That's a really good point. To me privilege and oppression are two sides of the same coin though. To recognize one is to, by deduction, recognize the other.
To me privilege and oppression are two sides of the same coin though.
No, they're not. A child may benefit from the privileges of parents' favoritism, it doesn't imply that her siblings are oppressed.
Privilege and Oppression are 2 distinct coins with 2 faces each. There's privilege (+1) and lack thereof (0), and there's oppression (-1) and lack thereof (0).
Being well aware of your privileges won't necessarily make you see people in "the norm" as victims, but it may give you pause when trying to form a hasty opinion of them.
Unfortunately, as stated, it's much harder to recognize one's own privileges, than it is to identify a form of oppression. So people keep presuming to know what everybody else should be, should do, should think, should eat, etc, because they presume that the apparent lack of prejudice signals a levelled playing field.
mekoka|11 years ago
No, they're not. A child may benefit from the privileges of parents' favoritism, it doesn't imply that her siblings are oppressed.
Privilege and Oppression are 2 distinct coins with 2 faces each. There's privilege (+1) and lack thereof (0), and there's oppression (-1) and lack thereof (0).
Being well aware of your privileges won't necessarily make you see people in "the norm" as victims, but it may give you pause when trying to form a hasty opinion of them.
Unfortunately, as stated, it's much harder to recognize one's own privileges, than it is to identify a form of oppression. So people keep presuming to know what everybody else should be, should do, should think, should eat, etc, because they presume that the apparent lack of prejudice signals a levelled playing field.