Facing My Privilege as an Activist
By William, Advocates for Youth Intern
I am white, heterosexual, and male; this statement alone says a lot about the position I hold in society. Because I hold these identities I am the recipient of certain advantages and privileges in this country and world at large. The privileges are given to me, unearned, by the society and the system – as a white person, I don’t worry about racial discrimination directed at me because of my skin; I gain all the advantages of living in a world where the systemic power in such things as business, government, education, health care, and media is held by people of my own “white race.”
As a male I have been affirmed and valued by my world. I can carry out my life without being objectified and disrespected for my gender. People listen to what I have to say, and if I am ambitious or outgoing, people don’t question it, call me “an exceptional white man,” or suggest that I should rather focus on raising a family. My body is not the battlefield in a political and theological conflict about choice, life, god, and health. And as heterosexual, I am able to blend in to the crowd, conforming effortlessly into what society, government, and (most) religion expects of me. I am not the victim of hate crimes or bullying because I am attracted to the opposite sex. I am free to marry the person I love, or be open about my relationship with my family and communities.
It also seems like there is so much in this world that I am given, things which I feel I deserve. I deserve to be affirmed by my community and to be loved and to be happy and healthy – Everyone does. But not just people “like me”, not just the kids born into the white families or with the Y chromosome or with a normative sexual orientation and gender identity.
Matters of privilege and identity intersect and are a keystone in the fight for comprehensive sex education in our country. When it’s communities of color that are most affected by the negligence of our politicians, and the lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender communities that are silenced and ignored in classrooms, it is easy to see how someone like me might be apathetic. But I would like to say that I should be addressing this issue– and taking action.
I feel that for so many reasons I need to be doing the work to get comprehensive sex ed for everyone - for the same reasons that make me less affected by abstinence-only education, crisis pregnancy centers, roadblocks to access of emergency contraceptives (EC), and constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. It’s my privilege to not come up against those things on a daily basis, but I feel that if anyone is oppressed in this world, everyone suffers. It is especially important for people of privilege to work for the betterment of our world. We can work as allies with the people most affected, by listening to and being accountable to those that hold the most power to influencing others inside our dominant culture. If you are reading this from a place of privilege, where you know that you have advantages to resources, please consider this essay a motivation for change and a call to action. These issues affect everyone, because everyone isn’t yet healthy, educated, or affirmed.
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