Privilege 101

[annwyd]

This guide may seem directed mostly at fandom in some places, because that's how it started. But I'd like to think it could be useful for everybody.One of the things that becomes clear if you spend enough time around the internet is that there are people who are versed in anti-oppression discourse and people who are not. To the latter category of

Comments

[chibidl]

The issue here is one of perspective: You see a good article with some flaws, and I see a lot of flaws and oversimplification with a good idea behind it. Yet we both seem to agree on the fact that there are flaws and good ideas here.

I'm coming from the perspective that the wrong words about this subject can do more damage than the right words help. In other words, I think you'd be better off saying nothing than throwing around insults and oversimplifying things like you are. Your audience might be mature enough to handle it normally, but this is a sensitive subject and they are probably dealing with varying degrees of butthurt about it as well as after-effects from perceived or real verbal abuse. You can be a little less blunt without being hyper-polite and apologetic, too.

Then again, this is just my opinion. Plenty of people - and you may be one of them - believe that any words said with the right intention behind them are better than nothing at all. That's fine, too, and no one can really say which way of thinking is right. Privilege and societal oppression is the kind of subject that people get PhDs in, so no one should expect you to write a flawless advice article about it in either case.

Tl;dr version? I'm giving you concrit. No, you didn't ask for it, but that's just how I roll. I don't necessarily disagree with the rousing praise you've received from everyone else, and don't intend to negate it. Let the multitude speak for themselves; I am but one voice.