It all happened for me about 30 years ago
when I was in graduate school, and a bunch
of graduate students got together one day
and we said you know there's an explosion
of writing and thinking in feminist theory, but
there's no courses yet. So we did what
graduate students typically do in a situation
like that. We said, ok, let's have a study
group. We'll read a text, we'll talk about it,
we'll have a potluck dinner. So every week,
11 women and me got together. We would
read some text in feminist theory and have a
conversation about it. And during one of our
conversation I witnessed an interaction that
changed my life forever. It was a
conversation between two women. One of
the women was white, and one was black.
And the white woman said- this is going to
sound very anachronistic now- the white
woman said,All women face the same
oppression as women. All women are
similarly situated in patriarchy, and therefore
all women have a kind of intuitive solidarity
or sisterhood. And the black woman said ,I
am not so sure. Let me ask you a question.
So the black woman says to the white
woman, when you wake up in the morning
and you look in the mirror, what do you see?
And the white woman said,I see a woman.
And the black woman said,You see, that's
the problem for me. Because when I wake
up in the morning and I look in the mirror,
she said, I see a black woman. To me race
is visible. But to you, race is invisible. You
don't see it. And then she said something
really startling. She saidthat's how privilege
works. Privilege is invisible to those who
have it. It's a luxury, I will say to the white
people sitting in this room, not to have to
think about race every split of second of our
lives.Privilege is invisible to those who have
it. Now remember, I was the only man in this
group, so when I witnessed this I wentoh
no. And somebody said,well what was that
reaction? And I said, well, when I wake up
in the morning and I look in the mirror, I see
a human being. I'm kind of the generic
person. You know I'm a middle class white
man. I have no race, no class, no gender. I'm
universally generalisable. So I like to think
that was the moment I became a middle
class white man, that class and race and
gender were not about other people, they
were about me. I had to start thinking about
them, and it had been privilege that had kept
Totul a nceput n urm cu 30 de ani cnd
eram la universitate i ntr-o bun zi ne-am
adunat cu civa studeni i ne-am spus ..
exist un amalgam de scrieri i reflecii n
teoria feminist , dar nc niciun curs.,, Aa
c am fcut ceea ce orice student ar face
ntr-o astfel de situaie. Ne-am spus : bun,
haidei s facem un grup de studiu. Vom citi
un text, l vom discuta i vom organiza o cin
potlock. Aa c n fiecare sptmn eu i
11femei ne adunam laolalt. Citeam un text
de teorie feminist i discutm pe acest
subiect. i n timpul unei astfel de
conversaii, am asistat la un schimb de
replici care mi-a schimbat viaa pentru
totdeauna. Era o conversaie ntre dou
femei. Una era alb, iar cealalt era neagr.
Femeia alb a spus- asta o sa sune foarte
anacronic acum - toate femeile se confrunt
cu aceleai oprimare de gen. Toate femeile
se regsesc ntr-o poziie similar n
patriarhat, i toate au un fel de solidaritate
intuitiv sau feminin. Iar femeia neagr a
spus nu sunt aa de sigur. A vrea s te
ntreb ceva. Aa c femeia alb se
adreseaz femeii albe: cnd te trezeti
dimineaa i te priveti n oglind, ce vezi?
Femeia alb rspunse: vd o femeie. Iar
femeia de culoare spuse: vezi tu, asta e
problema n cazul meu. Pentru c atunci
cnd m trezesc dimineaa i m uit n
oglind, spuse ea, vd o femeie neagr. n
cazul meu, rasa e vizibil. Dar pentru tine , e
invizibil. Tu nu o vezi. i apoi a spus ceva
cu adevrat cutremurtor. Aa funcioneaz
privilegiul. Privilegiul este invizibil celor care
l dein. Este un lux a spune, celor albi
prezeni n aceast ncpere, s nu fie
nevoie s v gndii la ras n fiecare
secund din viaa voastr. Privilegiul este
invizibil celor care l dein. Reinei, eram
singurul brbat din grup, i cnd am asistat
la scena asta, reacia mea a fost:o, nu! i
cineva a ntrebat: ce-i cu reacia asta? i am
rspuns: cnd m trezesc dimineaa i m
uit n oglind, vd o fiin uman. Sunt genul
de persoana generic. Eu sunt un brbat alb
din clasa de mijloc. Nu aparin niciunei rase,
clase sau gen. Sunt universal i
generalizabil. A vrea s cred c atunci am
realizat c sunt un brbat alb din clasa de
mijloc, i c rasa, clasa social i genul nu
erau atributele altor persoane, ci m priveau
direct. A trebuit s ncep s m gndesc la
aceste lucruri, care rmseser invizibile
it invisible to me for so long. Now I wish I
could tell you, this story ends 30 years ago in
the little discussion group, but I was
reminded of it quite recently at my university
where I teach. I have a colleague, and she
and I both teach the sociology of gender
course on alternate semesters. So she gives
a guest lecture for me when I teach. I give a
lecture for her when she teaches. So I walk
into her class to give a guest lecture, about
300 students in the room, and as I walk
in,one of the students looks up and saysoh
finally, an objective opinion. All that
semester, whenever my colleague opened
her mouth, what my students saw was a
woman. I mean, if were to say to my
students, there is structural inequality based
on gender in the United States, thy would
say well of course you'd say that. You're a
woman. You're biased. When I say it, they
go wow, is that interesting. Is that going to
be on the test? How do you spell 'structural
? So I hope you can see, this is what
objectivity looks like.
atta timp deoarece fusesem privilegiat. Mi-
a fi dorit s v spun c povestea a luat
sfrit acum 30 de ani n acel grup de
discuii, ns mi-a revenit n atenie destul de
recent la universitatea unde predau. Am o
coleg, amndoi predm cursul sociologia
genului n semestre diferite. Ea este invitat
s conferenieze la cursul meu, iar eu sunt
invitat s confereniez la cursul ei. Intru n
clasa ei s in conferina, aproximativ 300 de
studeni n sal i imediat ce pesc nuntru
un student i ridic privirea i spune: o n
sfrit o prere obiectiv. ntregul semestru ,
De fiecare dat cnd colega mea rostea un
cuvnt, ceea studenii mei vedeau era o
femeie. Adic, dac le-ai spune studenilor
mei n SUA exist o inegalitate structural
pe baz de gen , ar rspunde normal c
spunei asta. Suntei femeie, suntei
prtinitoare. Cnd eu spun aceleai lucru,
reacia lor: WoW, ce interesant! Ni-l dai la
test? Cum se scrie structural? Sper c
nelegei cu toii aa arat obiectivismul.

