Check Your Privilege!

[Superlative]

66-100

As a Heterosexual, Cisgender, Middle Class, Black male who has a MA and lives at home I'd say thats about right.


Race has been a thing in my life but not a huge one. After a while you just get used to being the only black person in the room. I've encountered racism but most of what I've dealt with has been more based on ignorance than malice and all ignorance needs is a little education/counter-examples. the only thing that really gets on my nerves is the level of threat management black men need to avoid becoming another Trayvon. Mostly I've just enjoyed the %75 resistance to sunburns and lice.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

That's an interesting question, but I'm not quite sure that it matters. A cishet man being randomly assaulted on the street for reasons unrelated to his gender has nothing to do with privilege so far as I can tell.

If it was unrelated to gender, then there would as many assaults on women as on men, no? There must be something more satisfying to assault a man than a women for these people.

 

[Dango]

Do people actually act like they can only be discriminated against if they're a racial minority or a woman? I'm curious.

That said I didn't take the test because Buzzfeed HAHAHAHAHA

 

[Superlative]

Firstly, rape, suicide, depression, bullying and being over or under weight have nothing to do with privilege. They can happen to anyone, anywhere at any time. Bill Gates could be raped tomorrow. Oxford and Cambridge are infamous for their hazing and "pranks".

Privilege is far more complicated than "could it hypothetically happen to you?" If you're a straight male, you're at a far lesser risk of being raped than a female or a queer male. Have you ever felt that casual male friends would be willing to sexually violate you? What about random males on the street? Odds are you haven't, or at least you haven't felt that sense of threat in the same way or at the same rate as a female. That is privilege, being able to go through your day without justifiable fear of sexual assault is privilege.

What about regular assault? Because men are more likely to be assaulted than women on the streets, yet men don't fear it as much as women, what does that fall under?

I think your missing what privilege is.

Your privileges are the ways in which you fit into whatever slot has the most power and prestige in a particular culture, the group that is considered the default in a society. The one size fits all in wherever. For us westerners the default is a straight, middle class, male wasp. those who for whatever reason don't fit this are considered an abnormally and their concerns are considered special.

@M_K_D brought up sexual assault because straight men (outside of jail) generally don;t have to worry about sexual assault nearly as much as a woman does. Physical violence is something everyone has to worry about in one way or another so its not a privilege thing.

 

[vallorn]

I'm comfortable and reasonably stable financially I have parents who have helped me through everything and I'm a white guy with a loving boyfriend... aaaand maybe ADHD and AS bu really... a lot of this stuff seems to be trying to make yourself feel sorry for yourself because of things it's really rather odd. I'd say that I'm really privileged but my life has been one hell of a boat ride so it gave me:

48/100

Yeeeaaahhh No this thing is bollocks.

EDIT: Boyfriend got 38/100

 

[Dango]

Do people actually act like they can only be discriminated against if they're a racial minority or a woman? I'm curious.

No, the idea that anyone has ever expressed that idea is a knee-jerk reaction that cishet, white, bourgeois men have when they're asked to check their privilege (for the most part at least).

So... if I'm a white male am I automatically privileged or is there some flexibility there?

Edit: At least I'm not privileged according to that test, suck it whities!

 

[DevilWithaHalo]

@M_K_D brought up sexual assault because straight men (outside of jail) generally don;t have to worry about sexual assault nearly as much as a woman does. Physical violence is something everyone has to worry about in one way or another so its not a privilege thing.

You can't argue statistical probability and then ignore it in the span of two sentences. Especially when your notions of privilege rely on statistical probability. Do you really think men don't have to worry about sexual assault? Your hypocrisy is utterly mind boggling... but not surprising.

 

[K12]

That's an interesting question, but I'm not quite sure that it matters. A cishet man being randomly assaulted on the street for reasons unrelated to his gender has nothing to do with privilege so far as I can tell.

If it was unrelated to gender, then there would as many assaults on women as on men, no? There must be something more satisfying to assault a man than a women for these people.

