what is privilege?

We often hear talk about privilege: white privilege, having the privilege of education, genetically privileged people. Talk of it is everywhere, from the wage gap to the diversity problem in Hollywood. There is even a Buzzfeed video that features a social experiment about how far ahead you are in life based on what your circumstances were growing up. But what is privilege? Like the word literally that is literally overused, the word privilege is thrown around without a thought given to its meaning, so let’s take a moment and examine the word privilege.

defining privilege

Dictionary.com (the most used dictionary on the internet, I think) offers 7 definitions of the word privilege when used as a noun, with the top definition being a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed by a person beyond the advantages of most. The Oxford Dictionary features 5 definitions of privilege, with the top being a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available to a particular person or group. Notice the difference? The Oxford Dictionary definition uses the adjective special to describe the right that is given, an adjective that is not found in the dictionary.com definition. The verb granted is also used in the latter definition, as opposed to the verb enjoyed. Though small differences, there are slight changes in the resultant meaning. The Oxford Dictionary’s definition insinuates that it isn’t just any right or immunity, but it is unique and set apart from other, more common rights. Furthermore, by using the verb grant, it connotes that it is an allowance and therefore not something that is merely there because of its existence.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary offers a simple definition of the word, that being a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others. I prefer this definition to the others because it gets rid of all of the hubbub and jumble of extraneous words and goes directly to the heart of the meaning: it is something that you have that others don’t. Done and dusted, but it isn’t always so simple. The word privilege comes from the Latin word privilegium, which is an ordinance or law against or in favor of an individual. It is probably a result of combining the words privus (private) and lex or leg (law). It has been borrowed into the English language and employed in various ways such as law, history, religion, luck, government, and computing. There is an archaic definition from Middle English that states privilege as bringing or putting into a condition of exemption from evil or danger; to deliver.

There are so many uses and definitions of every word in the English language and it is impossible to know all of them, well, unless you’re an etymologist and just love words. For the sake of this post, I’m going to use the simplest definition that the internet has to offer:

            privilege (n): a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others

the conversation

I am not claiming to be up-to-date with all of the information regarding privilege and the research that is being done. This is just me in my little corner of the internet sharing my thoughts and going off of what I see in the news and social media. From my observations, the word privilege is often used in the same conversations and articles that discuss equality. Take the whole issue and fuss that was thrown up about the diversity issue with the latest Oscars. I personally find that Hollywood, as much as I enjoy movies, is one of the most self-serving, self-absorbed, and self-obsessed parts of our society and can do so much more to serve society in positive ways, rather than pitching fits and continually worsening their own problems. Seriously, the problem of diversity in Hollywood doesn’t come from the consumers not wanting equal opportunity for different genders and races, but the producers of the movies! It’s an internal problem, but they make it seem like the world is at fault. No, Hollywood, get over yourself. Though there is a population of consumers that enjoy movies—me being one of them—we’re not all about your lives. Stop sharing the problem and instead initiate the solution. Done. Solved your problem, didn’t I? Now I expect a check that will cover the cost of my grad school tuition because it seems like you think the world owes you something, so it only stands to reason that you owe me something for so elegantly voicing the solution to your problem.

See what I did there? I thought it was rather clever. The word equality, like the word privilege, has an etymology and varied definitions that I won’t get into here (since I probably bored you enough with my discussion of the word privilege). In simplest terms (provided from Merriam-Webster), equality is the state of being equal, which is the same in number, amount, degree, rank or quantity. It also can mean being in a state that is free from extreme, an aspect of equality that is not often discussed. Why do privilege and equality go hand in hand? It is because those who are not “privileged” in certain aspects, such as wealth or education, claim they are not equal to those that have those opportunities or rights. Well, guess what? It’s true. The mere existence of privilege makes it impossible for there to be full equality in this world because there is something that someone else might have access to that you don’t. Take my rant about Hollywood, for example. There was, and still continues to be, a lot of discussion about how a woman will not get cast when she is over the age of 35; therefore, young female actresses are privileged from the mere fact of being young. Is it fair? No. Is it life? Yes.