Privilege is invisible to those who have it. It is a luxury I will say to the
white people sitting in this room that do not to have to think about race every
split second of our lives. Privilege is invisible to those who have it.
In an ideal world, the only privileges would be those given to each individual by
nature: smarts, good health, physical prowess, etc. But in the real world, privileges are
handed out willy-nilly according to random neutral traits like gender and race, and irrelevant
traits like ones religious affiliations or economic status. Being conscious of these
manufactured differences is the first step to neutralizing their effects.
Think of a life situation in which youre disadvantaged. If youre really fortunate,
maybe the worst thing you can think of is your lack of athletic talent or something. Thats
okay; you can work with this. Now, imagine that sports is the only way youre allowed to earn
a living, and you suck at it. If you imagine it well enough, feelings of panic and frustration and
injustice at the system should start to form. This is called empathy. You may find it
uncomfortable at first; hang in there!
This may take some practice: dont give up!

Privilege is a form of invisible power. Sometimes privilege also provides us with

structural power in direct relationship with another. In the past, this form of privilege was
legalized and prevalent. For example, until not that long ago, men had the legal right to have
sex with their wives, and consent was not necessary. Such forms of formal privilege have
largely been removed, because the official sanctioning of privilege is no longer socially
acceptable.

As a result, in recent decades the structural nature of privilege is much more invisible
and indirect. As a person with fairly light skin, for example, I have access to untold number of
privileges that are mine to enjoy and which are not available to people with darker skin. I
can, as a very simple example, go in and out of stores without having security officers look at
my movements. If I stand in the street and wave a taxi, its likely to stop for me. If I break the
law, I am likely to get a lighter sentence than a person who belongs to other groups.

Those of us with privilege are often unaware of the legal or social norms that give us
access to such resources simply by virtue of being members of a certain group, without any
particular action or even awareness on our part. Its easy to assume that everyone would
have the same access, or to not even think about it at all. Even when our privilege provides
us direct individual advantage at the direct expense of another individual, the direct
relationship may be hidden under socially sanctioned norms such as individual merit which
replace the more explicit forms of the past. A particularly acute example of such
relationships occurs both in the educational system and in the workplace.

And so it is that these forms of privilege are largely invisible to those of us who have
them unless we take proactive action to learn about them. Those without such access, on
the other hand, are usually acutely aware of their lack of access. This creates a gap in
experience which is usually excruciating for members of both groups.