The reason that men get attacked more often is not necessarily to do with being more often targeted but may be a case of being in dangerous situations. In my experience women are often far more wary of being out at night on their own and may be in harms way less often than a fairly big young male who can handle himself getting mugged by a gang of 5 guys with knives.

It's also worth saying that perpetrators of all violent crime are predominantly men. There is a difference between member of a group attacking a member of the same group compared to a member of a social group attacking members of a different social group.

(btw I hope this won't be interpreted as me saying "the men deserve it for taking risks", I am simply saying that higher assaults and muggings on men might not be because they are more often targeted)

 

[michael87cn]

Why is the whole thing about discrimination? There are other kinds of hardships in life. Or, maybe I gave up after ticking off like 15 boxes... but I didn't read them all, but they seemed to follow the same pattern.

I wouldn't care what people thought of me if I was the most 'unpopular' type of human being in the world. I have my hardships, you have yours. Attaching some kind of score to my life? Seems kind of, foolish.

 

[The Material Sheep]

So... if I'm a white male am I automatically privileged or is there some flexibility there?

We all have privilege of different types and different degrees. If you're a white male you have white and male privilege, simple as that.

You can't argue statistical probability and then ignore it in the span of two sentences. Especially when your notions of privilege rely on statistical probability. Do you really think men don't have to worry about sexual assault?

Hypothetically, everyone and anyone can be sexually assaulted. Privilege isn't being incapable of being sexually assaulted, being able to go to a party without the fear that you might be drugged and raped, being able to wait for the bus without a guy taking creepshots of you. The matter of the fact is, straight men are far less likely to be victims of sexual assault than women or queer men. This does not at all mean that straight men being raped isn't an issue, it's just not an issue of privilege as we're discussing it.

I'll concede that straight men are less likely to be victims of sexual assault, sure that's fine. They're far more likely to be victims of physical assault. Is that really a demonstrable privilege, or more along the lines of advantages and disadvantages.

The constant debates over who is and isn't the most privilege, just come off as dick measuring contests to me. A contest to see who has it the worst, really isn't a fruitful area of discussion, or a healthy way to view society.

 

[The Material Sheep]

The constant debates over who is and isn't the most privilege, just come off as dick measuring contests to me. A contest to see who has it the worst, really isn't a fruitful area of discussion, or a healthy way to view society.

Of course, that's because the concept of privilege is meant as a tool, a magnifying glass or a comb for examining how a person's social standing relates to their interpretations and actions. Why should people check their own privilege or the privilege of others? Because it helps us understand the narratives and filters through which we perceive things.

Unfortunately this modern view of privilege oh too often relies far too much on feeling and perspective versus fact and reason. It leads to racists like Suey Park getting soap boxes and using it as a political club to legislate things that have no business being legislated. To me, this check your privilege crap is just getting to be another way for some people to flaunt their social superiority, and split people into more and more groups.

This trying to reconcile various peoples who've arbitrarily divided themselves into groups, by further dividing said groups, instead of focusing on the common traits we as humans all share, is only leaning to more hatred and resentment between the social groups. We've all got our issues, talents and anxieties. We've all got our problems, faults and failings. We're all going to die some day. Instead of trying to figure out who's got it the worst, why don't we just trying to understand and bond over what we all have in common.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I expected to be pretty damn high since I'm a straight white guy.

Ended up with a 36/100 and answered totally honestly.

Probably mostly to do with the fact that even though I'm white I've been below middle class and not around white people my whole life. Also I'm scrawny and have spent a lot of time on the internet so I can't check off any of the ones like "I've never been called a ******" either.

 

[MercurySteam]

65/100. Not bad at all. I could see some people I know getting much lower scores so I guess I should be thankful.

 

[Dense_Electric]

This is inherently bullshit because it assumes that you're more or less privileged because of your race or sex (read: if you're white and male, you're automatically more privileged according to this quiz). While this can certainly be the case, it's A, not universally true, and B, women and people of other races sometimes have certain privileges white males do not, so these factors therefor can't be used to determine one's level of privilege.

