Why I do not like the term "privilege"

[pozorvlak]

[This post is basically a holding page for a discussion that started on Twitter but quickly spiralled beyond 140 characters per point.]

I think that the term "privilege", as used by feminists and other equality-campaigners, is unhelpful. I think the concept to which it refers (which I attempted to explain here) is extremely helpful and important;

Comments

[andustar]

I'm at work and can't write a proper comment, but just wanted to say that your post got me thinking, so thank you.

I'd also be curious to hear more about the ways in which you think the colloquial use of the word 'privilege' differs from the way it's used more 'technically' in feminist (etc) contexts.

I don't want to sound combative, I'm very interested. I've been immersed in feminist, anti racist etc writing online for years and don't particularly remember having 'aha! this doesn't quite mean what I assumed it meant' moments around the word 'privilege' myself. But it might just be too long ago.

Having just googled and checked a few dictionaries to see how the word is used in a wider context, I'm not actually convinced that the 'ordinary' definition of the word is all that misleading. (The OED definitions seem particularly spot on, if you have access, and have usage examples dating back to the 1300s). I wonder if some of the resistance that you're attributing to genuine miscommunication around the signifier is at heart more to do with resistance to the concept being signified. Not to mention the very basic idea that feminism has any intellectual points worth looking into. That's certainly been my experience when trying to have these discussions.

[andustar]

Clearly I left this window open for too long! I'm glad to find that by the time I actually hit the Post button there were a few people more or less agreeing with me, hehe.

[pozorvlak]

I'd also be curious to hear more about the ways in which you think the colloquial use of the word 'privilege' differs from the way it's used more 'technically' in feminist (etc) contexts.

Well, I think the colloquial meaning is something like "David Cameron", and the technical meaning includes the following points:

1) conferred by society on groups
2) largely invisible, or perceived as "normal", by the beneficiaries.

This blogger doesn't include point (2) in her one-sentence definition, but does include it in her "in a nutshell" pull-quote. I think it's pretty crucial (more on that below), though I'm aware you're much better read than me in this field.

I've been immersed in feminist, anti racist etc writing online for years and don't particularly remember having 'aha! this doesn't quite mean what I assumed it meant' moments around the word 'privilege' myself.

I'm fairly new to this stuff, and had exactly this misunderstanding (and subsequent ugly argument) when I first encountered the term.

I wonder if some of the resistance that you're attributing to genuine miscommunication around the signifier is at heart more to do with resistance to the concept being signified.

Quite possibly, yes. These days I deliberately look for opportunities to treat disagreements as miscommunication, because (a) they very often are, (b) it does wonders for my blood pressure, (c) trolls often get bored in the face of my earnest explanations and wander off, (d) carefully establishing terms early on makes it much easier to have a sensible discussion over the real points of disagreement, whatever they turn out to be.

But! This is where point (2) comes in. A feminist might say "You are privileged", meaning "through no fault of your own, your viewpoint has become warped and untrustworthy; you need a reality check". But what is heard is "you are David Cameron, the vile recipient of unearned largesse". This is hard to accept, even if true. But the crucial point, the one about unreliable viewpoints, is much less uncomfortable (I think). Does that make any sense?

[andustar]

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I guess I see (2) as more of an... optional effect of (1) than an integral part of what 'privilege' is, but I completely take your point that it's actually a pretty key aspect.

I'm really not an authority by the way, I just lurk and read a lot!

Here's another take on privilege I read a while back and liked, that agrees with you:
Privilege is a smooth road. When you have privilege, you still have to travel from point A to point B to get what you want. It may tire you out. But the road you walk is smooth. It's paved. The sun is shining and birds are chirping and there's a cool breeze helping you along. You don’t even notice that your road is smooth; you expect it to be, and it is, so you walk it. Whereas the less privileged person beside you, also trying to get from point A to point B? There are potholes in his road. There are man-made barriers that he has to climb over. There may be a pit of snakes. Oh, and it’s raining, and he can’t afford a coat or umbrella. Sucks to be him.

This is not to say that your road is always and entirely smooth. Just the portion of it affected by race, in the case of white privilege. Or the portion of it affected by gender, in the case of male privilege. And so on. This doesn't invalidate the individual and specific pain you may feel as you walk your road, because you have chronic arthritis, and your son has cancer, your boss is a sociopath, and your marriage is falling apart. We all have our individual pain. Privilege is the absence of pain in areas you can't even see.