Musings on privilege

A few days ago, I had a conversation with a friend about politics, sexism, authoritarianism, and more. At one point, he mentioned that he despises the way privilege is often deployed to shut people up.

Which is a fair criticism, as we’ve all seen cries of “privilege” used to police what other people say and how they say it.

On the other hand, privilege exists, most people have at least some in one area or another, and it shields them from other people’s experiences and suffering.

Thing is, people rarely see their own privilege, however limited it may be, and therefore tend not to be receptive when it’s pointed out to them.

Like, say, people who have the privilege of choosing what they engage with, and how. Another form privilege manifests is in what we even see happening in the world around us.

White people, do not do this

This past weekend, that hateful “March for Life,” wherein right wing organizations and schools bus people in to DC to march for the “right” of men to control the lives of anyone born with an uterus, took place concurrently with the Indigenous Peoples March.

One of the schools that sent teens and chaperones to march this year was Covington Catholic High School, an all-male private school in Kentucky. There are long and terrible threads on twitter¹ with personal stories of survivors from both the school and the all-girls school across the street, which Covington assholes have nicknamed “whore school.” Charming boys, no?

At one point, a fairly large group of kids from Covington was facing off with four older members of another hate group, the Black Hebrew Israelites, and things were tense and likely heading to violence, when Omaha Elder Nathan Phillips, on his way to closing the Indigenous Peoples March at the Lincoln Memorial, intervened, placing himself between the two groups–and becoming the target of the white kids’ ire, once they were deprived of their original target.

There is video² and a plethora of articles about this harassment. There are interviews with witnesses AND with Nathan Phillips. Go google them.

There are also people defending the “boys” or rather, specifically, the white male teen wearing a MAGA hat, smirking with hateful disdain to the face of an elderly Native man.

Little girls grow up.

In January this year (yes, that’s like a century ago, but bear with me), over 160 women, teens and girls came forward to confront Larry Nassar, who for DECADES had abused them, while being shielded by the organization that should have protected all those young girls from becoming teens and adult women marked by sexual abuse.

One of those speaking was Kyle Stephens, who said (in part):

Socializing girls to become victims.

Originally posted to the Community section of MyMedia.
Added content at the end.

Why does it take women so long to speak up about sexual assault?

Oh let me count the reasons.

Harvey Weinstein hired people to threaten some of his victims.

Roy Moore has ridiculed those of his victims who have spoken up on national TV, and Breitbart has announced that they are sending two ‘reporters’ down to Alabama with the specific goal of ‘finding dirt’ on them.

One of the things being trotted out is that at least one of these women has married/divorced three times, and has declared bankruptcy at some point.¹ I mean, who would think that being sexually abused as a child would have negative effects on the child’s development? What a freaking concept.

Beyond the fear, constantly reinforced, that there will be real consequences (rape and death threats are not uncommon), or that victims will not be believed, even by close family members, there are many other reasons women don’t come forward for years, if ever.

One of them is how girls are socialized to have no boundaries.