Privilege
My brother is awesome.
He's funny, smart, outspoken and he spends his free time on the internets arguing about politics.
Sunday night we were chatting on the phone and I was voicing my amazement at the people in my American Government class. It's a community college, most people in the class are working adults. I'd lay money on the odd that no one in there is making 50K a year. Yet, the class is full of really outspoken, right wing, conservative Republicans.
To be clear, I'm not talking old school, smaller government, less interference, Teddy Rooseveltesque Republicans - I'm talking Anti Gay Marriage, No stem cell research, Let's Nuke Iraq & Afghanistan, Obama is a Muslim and was born in Africa, Palin for President 2012 Republicans.
And I'm always surprised at people making so little supporting the party that only seems to help the rich.
To which my brother replied "It's not about the money for them. If they get screwed by the Republicans for making less than 200K a year, they're fine with that as long as gays can't marry and people are working to overturn Roe vs. Wade."
If the conversation had ended there, it would have been a typical discussion with my brother and not worth mentioning.
But my brother went on to say "And I'm so tired of arguing with these idiots about gay marriage and abortion. If I have to hear 'the Bible says' one more time I'm going to lose it. So I've decided not to argue for those any more. Since I'm never going to marry a dude and never going to need an abortion, I'm done wasting my time arguing about them."
That right there. That's privilege.
It's true: my brother is straight so he will never want or need the protections of gay marriage, and my brother is a guy so he's never going to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. So he has the privilege of not having to worry about them, fight for them, or speak out about them. He can lay down arms in that fight and it will never touch his life.
I, on the other hand, cannot. As a bisexual female, there is a chance that I will want to marry another woman some day. As a female, there is a chance I will need options in the event of a pregnancy. I don't have the luxury of letting someone else worry about it. I can't step to the side and say "Well, good luck with all that. I'll vote in support of you guys, but other than that I don't really have the time to waste on your issues."
Now, do I think my brother is a bad guy? No.
I understand how he feels. And as they say, he doesn't really have a dog in this fight.
I do think it is a perfect illustration of privilege. My brother isn't trying to keep down LGBT people or oppress women. He isn't working against social change or trying to hinder freedoms. He just doesn't have to worry about it.
Lucky him.
He's funny, smart, outspoken and he spends his free time on the internets arguing about politics.
Sunday night we were chatting on the phone and I was voicing my amazement at the people in my American Government class. It's a community college, most people in the class are working adults. I'd lay money on the odd that no one in there is making 50K a year. Yet, the class is full of really outspoken, right wing, conservative Republicans.
To be clear, I'm not talking old school, smaller government, less interference, Teddy Rooseveltesque Republicans - I'm talking Anti Gay Marriage, No stem cell research, Let's Nuke Iraq & Afghanistan, Obama is a Muslim and was born in Africa, Palin for President 2012 Republicans.
And I'm always surprised at people making so little supporting the party that only seems to help the rich.
To which my brother replied "It's not about the money for them. If they get screwed by the Republicans for making less than 200K a year, they're fine with that as long as gays can't marry and people are working to overturn Roe vs. Wade."
If the conversation had ended there, it would have been a typical discussion with my brother and not worth mentioning.
But my brother went on to say "And I'm so tired of arguing with these idiots about gay marriage and abortion. If I have to hear 'the Bible says' one more time I'm going to lose it. So I've decided not to argue for those any more. Since I'm never going to marry a dude and never going to need an abortion, I'm done wasting my time arguing about them."
That right there. That's privilege.
It's true: my brother is straight so he will never want or need the protections of gay marriage, and my brother is a guy so he's never going to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. So he has the privilege of not having to worry about them, fight for them, or speak out about them. He can lay down arms in that fight and it will never touch his life.
I, on the other hand, cannot. As a bisexual female, there is a chance that I will want to marry another woman some day. As a female, there is a chance I will need options in the event of a pregnancy. I don't have the luxury of letting someone else worry about it. I can't step to the side and say "Well, good luck with all that. I'll vote in support of you guys, but other than that I don't really have the time to waste on your issues."
Now, do I think my brother is a bad guy? No.
I understand how he feels. And as they say, he doesn't really have a dog in this fight.
I do think it is a perfect illustration of privilege. My brother isn't trying to keep down LGBT people or oppress women. He isn't working against social change or trying to hinder freedoms. He just doesn't have to worry about it.
Lucky him.