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

What is blogging for?

[anonymous]

Interesting post. I think you have to ask what these blogs are for, and what commenters are looking for when they comment

Re: What is blogging for?

[pozorvlak]

I guess I was assuming that the unreachable trolls were outnumbered by clueless but educable people who don't realise they're in the wrong place, but perhaps this is my unexamined privilege talking.

If bloggers avoid using it, they'll have to go round the houses to say things that they could say a lot more easily if there was just a simple word for it

I absolutely agree that this is a concept that needs a concise term. I think it's possible to find a better term than "privilege", but I don't know how :-(

muted group theory

That's a new one on me (and "group theory" tends to spark the wrong associations in my head :-) ). Reading now - thanks!

And for what?Easier outreach, more obvious segmentation. The feminist blogs which are doing outreach will have one less misconception to overcome; those which aren't will look less like they are

Re: What is blogging for?

[maradydd]

It took me a minute to figure out that muted group theory probably wasn't a branch of abstract algebra.

Re: What is blogging for?

[pozorvlak]

Me too :-)

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[lesslucid]

I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that "private law" as a definition of privilege may well be part of the problem of why it leads down a rabbit hole of misdirection. There's that great quotation from Anatole France where he says (forgive if I get it a little wrong) "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to beg in the streets, to steal bread, or to sleep under bridges". The point being, in terms of what's actually on the law books, the rich and poor are actually equal; there aren't special exceptions to these laws which allow the rich to do what the poor are forbidden to do. The problem is that these laws only treat rich and poor equally in the most technical and practically meaningless sense, because of course the rich have no need or desire to sleep under public bridges. And it may be that in some way talking about "male privilege" derails discussion into the fruitless area of technical and meaningless equality rather than the very great practical and meaningful inequalities.

Re: ...

[pozorvlak]

the rich have no need or desire to sleep under public bridges.

I bet they'd get an easier ride from the police if they took it into their heads to try, though. Compare the Bullingdon Club's drunken restaurant-smashings.

[pozorvlak]

I really don't see that the use of 'privilege' among identity politics types is especially difficult.

If you look at Kate's Twitter account, you'll see that she's spent most of today trying to explain the concept to people who think they already know what "privilege" means, that they certainly don't have it because they're not rich/posh/whatever, and how dare she be so offensive as to undermine their accomplishments by calling them privileged? Now at least one of those guys is being genuinely unpleasant, but I don't think he's deliberately misunderstanding her.

I don't think that this is the best use of her time and emotional energy. Multiply by, oooh, every feminist activist in the English-speaking world, and we see the scope of the problem.

a privilege is an advantage one person or group of people has over others

Well, yes, but AIUI feminists use the term in a more precise sense - privilege (uncountable noun...) is a systematic advantage enjoyed by members of a group that they are not, in the main, aware of.

[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

[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

[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

[ciphergoth]

BTW I can't find a good cite for those stats - the chain ends here. They're not inherently implausible, but they seem very hard to collect!

[pozorvlak]

How frustrating!

[wormwood_pearl]

Perhaps someone *coughAaroncough* could come up with some classical neologism, like kyriarchy, to describe the concept?

I think that privilege is normally defined as being some visible, tangible advantage, as opposed to the invisible miasma referred to in feminist discourse.

[pozorvlak]

I think that privilege is normally defined as being some visible, tangible advantage, as opposed to the invisible miasma referred to in feminist discourse.

I think I hear the sound of a nail being hit on the head.

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[lesslucid]

Maybe it just needs the latin prefix altered from "private" to something like "sloped" or "slanted" or "normative" or something... like that? Or maybe the suffix from "laws" to "advantages" or "benefits" or... something. Hmm.