There is quote from one of the most brilliant movies of our time, The Princess Bride, that demonstrates this issues perfectly. At one part of the film, the grandson is annoyed about the plotline of the story and expresses his frustration and adolescent angst to his grandfather by claiming “that it isn’t fair”! The grandfather looks at the boy and says with a rather sardonic tone, “Who says life is fair? Where is that written?” I love that because it is the truest statement, up there with the comment that anyone who thinks life isn’t pain is selling something. Life isn’t fair, so get over it and move on.

Privilege exists because we have created that society. There are those who are privileged with greater wealth, giving them opportunities to travel and see the world, whereas others will never leave the small town they grew up in. There are those that are privileged to have access to clean water, others don’t have access to that basic human need. There are those that are privileged to be in places that are calm, free from war and political upheaval, while others are not so fortunate and are forced to give up everything to flee those places. As sad as that is, that is reality of life. Privilege comes in all shapes and sizes, from the richest person to the poorest person, we all have our own privileges that others do not by virtue of our circumstances, our hard work, our innovation, our successes, our grit and determination. But may I offer a different perspective of the word?

a different kind of privilege

Our world takes things so negatively. Yes, that’s a generalization of things and a somewhat depressing worldview, but it is true. We take what can be positive, beautiful, and exciting and turn it into ugliness and hate. I think that has happened with the word privilege in a way: we have taken the idea that we have increased opportunities to improve and help others and turned it into a competition that breeds distrust, hate, ignorance, and fear. I am not denying that fact that there are those that are privileged to have more have created issues—Donald Trump, anyone?—but that does not mean we should follow suit and exhibit that same self-serving attitude. We have the opportunity as decent human people to be awesome!

If you read my post about my afternoon going on the river in Cambodia, you would have seen the pictures of the impoverished conditions in which those people live. Their hands bear the scars of manual hard labor, their brows the wrinkles from working all day under the unforgiving sun. Children run around the dirt roads—roads that have to be rebuilt after every rainy season—shirtless and shoeless. There isn’t electricity, no corner markets to run to in a pinch, no foundations for the houses. I wasn’t shocked by this, having seen poverty of this level during my travels in the Middle East, but it tugged my heart strings. As the tuk-tuk bounced at an unforgiving cadence down the road and dust was thrown up into my eyes and coating my skin in a thick layer of grime, I wondered about life here, life without the conveniences that I am privileged to have.

It was a privilege for me to travel to Cambodia and the 6 other countries that I hopped to; it is a privilege for me to live and teach in China, making a decent wage that allows me to travel and see new places; it is a privilege to have this blog and share my thoughts about privilege. I am privileged to be able to go to graduate school this fall, even if I have to take out a loan to cover the costs. Bunny, my tuk-tuk driver, can’t even get an associate’s degree because he can’t afford school and loans aren’t an option in Cambodia. I am privileged to have access to mountains of knowledge to learn and improve, knowledge I can take my life to learn because I don’t have to worry about going into a field every day to sow the seeds of my livelihood.

I am privileged.

Do not mistake the list of my privileges as a “oh, how fantastic is my life” kind of thing, but like this: I am privileged to be able to do my part to change the world. As I looked at those lovely people along the road, my mind was racing with the opportunities that I have to make a difference in their lives. I am privileged not of myself and my own self-serving gain, but privileged to take the opportunities and affordances that are granted me and change the world in any way that I can.

See, we of more privileged mindset have a tendency to be lazy in our privileged-ness because of the mere fact that it is available. Why do everything? I realize that it is impossible to accomplish everything that is open to us, but we have opportunity, why not seize it? As I looked at those tanned-backed people, ribs showing and bent over in the sun, working in the fields for their livelihood, I wondered how many of them just want to have a bit more: go to school, not worry so much about getting food, clean water! I felt like I owed it to those people, and all those less-privileged than me, to live up to those opportunities that are there for me. I owe it to them to chase my dreams as hard as I can, otherwise that privilege is wasted on my apathy.

Be positive. Be happy. Embrace the privileges given you, not in pride or in a holier-than-thou way, but as an opportunity to make something of yourself and contribute to the world. Be an instigator of sunshine and change, not flardness (a word of my own making to mean general jerkiness or stupidity). Take those privileges to be gifts. Do not look down to others that are less privileged, look for ways to lift them up. Life might be pain at times, but it doesn’t mean you have to buy it.