White Privilege and Male Privilege: McIntosh

As women, we often like to think about how men are privileged and we consider ourselves the victims, the powerless. However, as we discussed in class today, people are members of many different groups and categories, and are likely to be privileged in some and oppressed in others. For many women such as myself, we are also highly privileged in that we belong to the white racial category. Peggy McIntosh holds a very interesting discussion about the parallels between male privilege and white privilege. In the end, though, she questions why privilege is even termed a positive concept. I would have to agree with her that, while privilege does afford countless opportunities and that most people, myself included, would certainly rather be part of the privileged, empowered group in any given situation, there are so many negative aspects to privilege too. Of course, privilege leads to many people treating others carelessly, inconsiderately, and even violently. These are actions that we have control over and that many people do not participate in on a conscious level, although those who are privileged may not always recognize when they act in such ways. As McIntosh mentions, when you recognize your privilege you are faced with the quandary of what you can really do to change the situation, and the challenge of what is the most moral and reasonable way to approach your privilege. Would you turn down a job if one of the other candidates were from the unprivileged group? This seems impractical, and certainly there is no way to know who would have gotten the job without privilege. This is especially difficult considering that privilege has effects on us all through our lives, affecting our chances and opportunities from the very start. What then, is the best way to strive for equality once you have recognized your own privilege? This is one of the big questions I was left with after reading this article and certainly one I will continue to grapple with.