Advantages for some, disadvantages for others

Woman symbol with the text "feminism"

Privileges, or being privileged, is commonly mentioned when we talk about equality, equity, and feminism. Privileges are advantages in life that you get as a result of things that nobody has any control over. The opposite of privileges are, in other words, disadvantages that you have because of things beyond anybody’s control. You’ve likely heard of at least two factors that lead to privileges and disadvantages, namely sex/gender and ethnicity/skin colour. For example, men get more money than women and non-binary people, even if they are equally competent and do the same job.This is one way in which men in general are privileged at the expense of women and non-binary people.

It’s not black and white

Having privileges doesn’t mean that your life is perfect, just like your life isn’t always horrible when you don’t have privileges in certain areas. However, someone who is privileged doesn’t face the same adversity in life on account of their attributes. Oftentimes, you don’t really get anything special with your privileges, you just don’t have to deal with the difficult results of not having privileges. Most people have both privileges and disadvantages at the same time. A white woman is disadvantaged in some ways, she will likely earn less for the same job compared to a man, for example. However, she won’t have to worry about racist violence. In this example, she has privileges because of her ethnicity/skin colour, but is disadvantaged on account of her sex/gender.

Invisible advantages and disadvantages

The tricky thing about privileges is that they are almost invisible. You probably need to think hard if you want to see your own privileges and disadvantages. The reason that privileges are difficult to even notice is that they often feel “natural”, as if it’s just the way things are.

Here’s a (simplified) list of questions that could help you notice privileges that concern ethnicity/skin colour

  • If I want to, I can choose to only socialise with people with my ethnicity/skin colour

  • If I need to move, I can be reasonably sure that I can afford to rent or buy a place to live in an area where I want to live.

  • In that case, I’m sure that my neighbours will be nice or have a neutral attitude towards me.

  • I can go shopping alone, and be pretty sure I won’t be harassed or abused by someone.

  • People with my ethnicity/skin colour are well represented on TV and in magazines.

  • I can talk to a group of powerful men without them judging everyone with my ethnicity/skin colour based on what I say.

  • I can perform well in challenging situations without people calling me a good role model for my ethnicity/skin colour

  • I’m never asked to speak for everyone with my ethnicity/skin colour

  • I can be sure that if I ask to speak to “the person in charge here”, it will be someone with my ethnicity/skin colour.

  • I can enroll in a school or start at job that has affirmative action without my classmates or colleagues suspecting that I was chosen because of my ethnicity/skin colour.

  • If I need medical care or legal help, I can be sure that my ethnicity/skin colour won’t be held against me.

You might see yourself in all the questions, maybe in none of them, maybe some of them. Regardless, it might feel strange that not everyone relates to the questions the same way.

Text by Dannie Milve, Förenade tjej-, trans- och ungdomsjourer

This text uses arguments and explanations from the book Undoing Privilege: Unearned Advantage in a Divided World by Bob Pease. 

The list of privilege questions is a shortened version of the list made by Peggy McIntosh (1992)