"giving up" privilege

Is it possible to "give up" privilege?  Or, would it be more useful to think of ensuring privilege for everyone?  

In thinking about these questions, an analogy popped into my head: if we all try and "give up" our privilege it might be like trying to play soccer without ever travelling with the ball.  Whenever we were given the ball (privilege) we'd have to kick it away.

This way of thinking (of "giving up" privilege) also seems to suggest action based on avoidance, possibly guilt, feeling bad about oneself, and maybe even ignore-ance.

Additionally, thinking of privilege as something one can "give up" is problematic because it suggests it is a personal choice.  Often, privileges are given to us socially, and not something we could give up.  For example, a (white, upper class, straight) male privilege is being able to look at the U.S. House of Reps and see himself represented (see #7).  How could a man who isn't an elected official give this up?  He could, of course, vote a female in.  And perhaps less men could run for office, or better: encourage their female colleagues to run.  But I'm not sure where thinking of "giving up" privileges gets us in this situation.

Or, continuing, if a man sleeps with a bunch of women and isn't called a slut (#13), how could he give this up?

It seems to me that a more useful perspective that allows for and encourages more social justice is to think about ensuring the privileges we are aware of having for everyone.  We shouldn't have to feel bad about them - rather we should acknowledge them and work toward making it possible for everyone to have them.

For a great primer on privilege, check out White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, By Peggy McIntosh.  I've blogged about this before.

This is still something I'm still working on figuring out, so if you read this and are intrigued...or think I'm wrong...or can help with a next step, do let me know by leaving a comment!

On rape jokes

1 in 4 people.  1 in 4 refers to the number of reported sexual assaults of women on college campuses during their undergraduate years.

This happened. In a nutshell, a comedian, Daniel Tosh, made some sort of rape joke, a woman (COURAGEOUSLY, by the way) stood up and said that, "actually, rape jokes aren't funny," to which Tosh responded along the lines of, "wouldn't it be hilarious if this woman got gang-raped right here."

Then this good article (and several less good ones) was written.

Some key quotes from the Jezebel article include:

• "The world is full of terrible things, including rape, and it is okay to joke about them. But the best comics use their art to call bullshit on those terrible parts of life and make them better, not worse."
• "We censor ourselves all the time, because we are not entitled, sociopathic fucks. ...A comic who doesn't censor himself is just a dude yelling." (*Could be "herself" and "a chick" yelling...)
• "It's really easy to believe that "nothing is sacred" when the sanctity of your body and your freedom are never legitimately threatened."
• "It's like the difference between a black comic telling a joke about how it feels to have white people treat you like you're stupid all the time vs. a white comic telling a joke about how stupid black people are."

The author of the article also has a paragraph that explains the importance of the *context* of sexism and patriarchy that surrounds this joke, by making up an analogy that might help people understand it at some level.

Latinoamérica

This video is amazing.

Tú no puedes comprar el viento 

Tú no puedes comprar el sol 

Tú no puedes comprar la lluvia 

Tú no puedes comprar el calor 

Tú no puedes comprar los nubes 

Tú no puedes comprar los colores 

Tú no puedes comprar mi alegria

Tú no puedes comprar mis dolores

   

Vamos caminando ¡La tierra no se vende!

Sexual Objectification

What follows is a nice analysis of sexual objectification with some disturbing (because they're real) examples from pop culture. The post (and blog) are run by a professor of politics. Part one describes objectification and part two shows that "We now have over ten years of research showing that living in an objectifying society is highly toxic for girls and women"
1) http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/07/02/sexual-objectification-part-1-what-is-it/
2) http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/07/06/sexual-objectification-part-2-the-harm/

 Interestingly, part two cites a study regarding the effects of objectification on political efficacy (I suppose you could think of it as involvement). Here's an excerpt from its abstract:

 "The normalization of female objectification in American culture has given rise to self-objectification, the phenomenon of girls and women seeing themselves as objects of desire for others. ... This research examines the political effects of self-objectification and finds that it is negatively related to both internal and external political efficacy. The democratic implications of this finding are considered." 

A particular quote from the trailer to Miss Representation in the second post sticks with me: "The fact that media are so derogatory to the most powerful women in the country ...then what does it say about media's ability to take any woman seriously."

 Just some food for thought on a steamy Saturday (at least in IL) -- and if you want to continue the conversation or have questions (or outrage!) in response to reading, share your thoughts!

Cuando la sangre de tus venas retorne al mar
Cuando el polvo en tus huesos vuelva al suelo
Quizás recuerdes que esta tierra no te pertenece a ti
Sino que tú perteneces a esta tierra.

When the blood in your veins returns to the sea
When the dust in your bones returns to the soil
Maybe you'll remember then that this earth doesn't belong to you
Rather it is you who belongs to the earth.