The Power of Privilege: Understanding Specifically What Privilege Is & Does

The word privilege invokes a variety of emotions, thoughts, and mental images.  For many, it conjures up ideas of people with monetary wealth and luxury goods, such as expansive mansions, couture clothing, luxury cars, and more.  Chances are that when those images come to mind there are specific people that model and embody that way of life.  What do they look like to you? 

Figure 1: Think about what specific images of PEOPLE & THINGS come to mind when you think about privilege.

If you thought that the patrons of these lavish items were white, blonde, blue eyed, and young women and/or older (and “distinguished”) men you are not alone.  These images are very much culturally & socially defined and driven.  Today’s blog post is going to discuss these cultural and social constructions of power, what they look like, and how they affect our daily interactions within ourselves and with others.  These cultural and social constructions of power are the topic of privilege.  I will start by discussing privilege from a general perspective for now so as to clarify the term and ideologies associated with it for ease of understanding, but I will focus on to specific examples of privilege later in this post to demonstrate the latter points about the effects of these privileges on the individual and on group interactions.

Privilege in everyday language refers to a system of rewards, opportunities, and freedoms afforded to an individual but not the rest.  This definition is quite comparable to how the term is used academically to discuss social inequalities that exist in every culture and society.  Typically when one discusses privilege the discussion focuses on one type of privilege, such as male privilege, white privilege, Christian privilege.  This narrow focus on privilege can be problematic because it provides too fine a lens in understanding specifically what privilege is as it spotlights one type of privilege and how it affects people but sometimes (or, in my experiences, more often than not) distorts a learner’s understanding of what specifically privilege is.  While it is good to focus on one type of privilege and specific types of privilege do exist, it is important to know that privilege refers to any individual or group of individuals who have real but often invisible access to power and advantages that other members of the culture and society do not have. 

Now let us break down this definition further, starting with real but often invisible.  This is crucial to understanding privilege because most of the time individuals are unaware of their privilege.  This may not be a matter of willful ignorance on the part of the privileged but simply a matter of lack of knowledge and understanding of the social agreements that provide benefits to some as well as the social struggles that deny access to others. 

Another part of the definition that we need to focus on is access to power.  When one thinks of power all sorts of ideas come to mind.  A primary theme that is present with these ideas of power is control and influence.  This can refer to individual power, meaning the power to control one’s destiny or future, or group power, which refers to an entire group of people having the ability to collectively control their own destiny or future (e.g. choose what to wear, where to live, who to interact with, what to do for work or in one’s free time, etc.).  Now I can already hear you thinking (and/or saying) what do you mean I do not have control in what I wear?  Of course I can choose what I want to wear!  Well, I hate to break it to you, but culture very much controls your decision making there.  There are social and cultural expectations pertaining to what is acceptable to wear and when.  For example, a business suit is typically considered masculine attire.  We see this in the advertising and imagery associated with advertising and businesses associated with men (e.g. Armani suits or Men’s Wearhouse [Figure 2]).

Figure 2: Giorgio Armani Advertisement (Left) & Men's Wearhouse Advertisement (Right)

A man who wears a business suit is considered professional, intelligent, and capable.  A woman who also wears a business suit is often times considered the same: professional, intelligent, and capable (Figure 3).  But what happens when we switch the clothing type for our hypothetical man and woman?  What if we put a man and woman in the same dress (Figure 4)?  What are your thoughts then?  Chances are that no one (or very few people) would question the woman wearing the dress because culturally we view dresses as women’s attire, but a man who opts to wear a dress would be considered absurd or less of a man.  So why is it that a woman can wear a business suit, which is typically described as masculine attire, but a man cannot wear a dress, which is typically associated with women?  Because we, as Americans, place importance and preference on men over women and therefore a woman who wears masculine clothing is validating a man’s worth whereas men who wear women’s clothing are diminishing their power and worth by taking on a inferior role as a woman.  And before you start getting upset, critically think about what I am saying here.  Who would you follow if you were trapped in a seemingly impossible and incredibly dangerous situation: a man or a woman?  Be honest.  Most people (re: Americans) would follow the man because men are viewed as protectors, authoritarians, and leaders.  Women are not less capable of fulfilling those roles, but we (re: Americans) view women as nurturers, subservient, and followers.  Furthermore, we tend to believe that these characteristics are natural, biological traits and not culturally dictated and determined (which they are!).  This is an example of male privilege because emphasis and preference in power and advantages are placed on men over women.

Figure 3: Man & Woman Wearing A Suit

Figure 4: Man & Woman Wearing the Same Dress  (Note: Matt Stone & Trey Parker, the two men pictured centered, were intentionally spoofing the outfits worn by Jennifer Lopez (left) and Gwyneth Paltrow (right), but they received heavy criticism not for making fun of the two female entertainers but for daring to wear dresses.)

