Check Your Privilege!

[CloudAtlas]

Privilege doesn't mean anything for how good your life is. Poor people can be miserable, rich people can be miserable, there's no correlation.

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.
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.

 

[XMark]

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

 

[shootthebandit]

"Things like racism are institutionalized. You might not know any bigots. You feel like ?well I don?t hate black people so I?m not a racist,? but you benefit from racism. Just by the merit, the color of your skin. The opportunities that you have, you?re privileged in ways that you might not even realize because you haven?t been deprived of certain things. We need to talk about these things in order for them to change." - Dave Chappelle

Yeah I heard about this joke-quiz a while back. But privilege is a real thing, and people should be aware of it and not mocked for talking about it. The above quote that I just saw recently encapsulates why very well.

This is bullshit. Why should I feel guilty a) for being born a certain skin colour and b) for working hard mon-fri to get the lifestyle I want?

Complaining about racism then forcing people to feel responsible for something they have no part in purely because of thier skin colour is a tad hypocritical. I live in the UK where weve never had slavery and weve never forced black people to use separate facilities. Also this mainly happened years ago, im pretty sure young germans dont feel guilty for the holocaust (yes these things should be remembered and we should be grateful for what we have but we should never feel guilty)

Racism is a dreadful thing but I dont feel in anyway guilty. I feel sorry for victims of racism but im not taking responsibility for it

I'm not (and that quote is not) suggesting you should feel guilty about other people's racism, or atrocities committed by previous generations. The suggestion is that you should be aware of the bigotry of others and not let it slide because it doesn't affect you or your group. That's what "checking your privilege" is about. Recognizing and calling out bigotry that does not affect you or even benefits you/your group. Like a lot of straight people who never stop to think about how much being denied equal marriage rights effects the lives of LGBTs, because their marriage rights aren't in question. I don't think most of these people are trying to be mean, they just don't think. They never consider or "check" their privileged position in society.

Just as a side note I heard from an Israeli man some time ago that when he was in school they went on a field trip to German concentration camp sites with German students. And at that point the German kids felt guilty and the Israli kids felt like victims. Which I found incredibly fucked up and unnecessary, since it was obviously the intention of such a mash up, but there you go. Some people are trying to propagate these hatreds and guilts for things done by our long dead ancestors, but that's not what this is about.

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 responsibile

 

[The Lunatic]

"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?

 

[wulf3n]

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...

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.

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.

 

[XMark]

"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?

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.

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.

 

[loa]

I like how a good chunk of these is basically "are you a white cis hetero male?" over and over.

 

[CloudAtlas]

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...

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.

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.

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?

 

[00slash00]

I got 45, but lets be honest here. If you're spending your time on a video game website and spend your free time playing video games, then chances are you're pretty fuckin privileged

 

[The Lunatic]

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.

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.

Being fat has pretty much nothing to do with what you eat, it's about how much of it you are eating.

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.

 

[wulf3n]

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?

No, what I'm implying is that said privileges aren't linked to being a white male. That said privileges can be held by non white males, and likewise often aren't held by white males.

 

[DazBurger]

48 out of 100
I am surprised by this. Being white, male, heterosexual and danish.

 

[rutger5000]

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.

 

[CloudAtlas]

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?

No, what I'm implying is that said privileges aren't linked to being a white male. That said privileges can be held by non white males, and likewise often aren't held by white males.

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.

All rather trivial observations I'd say.

 

[rutger5000]

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.

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.

Being fat has pretty much nothing to do with what you eat, it's about how much of it you are eating.

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.

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.
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.

 

[LetalisK]

44/100 and I'm a white straight male. Yeah, this test is pretty shitty. The statements are completely devoid of context and makes the whole thing pretty arbitrary. For example, "I have traveled internationally." Why, yes, I have. To Iraq. So privileged.

 

[wulf3n]

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?

