Who has it worse? Me or you?
Is there any way of comparing one's level of “privilege” to another? Is there a rational metric we can take to correlate the amount of obstacles historically presented to me – a heterosexual asian 2nd-generation male of average height born and raised in New Jersey raised by relatively conservative immigrant parents and exposed to several years of diverse higher education in the Northeast now living in Brooklyn – compared to a any other infinite mixture of gender, sexuality, appearance, location, ethnicity, education, upbringing, and hyper-personal experiences?
Short personal answer: I don't believe so.
Source: Credo Magazine
At least, it is much more difficult to calculate with one metric in a diverse society. Overly generalized tropes are often thrown around that immovably brand one sexuality more privileged than another or one race more so than others. I believe that this is an enormous scapegoating trap that preys on anxiety and only results in the stripping of meaningful discourse.
I – as a heterosexual asian 2nd-generation male of average height born and raised in New Jersey raised by relatively conservative immigrant parents and exposed to several years of diverse higher education in the Northeast now living in Brooklyn – have experienced moments that I probably wouldn't have if I was 'created' another way. Maybe some of those experiences were more soul-wrenching than some that you've had and maybe they were less so in some instances.
Who knows. No one can. And yet we try so hard to do just that.
Source: Indieway
Today's Metrics
Even within the debate of privilege, there are very specific elements that come to the forefront over others. The conversations rarely include regional privilege, educational privilege, intellectual privilege, cultural privilege, economic privilege, or religious/non-religious privilege. By and large, the questions and investigations of privilege concern the following -
Race – Probably the most dominating consideration of intersectional privilege. Race, or sometimes simply the shade of our skin, directly correlates to how much today's society should “feel bad” for them and acknowledge a proportional amount of oppression.
Sex – There has probably never been such a popularized divisive relationship between the 2 sexes beyond now. A woman's “equality” is probably first in line to receive action when it comes to policy and social discourse.
Gender – A more subtle but increasingly complex aspect of sex is gender and gender-identity. In New York State alone, there are around 3 dozen acknowledged gender-identities beyond male and female (the traditional “binary” options). LGBTQAA+ (or sometimes an alternative acronym list) identity is often a spotlighted group and self-reportedly exist towards the bottom end of the privilege spectrum.
What do all of these have in common?
Source: Odyssey Online
The judgement of privilege in the modern race is almost 100% dependent on how you look. There are slight exceptions (i.e. whether you “pass”) when it comes to gender, but overall the measure of privilege is a measure of your outer appearance and your supposed affiliation.
Privilege-Blind
As you can imagine, a visual reliance on privilege can cause a number of issues, most of all the skimming over real individual issues in preference for theoretically wide ones. This also endangers groups higher on the 'privilege hierarchy' as their real challenges are ignored.
Invisibly underprivileged. Source: Reddit
In my previous post of Liberty vs. Equality, I explained that equality of outcome is regularly an infringement of liberty. Measuring privilege is the pathway to equality of outcome and an attempt to weigh one's worth against another.
I'm open to all discussion about this and I'm curious to hear you thoughts and experiences. My personal belief is that operating in a society that actively seeks to identify and dismantle privilege is one of anti-liberty. From an Asian-American perspective in a country where Asians are the “model minority” with the highest median income and educational levels, I see first hand how so many 2nd-generation Asians are completely dismissed due to their supposed privilege. The same misunderstanding happens at an international scale when South Korea is seen as some privileged development with enviable resources, when upon closer inspection the country suffers from unparalleled levels of depression, suicide, and lack of personal freedom. A macro perspective is often not helpful.
*Cover Image Source: Higher Perspectives