Now let’s look at this example from a different perspective.  If we have two men wearing a business suit, what do you think?  Do your perceptions change if I say that one man is Caucasian (white) and another is African-American (black)?  What if one is Hispanic and the other is Asian?  Do your thoughts of these men change?  You may not feel comfortable answering those questions or you may believe that your thoughts and feelings do not change.  Again, however, think about these questions critically and honestly.  Scholarly studies demonstrate that perceptions do change and that preference is given to Caucasian individuals over racial minorities, such as African-Americans & Hispanics.  These individuals are often viewed as trying too hard, faking it, or selling out when they don professional business attire than individuals who are Caucasian or Asian.  Why?  Because in American culture and society there is a belief that Caucasians and Asians are smarter and better than all others.  Again, one need only turn on prime time television (or even non-prime time television) to see this demonstrated.  Leading roles on popular shows on most networks are filled by white actors.  Or even more telling, do a web image search for the following terms separately: Men, Women, and Couples.  Who shows up?  

Figures 5, 6, & 7 are the web image searches that came up for me.  Are they any different for you?  As you can see in my image searches all of the subjects are Caucasian (white) or appear to be.  I do not know who these individuals are so I cannot 100% guarantee that any (or all) of them identify as being Caucasian, but their appearance does speak volumes about white privilege in our (American) society.  It is both obvious (on television) and latent (in web searches).

Figure 5: Web Image Search for Men

Figure 6: Web Image Search for Women

Figure 7: Web Image Search for Couples

The one part of the definition that I want to discuss is the last part: advantages that other members of the culture and society do not have.  Privilege provides advantages to some while denying it to others.  We often see this in access to the best and most advantageous jobs, housing, and education.  For example, think about the following professions: Medical Doctor, Janitor, Teacher, Gardener, Accountant, and Manicurist.  Who comes to mind when you think of these positions?  You might be catching on and realizing that specific types of individuals (based on race and educational level) come to mind when you think of each of these professions, and again, that is very much culturally dictated and driven.  Certain professions are associated with certain types of people, and these ideas are reinforced one way or another by individuals in our society through education, individual interactions, popular media, etc. as comedienne Margaret Cho points out.  She makes light of this situation but it is unfortunately a reality that all individuals must face, be it those with privilege and those without. 

But as I have already discussed racial privilege I want to demonstrate this point about advantages of some members of the culture and society over others with another example.  It is actually the example that inspired this post.  I want to discuss heterosexual privilege, or privilege afforded to individuals who are interested in the opposite sex.  A couple of months ago a very good friend of mine was turning 30, which in American culture is considered a big deal and unfortunate age milestone (which demonstrates privileges placed on the young), and I wanted to find just the right card, not necessarily because of my friend’s age but because I wanted the “perfect” card.  Now for the purposes of this story I will disclose that this friend is homosexual, meaning this friend is attracted to members of the same sex.  I thought it might be humorous to find a sexually provocative card for this individual, but all of the cards that met this criterion stressed the notion of heterosexuality.  Cards for men featured women in provocative attire and poses, and cards for women featured men in provocative attire (or lack thereof) and poses (Figure 8).  All of these emphasized and promoted heterosexuality in an extreme way.  I decided to move on to less sexually provocative card and still heterosexual ideologies were emphasized: men pursuing a date with a woman and a woman pursuing a date with a man.  Heterosexual privilege is very easy to see in regards to the opposition against the Supreme Court of the United States legalizing homosexual marriage throughout the USA, but it is subtly emphasized and reinforced through mundane experiences, such as looking for a birthday card at the local supermarket.

Figure 8: Sexually Provocative Birthday Cards for Men (Left) and Women (Right)

 

So why do we need to be aware of privilege?  Why does it matter?  Because privilege-be it that you have it or not-affects our everyday experiences and interactions.  If you are a member of a privileged group you have fewer daily struggles than members of a non-privileged group.  Also, these privileges also affect how you interact with other individuals, specifically based on their status as either privileged or not privileged.  These culturally created and guided notions and ideas do affect our every day interactions and experiences in both positive and negative ways.  They provide us/some access to material and social resources, while also denying us/some to those same material and social resources.  I recommend that you become more aware of the cultural interactions around you and your own privileges (and/or lack thereof) and critically evaluate how they affect you.  Once you realize and understand that think about what those mean and how they affect you and those around-positively and negatively.  Then start thinking about what you may want to do to change (or not change) yourself and your actions in our society and culture.  You may elect to do nothing, you may elect to make drastic changes, or you may elect to change some things.  No one course of action is right or wrong despite what others may think or believe.  You ultimately must do what is most comfortable for yourself.  But gaining the understanding and awareness of the cultural forces around you and that affect your life is the most important step.

For more on privilege check out this amazing video and article that was published on The Huffington Post.

References Cited

Scott, Mona.  2012:  Think Race & Ethnicity.  Pearson Education.

Welsch, Robert L., Luis A. Vivanco.  2015.  Cultural Anthropology: Asking Questions About Humanity.  Oxford University Press.