Privilege

I took these photos while looking for a card for my dad’s birthday. As I strolled through the aisles of cards, I found some engagement, wedding and anniversary cards. Most of these types of cards were for male and female couples. There were no cards that illustrated a gay or lesbian relationship. This reminded me of the reading White Privilege and Male Privilege by Peggy McIntosh. In the article, McIntosh defines white privilege as “an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear and blank checks”( McIntosh, 95). This means that whites are granted more opportunities than minorities. Also in general, men tend to have more opportunities than women because of their sex. The same is true for straight and gay couples. Straight people are given more opportunities based on their sexual orientation. Straight people are given the opportunity to live life without judgment, kiss in public without others disapproving of their lifestyle and to go through an interview without worrying about whether the interviewer is homophobic. In addition, it is easier for straight couples to adopt kids and get a wedding card with a man and women on it. It is harder to find cards for gay couples with members of the same sex found on the cover because society tends to see marriage as something that is between a man and women. Walking through the store and looking at the cards, I realized just how privileged I am. I don’t have to worry about not being able to find a card for my lover and I don’t have to worry about being judged because of I person I love. As Michael Kimmel said “Privilege is invisible to those who have it.” We tend to unaware of how privileged we are because we don’t have to worry about things that some minorities face every day. After taking this class, I have become more aware of how lucky I am to have the opportunity to go to college, live on my own, marry who I want to marry and hold hands with my boyfriend without being judged. I feel lucky that I can go into a store and buy a card that reflects my sexual orientation. I now realize some of the hardships some minorities may go through and I hope that one day our society can accept all sexual orientations, genders and races and provide them with equal opportunities.