I also agree with Nurb, the idea of trying to make this into a "victimhood olympics" (brilliant term there, BTW) does not help anyone. What could theoretically be a useful tool for identifying who in our society is most in need of help (if it were accurate enough) is inevitably abused by the internet as a cop-out for acting like an asshole, where someone need only claim a "lack of privilege" (because they must have it so bad if they have a reliable internet connection) to automatically absolve themselves of all guilt or blame. It's like the left wing's answer to the right wing's abuse of the term "political correctness." Something that is thrown around as an automatic verbal smackdown against anyone you disagree with without actually having to argue logically or based on any sort of evidence.

Also, speaking as a white, heterosexual, cisgendered male: this whole "guilt by association" mindset that a small subset of feminists (who shall henceforth be referred to as "Tumblr Feminists" or "Feminazis") have, where all people of my "privileged" class are automatically guilty of some crime we didn't commit? Yeah, well I take that as a personal insult in the same way that you would justifiably take a post telling you to get in the kitchen and make a sandwich as a personal insult. It's not appreciated, and no one is ever going to listen to a word you say if you continue to patronize them for a crime they didn't commit. So knock it off or continue to be thought a fool.

 

[draigan]

I got 39 out of 100

Kinda expected that to be higher but the questions where hardly all encompassing

 

[CrystalShadow]

... 27 - Um, I know my life has lots of weird awkward things in it, but this still surprises me.

OK, so 10 or 20 of the questions are borderline, where in my situation I could've easily gone either way with how I answered, or don't actually even make sense in context of the countries I've lived in, but still...

Wow.

 

[Sethzard]

The religion section is where I run into the most problems. I'm an athiest so it doesn't really apply, work has been accommodating because I have no beliefs to interfere, there is nothing to mock etc.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Why is the whole thing about discrimination? There are other kinds of hardships in life. Or, maybe I gave up after ticking off like 15 boxes... but I didn't read them all, but they seemed to follow the same pattern.

I wouldn't care what people thought of me if I was the most 'unpopular' type of human being in the world. I have my hardships, you have yours. Attaching some kind of score to my life? Seems kind of, foolish.

Because that's largely what the concept of 'privilege' is about. While it is in principle just used to describe where a certain group of people have an advantage over another group, what it is usually about when someone brings up the subject, is that someone with a certain privilege may not even be aware of just what advantages this actually gives them over someone without that same advantage. This may lead them to dismiss the consequences of that advantage, and assume they are on a level playing field when they are in fact not.
However, a more direct reason for why discrimination is a big factor is that frequently it is discrimination itself that maintains and reinforces privilege. (The reason being black, or say, a muslim is a disadvantage for instance is not anything innate to being that way, but mostly because of other groups of people who have more power and influence than you do, holding your identity against you. Thus, in these kinds of situations, the discrimination involved is precisely why one group has privilege and the other does not. Frequently, to have privilege, means to be the one doing the discrimination or abuse, while to not have it, means being at risk of such abuse or discrimination. For another example, the negative consequences of being poorly educated, while having some other elements to them, also largely revolve around how others treat you as a result. Discrimination is technically still going on even if there is a perfectly valid, rational reason for, say, not wanting someone who doesn't have a driver's license to be driving a car. - There's a very obvious, very rational reason for that, but technically, it is still discrimination...)

Is that really a demonstrable privilege, or more along the lines of advantages and disadvantages.

You do realise what you've said just describes the same thing with different words, right?
Privilege = advantage, by and large.

So really, you're restating the same thing, but making it sound like it's something different.

 

[soh45400]

People on this site keep telling men to check their privilege and feel guilty yet you do nothing about it aside from shouting at other men to make yourself feel better instead of changing anything.
If Xbox puts on a permanent ban system for swearing and abuse, I bet Escapist would be in a uproar as it has been before.

You post all this on Escapist yet it only has two main female contributes, Lisa Foiles and Andrea Rene, aside from Loading Ready Run. And there is no focus on games that women would actually like while constantly criticizing games that men like and are made for men. Another woman came and actually gave womanly reviews on Escapist in the Bad Marriage Movie Reviews thing and Escapist threw her out after some criticism yet kept on Jim Sterling even after he received much worse when he first came here. And it as a genuinely feminine point of view instead of a tomboyish view, which was refreshing here especially when it gave a man's point of view on the same movie.

