Check Your Privilege!
- Thread starter Colour Scientist
- Start date
Uh, there's a pretty big correlation. A person is a lot more likely to be unhappy if they're dying of cancer and can't pay for treatment, or if they and their children are starving. Misery through chemical imbalance can affect anyone yes. And millionaires feeling bad about "relative poverty" compared to their neighbors happens. But to say that there's no difference in the likelihood of happiness between people who can't afford basic necessities like food and shelter and those who enjoy all the luxuries and material security in life is absurd.Blood Brain Barrier said:
As an aside, I totally expected this to be a rant about the "Check You Privilege!" taunt that gets tossed around in some of the more "progressive" discussions today. The second I see/hear that, I know that the side tossing that out is pretty much done arguing and are just trying to use a cheat code to win the argument.
There is a significant correlation - otherwise the privilege would be nonexistent - but this correlation is not perfect. Privilege of any kind only increases the likelihood of you having a good life, but this likelihood is not equal to 100%, i.e. you are not garanteed to have a good life.Blood Brain Barrier said:
I think/hope that that's what you meant. And that's what many people who believe privilege doesn't exist don't seem to understand. They don't realize that claiming that their life sucking even though they're white/straigh/male/etc disproves the existence of privilege is about as legit as some dude claiming that because he's shorter than most of the women he knows, women would be on average taller then men...
... indeed a "very doubtful" proposition, to cite my captcha.
54/100 = Quite Privileged. Although some of the questions are kind of debatable. First of all, several questions involve conscious choices that one makes in their late teenage/early adult life. Also, I checked "I am white" although white is only 50% of my racial makeup (other half is filipino). And I have been called racial slurs but everyone who has ever directed a racial slur at me has guessed an entirely wrong ethnicity, leaving me more amused than offended. I'm also amused when people who are just curious want to know what my racial makeup is and they try to find a non-offensive way to ask me. Of course, I just have fun with it and make them suffer until they finally get around to asking the direct question:
"So... where are you from?"
"Edmonton."
"I mean, where did you grow up?"
"Oh, mostly Vancouver, but I was born in Edmonton."
"No, I mean, what's your background?"
"Not sure what you mean"
"Uh... like... what race are you?"
"Oh! Yeah, I'm half filipino half white"
Now, one thing I don't understand is why most of them then follow it up by asking which half my parents are. Like it makes a difference which of my parents is the ethnic one.
Unfortunately, I'm just brown enough to get "randomly selected" for extra questioning 9 out of 10 times that I cross the Canada/US border going south so that kind a sucks.
Anyhoo, the author of that quiz totally needs to remember that mixed-race people exist. They need to check their privilege
"So... where are you from?"
"Edmonton."
"I mean, where did you grow up?"
"Oh, mostly Vancouver, but I was born in Edmonton."
"No, I mean, what's your background?"
"Not sure what you mean"
"Uh... like... what race are you?"
"Oh! Yeah, I'm half filipino half white"
Now, one thing I don't understand is why most of them then follow it up by asking which half my parents are. Like it makes a difference which of my parents is the ethnic one.
Unfortunately, I'm just brown enough to get "randomly selected" for extra questioning 9 out of 10 times that I cross the Canada/US border going south so that kind a sucks.
Anyhoo, the author of that quiz totally needs to remember that mixed-race people exist. They need to check their privilege
I suppose I misinterpreted what it was saying. I agree with you we should be aware of this stuff and we should acknowledge that people dont have the same chances as others but as I and you said we should not feel guilty or responsibileRatty said:
"I have never felt overweight or underweight or ?too skinny.?"
Apparently the simple act of actually taking care of your body is a form of privilege.
Shouldn't fat people be more privileged as they have the luxury of having eaten so much food?
Apparently the simple act of actually taking care of your body is a form of privilege.
Shouldn't fat people be more privileged as they have the luxury of having eaten so much food?
Hey remember that thing that involved making assumptions about a person based on the colour of their skin or the gender. Wasn't that thing bad? hmmm what were they called again? Oh that's right Racism/Sexism.CloudAtlas said:
That's the problem with "privilege" as it is used today. It's not about actual privilege, it's about the perceived privileges based on prejudicial stereotypes.
Not necessarily. Nowadays it's actually far easier for poor people to get fat than it is for rich people. Gym memberships cost money (and if you're poor, personal trainers are not even an option). Sports equipment costs money. Healthy food is more expensive than non-healthy food.The Lunatic said:
Yes, there are ways around that. There are low-cost ways to eat healthy and get excercise, but it's definitely much more difficult than it would be if you had more money.
What are you implying here? That actual privileges (like being white or male) don't exist, and thus aren't a problem for those who don't have it?wulf3n said:
Being fat has pretty much nothing to do with what you eat, it's about how much of it you are eating.XMark said:
You can never be fat and healthy, but, it's entirely possibly to be appropriately sized and unhealthy due to poor nutrition.
People have lost weight eating nothing but twinkies and hot pockets, it's just a case of not overeating.
Apart from the not being totally straight ( which was an odd box, sexuality is binary) I've nothing safe for poor social skills that hold me back in anything I'd want in live. And though I can't always express that part of my sexuality openly, I don't feel oppressed. I got 71 out of a 100, but I feel I ought to have gotten more. I'm extremely privileged and realize that I'm so.
Uhm I'm sure the privilege of being white is pretty linked to white males. White women obviously enjoy the same privilege, but anyone else does not. Hence the name. Of course they might or might not enjoy other privileges.wulf3n said:
All rather trivial observations I'd say.
The opposite is true. Being fat has way more to do with what you eat than how much you eat of it. If you avoid animal products, than it really doesn't matter how much you eat, you won't get fat easily.The Lunatic said:
For example if you eat single small bag of chips everyday you'll gain weight and grow fat, but if you eat 7 pieces of fruit everyday you won't gain nearly as much weight.
Basically you'll shit out most of the stuff you eat. Not saying that veganism is healthy, but it's a way to loose weight. A vegetarian diet is much healthier though, and it too can help loose weight.