Check your privileges

[Narz]

How many points do you think the various advantages in life are worth (D&D style)?

Obviously privileged is relative (in childhood being white was a disadvantage for Eninem, being outcasted/beat-up n' stuff, as an adult it was a huge asset) & the smart person will use sterotypes in their favor as much as possible (nerdy Asian guy uses 'Asian guys are harmless' to befriend all the hawt chicks & then whips out his game-skillz and ends up banging them), but there are general advantages & disadvantages that most people can agree on. I've only ever lived in the United States so my answers are based on my experience growing up & living here (in 38 years and 10 states).

For example :

Race : It's significant, more so in some areas of the country than others. And it's likely affected your parents & grandparents even more, which will affect you. Lets give it a +10 to -10 ranges.

Wealth/Status : In my eyes, outside of extreme physical/mental disability this is #1. +20 for growing up in a household who's networth is more than a million. +50 for growing up in a household in the tens of millions. -50 for growing up in severe poverty (which will affect you emotionally, mentally & nutritionally, hurting pretty much every other factor)

Celebrity : Not always a good thing but a significant privileged if leveraged (+50), for instance OJ & Cosby, both clearly guilty, both let free

Height : For males this is huge, if I had a choice between switching races to any other race or losing 4" of height it would be no contest. I'd say +3 for each inch of height beyond average (up til 6'3") & -4 for each inch below. For women it's more complicated & probably depends more of individual psychology (obviously does for everyone but height is less culturally important for women).

Fitness : +15 thru -15 Huge quality of life increase or decrease if you're jacked vs. obese or super scrawny. Especially relevant as a kid (peer-group/social-standing pressure creates someone's self-image for most of their life) and in old age (if you're unfit you're more likely to die and more likely to scare away your family who doesn't want to be reminded of death & loneliness brings on death more readily than smoking)

Health : The only privilege that can compete with and is ultimately more important than wealth. Good health is the ultimate privilege, failing health is the ultimate prison. I can't put a number on this. This includes mental health. Growing up rich but emotionally damaged can actually use the leverage of wealth against the damaged/addicted person as a weapon.

Looks : Important but it's about how you use them. I've heard it said that it's best to be moderately attractive for a happy life. There are sex-differences too, attractive women tend to be happier early on with declining happiness whereas attractive men's well being increases with age (makes sense, think milk & wine) +15 thru -15

Career Help : More important even than family wealth is how well one is groomed for the business world. Likewise, someone average in other respects who's had no mentors & sucks at handling their work life (keeps losing jobs, blowing business opportunities, etc.) is gonna have a rather crap life. +/-50

I'm probably forgetting many privileges, what would you say are your most important privileges & your most burdensome restrictions (social, emotional, physical, financial, etc)?

 

[Zelig]

if you're fit you're more likely to die

That seems like a typo.

 

[Synobun]

There's an actual quiz for this on Buzzfeed. Found here.

I got 31/100.

My privilege would come strictly from being white/male, probably. I'm not ranking too high on the other stuff...

 

[Timsup2nothin]

60/100. No great surprise there.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

I took the test and apparently I'm 75% American.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Ha ! I once suggested a privilege flowchart in another thread. Don't currently have the time to a full privilege assessment by the Narz method.

I have been discriminated because of my white ethnicity in a country full of people of another white ethnicity, so the raceracerace focuses Buzzfeed thing is utterly useless to me unless it was written by racist weirdos who don't think slavs are "white", but then I'm still a "race" with the same skin color as the "dominant" "race" over here.

 

[civvver]

You lost me at height being a privilege.

I also don't get how fitness and health are privileges, unless you have some chronic condition on the low end or are someone who eats solely cheeseburgers and looks and feels great with no exercise on the high end. For probably 95% of people those two are life style choices, some have it a lot easier than others obviously, but it's not something just handed to you.

Celebrity too unless you are born into it. Most celebs make their fame so not a privilege, it's something earned.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

You lost me at height being a privilege.

Ignoring the fact that a privilege calculator is a silly concept, a lot of evidence shows that people who are taller make more money than people who are shorter, and are also generally more successful at getting hired or a raise. Tall people also tend to not live quite as long. So it's a double bonus.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Ignoring the fact that a privilege calculator is a silly concept...

It's not nearly as silly as the common what-passes-for-left-wing-in-america trend of reducing privilege (and nearly everything else) to "race", gender and sexuality.
If I hear one more time that Straight White Males (I'm all three) are privileged (I'm bipolar, an ethnic minority with a very foreign name , have a genetic defect and uneducated working class parents)...I shall be very annoyed indeed.
The only problem with the OP is that it's still too simplistic. A proper points system would require far more modifiers that take things like location into account. If I was American my foreigness would hardly count on account of my whiteitude, but my medical baggage would be a far bigger isuue without Germany's not great but decent healthcare system.
Another example: Black and Gay are really big disadvantages in Mississippi, but less so in California, but a black male still has a higher risk of getting shot by police than a black woman even though males generally have more privilege points. A smaller, harmless looking black man is also probably safer from murder-by-cop than a tall, fit black man.