Giant banners for stuff like Titanfall but almost nothing for Wolf Among Us, Broken Sword, Jurassic Park The Game, Siberia, Mobius. Not a single mention of Nancy Drew games or even Yahtzee's own games. Games that are made for women are not as violent. I live with three sisters, I know they don't like that kind of stuff but love Subway Surfers, Candy Crush, Sims, Super Mario World, Back to the Future game and stuff like that. NONE of these games receive any attention on the Escapist compared to heavily advertised AAA titles.

 

[Ice Car]

54 out of 100.

Huh, I was expecting it to be higher.

Huh, I got exactly the same, and was expecting it to be higher too.

Though then again, I left several fields blank because they don't apply to me.

Since this is essentially a topic about privilege, I might as well contribute to discussion in some way. I find the concept of privilege to be inhibitive to rational discourse and discussion, and completely pointless. Everybody understands the concept of privilege to some degree, whether in name or not, or consciously so. It's a very simple concept, and it undermines people's own intelligence by assuming people don't know about it, or even need to "check their privilege."

When I get into an argument, I don't want to have to explain to people that I'm not white and that I'm a minority, or that I belong to the lower-middle class to somehow validate my own point. It's ridiculous how privilege is so often considered the basis for dismissing an argument, on tumblr especially. I've seen phrases along the lines of "you're cishet and white, you have all this privilege and you have no right to """"speak over people of color""""" so fucking often it sickens me. Being comfortable in your own skin and being white does not automatically make you a privileged individual you fucking retard, there are numerous other factors that go into defining someone's "privilege."

Oh, whoops, silly me, how ableist of me to call someone a retard! I should have called them trash instead, though golly me, that might be offensive to garbage men all over the world! I should stop being such an oppressive piece of shit.

And even independent of all of that is that it's something you can't even control to begin with. I want people to stop telling me to "check my damn privilege" like it's something I chose for myself, or I'm doing it out of spite for others. You're white, and have privilege, what do they expect you to do? Dye your skin black so you can "experience all this oppression for yourself,"? You're comfortable in your own skin, what do they want you to do, start kissing people of your own gender in a vain attempt to become openly gay, and thus also oppressed? You have the privilege of belonging to the upper class, and having more privilege than someone in the lower class, what do they want you to do? Give away all your money to the poor? Is it suddenly your obligation to give away all of your fucking money at the behest of some random jackoff on the internet? As much as I admire people who donate to charity and use their money to bring happiness to others, you're not required or obligated to give back to the poor. It's your own money, that you earned with your two hands, and because there are people less fortunate than you, does not mean that you are required to do so, or that if you don't, you're a terrible person on that basis alone.

If you even so much as bring up the word privilege in an argument as a valid point of some sort, you immediately lose all your credibility to me. Privilege is not something within your control, and shunning these people and demanding that these people give back to the unprivileged ON THAT BASIS ALONE, and NOT ON THEIR OWN ACTIONS AS AN INDIVIDUAL, makes YOU the very fucking bigot you claim to be against.

God knows if I said this on tumblr I'd probably get slammed for this and called a white person posing as people of color, and that I'm scum trash cishet white garbage that needs to check his privilege. I've found that just saying you're a person of color and disagreeing somehow makes you a poser. God forbid people have dissenting opinions right?

Sorry for the rant, it's just been something that's been in the back of my head for a while. Tumblr social justice just annoys me so damn much. I don't mind people caring about others enough to try and censor the internet, but mind that last part of that sentence. "censor the internet". It's a ridiculous notion right off the bat, and I've seen people alienate themselves from so many celebrities and make issues out of nothing, it just keeps them from enjoying so many things and isolates them from the joys of the world because "x person said a bigoted thing this one time in an interview," or "he said that the gays are terrible in a tweet from 2009, it is now currently 2014 and he has become a proponent of gay rights, this still matters and it is impossible for people to change for the better, i woke up on the wrong side of the bed today and i'm taking it out on the internet haha"

it's a toxic environment grounded in good intentions. It's a sad contradiction/paradox of sorts.