Privilege Explained!

Today we are going to talk about an idea that remains elusive and is oft-misunderstood by most of us. It remains however as an integral part of all our social experiences and interactions. It is the idea of Privilege. The question of privilege arises whenever there is a discussion on social or gender equality. 

So, What is privilege? Why is it so difficult to understand and pin-point privilege? Those are the questions to which we seek to find answers today.

Social Privilege is defined as an unearned advantage or entitlement, used to one’s own benefit or to the detriment of others. Privilege as a socio-cultural power limits the possibility of an individual to strive for equal opportunities and access to resources without revealing the underlying inequality.

Simply put, it may be understood as the opposite of social inequality where different power structures of the society work to support the socially privileged people, as opposed to it limiting the prospects of the marginalized.For example, there are studies which say that an African American Man in the USA and a Dalit/Adivasi Man in India constitute the largest number of convicts in the jails of these respective nations. For them, as individuals who are socially deprived of better education or job opportunities, and being discriminated by the systems of law and order, even doing a minor crime might land them in the jail.

Before we go any further, it is important to note here that there are many forms of privileges and it is important for each of us to understand the privileges that we take for granted. Privileges may be economical but it cannot be limited to that alone. Since, economic markers are easily identifiable we tend to think of privilege solely in terms of wealth. If a Dalit woman is rich, we cannot assume that she has all the privileges accorded to her by the society. She will have to face social stigma and discrimination in terms of being denied opportunities and resources due to her being the member of a marginalized caste and also due to the fact that a woman from the same community. 

As we saw before, privilege can be many kinds including caste, gender, sexual orientation, religion, class, language etc. Anything that prompts the society to privilege one over another can be considered a privilege. At the same time, it must be understood that one may possess multiple privileges just as one may be underprivileged on several grounds.

In this regard we have to understand two things.

1. One, all privileges are not equal. 

2. Second, that privilege is context oriented.

For example, being a Christian in the Western society is considered to be a privilege. The same however wouldn’t apply to a Christian elsewhere. Or the underprivileged status of a gay person in a progressive queer-friendly society might be different from that of a gay person in a society that actively discriminates against queer individuals. 

The Privilege Walk is a learning opportunity accorded to the members of certain western institutions for them to understand how privilege works. Each participant is asked a question that gauges their privileges and accordingly they must move forward or backward on a level field.

Why are such activities carried out? Is it necessary that we acknowledge our privileges? Academicians seem to think so. Each and every instance of the invalidation of privilege is in itself an injustice. The denial of privilege works also to create stereotypes regarding the racial/caste/gender differences, whereby privileged people claim that they belong to a certain community that is genetically superior. The idea of merit may also be cited to claim that certain people are at certain places because they worked hard for it and that no other factors come into play. They admonish inclusive work-place or classroom practices by claiming that merit doesn’t matter any longer and that its all a matter of politics. I’m sure that you might have heard similar arguments on caste/gender-based reservations.