No, what I'm implying is that said privileges aren't linked to being a white male. That said privileges can be held by non white males, and likewise often aren't held by white males.

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.

All rather trivial observations I'd say.

The problem here is the "white privilege" you speak of has nothing to do with being white and everything to do with being a part of the ethnic majority in their culture\society.

 

[LetalisK]

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.
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.

I don't think it's true that 155 calories(small bag of potato chips) > 721 calories(7 apples). Also, getting fat on either one of those items is not a foregone conclusion and is dependent on how much energy you're spending, but it's the chips that require far less extra movement to burn off. It's actually one of the biggest pitfalls with people dieting: they think they can go bat-shit insane on anything that came from a plant, the ground, or anything marketed as being diet/lite/healthy then wonder why they're actually gaining weight because they've been going overboard with the orange juice, nuts, chicken, and 9-grain whole wheat bread to fill the hole in their stomach. At least in America, what we eat is bad, but we are far and away worse with the quantity we eat. Not to mention reducing quantity of what we eat is easier to accomplish and stick with than completely shifting what we eat(best option being to do a bit of both).

Not to say a vegetarian diet isn't usually healthier than the typical diet. It is, but it's because a vegetarian diet has a lot more built-in and natural portion control than the high-carb, high-fat, low-fiber diets most people have[footnote]I.E. It's a lot harder to eat 7 apples in a day than one bag of chips as even one apple is going to be more filling in the long-term than one bag of chips.[/footnote]. Now, if you said someone with all-you-can-eat chips will gain more weight than someone with all-you-can-eat apples, I'd agree 100%.

 

[CloudAtlas]

The problem here is the "white privilege" you speak of has nothing to do with being white and everything to do with being a part of the ethnic majority in their culture\society.

I'd wager that being white in places where whites are the ethnic minority, or form no significant share of the population whatsoever, is generally not worse than not being white in predominantly white countries. To make a statement with a reasonable degree of certainty here seems difficult though, since being white tends to coincide with privileges in the economic sphere. So whether you're generally doing relatively okay because you're white or because you're relatively wealthy... because you're white, this question might be a bit tricky to disentangle.

I mean, most (all?) countries with a significant white minority are nations with a colonial past. Whites there probably enjoy more privilege than anywhere else even though they're not the majority. Maybe not because they're white, but because they're wealthy... again, which they became because they came from Europe and were hence white.
But I mean, I'm open to actual evidence, so if you can point to really relevant cases where whites don't have it rather well in any countries where they're at most a minority, go ahead. From the top of my head, I can recall not that much.

Anyway, that seems to be mostly semantics to me. Most of us here will be from the West, and here the majority is white, so whether we enjoy "white privilege" or "ethnic majority privilege" doesn't really change anything, in particular not for those who are not white and thus not in the ethnic majority and thus do not enjoy this privilege... or does it?
But since you acknowledge the existence of a ethnicity-based privilege, that is, the very same thing quite a few people deny, we're pretty much sitting in the same boat on the broader issue. Or not?

 

[ThreeName]

What you have to understand is that the zero score isn't really rock-bottom.

It's rock-bottom among those who have access to a computer, the internet and possess the free time and basic knowledge required to fill in an online privilege test. That pretty much already puts you in the top 10% of this world, a sandstone castle wouldn't necessarily disqualify you from being in the bottom half of that top 10%.

Very well, I'm a white, middle-class, heterosexual, Christian male living in a huge sandstone castle.

I don't see how getting raped or having a poor body image somehow robs you of privilege, that concept is just too fucked up. Isn't privilege meant to be related to status? It shouldn't change based upon events like that, it's just fucking stupid.

By including the possible pitfalls of being part of the "non-privileged" groups, they've totally fucked it up. For example, I have been insulted plenty for being Christian, but being Christian is still a privilege because it makes up the historical and cultural roots of my country (post-colonisation, of course).

Captcha: "Roll again" no thanks, I think I just established my roll this time was pretty darn good.