There is a hierarchy of privilege in our society. Some people have more privilege than others based on their race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, body size, able-bodiedness, overall attractiveness, and various combinations of those things.
While many of us as individuals have been working to eliminate bias – both our own and within our society – it still exists.
There is a hierarchy in our society that gives advantages to some individuals over others. Even if you don’t see it. Even if you don’t acknowledge it. Even if you think it’s bullshit. Even if you think it’s just that group playing the victim. Even if you think they’re just whining. Even if you think that they just need to try harder or do a better job of following the rules. Even if you think they bring it on themselves. Even if you can’t help the fact that you were born the way you were and they were born the way they were. Even if everyone is saying it. Even if no one is willing to say it. Even if you’re just tired of hearing about it.
Even if all of those things. Even if you feel any or all of them.
No matter how full of shit you think someone’s reasons are for feeling like they are on a lower rung of the hierarchy of privilege, doesn’t dispel the fact that we live in a society in which some people wield a helluva lot more power and privilege.
Only when we begin to acknowledge this hierarchy and acknowledge that some have more privilege than others will we have the chance to level the playing field. Even if you can’t help that you’re [fill in the blank], you can acknowledge that maybe someone else doesn’t have it as good as you just because of the body that they were born into.
So then the question becomes, what are you going to do to acknowledge and correct your own biases? Time to choose whether you’re going to be part of the problem or part of the solution.
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