 

[Borachio]

Ooh! Quizy, quizy, quiz, quiz.

I like a quiz. Don't care if it's a good or bad quiz.

64/100

You're quite privileged. You've had a few struggles, but overall your life has been far easier than most. This is not a bad thing, nor is it something to be ashamed of. But you should be aware of your advantages and work to help others who don't have them. Thank you for checking your privilege.

 

[metalhead]

If I hear one more time that Straight White Males (I'm all three) are privileged (I'm bipolar, an ethnic minority with a very foreign name , have a genetic defect and uneducated working class parents)...I shall be very annoyed indeed.

Do you not believe that things would be even more difficult for a person with all of those characteristics who was black, or gay, or both?

 

[Borachio]

Let's see.

A black, jewish/muslim, disabled (deaf, blind, in a wheelchair, with learning difficulties, and with terminal liver failure), transgender, unemployed, elderly, woman...
..
living in...er... Haiti?

Oh, and single, too.

And absolutely no sense of humour.

 

[Narz]

Tall people also tend to not live quite as long. So it's a double bonus.

Haha, dark

 

[trader/warrior]

Do you not believe that things would be even more difficult for a person with all of those characteristics who was black [snip]

That entirely depends on the location doesn't it? In a majority black society growing up with those other factors it might be more difficult to be white than at least being one of the majority race when it comes to the attitudes of your peers towards you.

The privilege of whiteness clearly has some global reach but it is not all-encompassing.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Dont forget Hair. Hair is a big privilege.

 

[Borachio]

That entirely depends on the location doesn't it? In a majority black society growing up with those other factors it might be more difficult to be white than at least being one of the majority race when it comes to the attitudes of your peers towards you.

Rather worryingly, though, black people also seem to be prejudiced against even blacker people. (Sometimes they're not. Sometimes black people are prejudiced against less black people. But I think that's rarer. And sometimes I just make stuff up, based on what I've heard people say.)

So it could be the case that a white person in a black society would still enjoy some privilege. I'm not saying they necessarily would. But it's not impossible.

 

[trader/warrior]

Rather worryingly, though, black people also seem to be prejudiced against even blacker people. (Sometimes they're not. Sometimes black people are prejudiced against less black people. But I think that's rarer. And sometimes I just make stuff up, based on what I've heard people say.)

So it could be the case that a white person in a black society would still enjoy some privilege. I'm not saying they necessarily would. But it's not impossible.

That is very true and I edited in another sentence to my post to reflect that. There would definitely still be some element of the white westerner privilege there, but it is my impression that with the racial attitudes in the world today, even if growing up with relatively non-racist people, the "differentness" of being a small racial minority has a huge impact on people and how they are treated in various ways, that I think would overshadow this especially when it comes to day-to-day social relations. Of course this may be bias as I haven't experienced all these things myself.

 

[metalhead]

That entirely depends on the location doesn't it? In a majority black society growing up with those other factors it might be more difficult to be white than at least being one of the majority race when it comes to the attitudes of your peers towards you.

Ever heard of South Africa?

Anyways, I should have clarified that I was talking about the United States. I can't speak to experiences in other countries, really. I also don't know that "white privilege" is in the public lexicon in other countries like it is here, but maybe that assumption is wrong.

 

[trader/warrior]

Ever heard of South Africa?

Why yes I have, lots of white people growing up in white families and social circles (to speak of one "part" of the "apart"heid). Not really what I was talking about.

 

[warpus]

What I have going for me: I have two well working legs, two working ears, can speak English, I have a handsome boyish face, live in the west, my skin hue is pinkish and whiteish, I am male, am human, had the opportunity to get educated, my arms work well, I don't have any life threatening diseases, no STDs, and I have all my teeth

What I have going against me: I'm Polish, I'm atheist, I don't belong to any political parties, I have a slight accent, have some enunciation issues, have some anxiety issues, I don't get some pop culture references, I'm an introvert, I'm single, I'm not married, I don't have kids, I don't own a car, I have a long and incredibly hard to spell last name, I can't grow a mustache, and everyone assumes I self-identify as a WASP aka "white person" (due to my appearance)

All in all I have more privilege than not, mainly because I live in the west and look like I belong to the ruling class of people. Compared to the rest of the world I live like a king and have the privilege of living in a society that's got one of the highest standards of living, and for that I am grateful every day and try not to take it for granted.