and have influenced the way many people live their lives.
Gustavo, your last sentence really summed up this topic of unrealized and undeserved privileges. I agree with you on the point that we are not consciously aware of our undeserved privileges, at all times, but ultimately we are aware of these privileges. I wonder how much these privileges effect the choices people make/the way people choose to live. Unknowingly, these privileges influence our lives. Like Mcintosh mentions, while making this list of privileges, she constantly was forgetting them at the same time. I believe that is because, while these privileges shape one's life tremendously, people forget to attribute their effects to their privileges. In my personal experience, growing up as a white female in a primarily white suburb of Houston, I felt an easy sense of belonging. That was because almost all of the faces I saw as I walked the hallways of my school looked like mine, white. Mcintosh mentions at the beginning of the essay that white people are "taught not to recognize white privilege." I have no recollection of these teachings.. Maybe that is because they were so carefully conditioned into my thought processes. Although I don't fully believe that white people are conciously taught to avoid acknowledging their undeserved privileges, I firmly believe in the presence of such privileges and their effects of those who have them and those that do not.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Gustavo on most of the points that he made. Our society as a whole has taken to the idea of males being in charge, it is something that isn’t really acknowledged because it has been a part of our society for many years. I also agree that an equal society is very unlikely because we have grown so accustomed to the way of males/white people having those privileges and it is highly unlikely that we ever become a society where everyone is “equal”. One point that was made by McIntosh was that most people aren’t aware of these privileges that actually do have a big impact on their lives. She listed out the privileges that she has as a white individual and said that she “repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until she wrote it down” which I think that goes for a lot of people in our society. The privileges that whites/males have aren’t thought about every day, until they are written down or brought to attention. Not everyone is necessarily brought up to acknowledge that they have more privileges than others, but that’s not always the case. I think that these privileges do however effect how people live their daily lives in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gustavo's point of how men are known to have power and the upper hand in our society. The idea has been around for so long that people don't really acknowledge it anymore. Because of the privileges that whites and males have originally, I don't think an equal society is unlikely, but impossible. We have grown accustomed to male and white privileges that it seems nearly impossible to throw that away. Because that's the way things have always been that we know of, I don't think enough change will ever arise for our society to be "equal." As long as whites and males continue to receive this invisible power that they have, our society will stay the same. I do agree with Gustavo's point of how somehow we all have our own undeserved privileges because that's what we are used to, and without realizing it, we do take advantage of them in some type of way. As Sara mentioned in her personal experience, I too grew up in a primarily white neighborhood in a small town so I never felt the sense of not belonging because everyone around me was the same. As for who takes advantage of these privileges and who does not, I do agree that although some don't, most people do. Human nature is designed for everyone to put themselves first and when given a privilege, I don't think it's necessarily wrong but natural to lean towards taking that privilege if the opportunity is there as long as there are good intentions involved. Overall, I agree with Gustavo's points whole-heartedly.
ReplyDeleteGustavo I completely agree with you on most of the points you made. The idea of males being in charge is the concept that exists in our society as a whole and it has been like this for so long that no one really bothers go against it. Another point I agree with is how we live in an unequal society because white males have been the one known to have higher privileges and that also has been around for several years and that is another thing that I do not believe will change anytime soon. McIntosh also pointed out that most people are not attentive of the privileges that essentially do have a vast impact on their lives. As she listed out the privileges that she had personally as a white female in society she stated, “Repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until she wrote it down” this is an example of how it may be for other individuals in our society. Most privileges that whites have are not in mind on day by day bases due to the fact of how “normal” they are, however not until one sits down and actually writes them down they are able to see the list as McIntosh did. I believe these privileges have an impact on how people live their lives on a daily.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of the points you made. Historically men have been the dominant positions in society. You see this pattern even in today’s day and age. Glass ceilings for women, for example is a perfect way to see how men are still dominant. Being a man means having many advantages over women no matter what race. If that wasn’t enough being a white male brings so much more advantages. I can easily come up with 15 things on how I have advantage over other races but they have already been said. Although I don’t want to think about these things it’s a must. I don’t think I have a responsibility to not use them but a responsibility to make sure that I don’t use them improperly.
ReplyDelete