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Explanation of how gender is socially constructed. 

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Explanation of how gender is socially constructed. 

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This video gives a good perspective in the two ways people think of gender being social constructed. The second way gender being social constructed is how we have been viewing gender in this class.

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The list of items seen as either masculine or feminine are a part of socially constructing gender in society. These stereotypes and roles are what reinforce the social construction.

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Men's Role is Challenging Gender Constructs. 

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Men's Role is Challenging Gender Constructs. 

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The typical idea that men must "man up" by becoming violent or aggressive is changing. Instead men "man up" by doing the items listed in this image.

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The most basic explanation of what feminist praxis means. "Putting theory into practice. Praxis is theory in action" from below link.

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Billy Porter in 2019 challenged the idea of what it meant to be a man. His extravagant dresses, and in general bold clothes are shown to challenge the way gender is socially constructed.

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From the Academy Awards to the Met Gala to the Tonys, Billy Porter shakes up the ho-hum pre-show and wins the night - before the awards even begin.

Billy Porter during a fitting for his Tonys gown, made from the red velvet curtain that once rose and fell on "Kinky Boots." Credit... Amy Lombard for The New York Times

"I want to flip the question of what it means to be a man," Billy Porter said. "This question of masculinity, this sort of microscope of heteronormative masculinity that we are very often held up to, especially as leading men, needs to be shattered. You know, it's toxic and I'm over it and I've lived it and I'm not doing it anymore."

Pinned around Mr. Porter's body was a hand-sewn Elizabethan gown made from the velvety pomegranate red curtain that had once separated him from the audience for the entirety of his Tony-winning "Kinky Boots" run: roughly 1,150 shows.

In a dressing room on the Upper West Side, he was preparing, with Sam Ratelle (his stylist), for his first time as a presenter at the Tony Awards, on June 9. This comes after a run of red carpet entrances, including the Oscars and the Met Gala, that have transformed the genre from bland marketing moment for brands to opportunity for high personal statement making.

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"Can we talk about the shoes?" he asked Mr. Ratelle. They've been working together for a little over a year, and their conversations usually go something like this.

"We can always talk about the shoes," Mr. Ratelle said.

Mr. Porter looked at the sketches. "These grandma shoes, I can't," he said, of some chunky heels. What he could: a pair of tan six-inch platform spikes, as high as the stakes for Mr. Porter, for whom expectations are now exceedingly grand. Enter the curtain.

When "Kinky Boots" closed, in April 2019, the handbag company Scenery Bags, which makes handmade accessories out of retired theater material, bought the fall of red velvet and contacted Mr. Ratelle to ask if Mr. Porter was interested in having it made into a purse. Mr. Ratelle had another idea.

He asked Celestino Couture - the designer Sergio Guadarrama and the creative director Cade Johnson - whose collections feature upcycled, socially conscious creations, to start sketching options for a gown.

"Initially they wanted to do a representation of Lola," Mr. Ratelle said, meaning Mr. Porter's character in "Kinky Boots," "but I had to go back to them and say, 'He's not a drag queen. He's a man in a dress.' We don't want to confuse people, because he actually is not a drag queen. One day he might want to wear a dress, one day he might not."

Mr. Porter agreed. "Sometimes it's just a train and some pants," he said.

With the shoes on and the gown secured around cotton organza fit pants, Mr. Porter began to walk. There are people who say dance like no one's looking; Mr. Porter walks like everyone's looking. He threw the skirt around like a weapon.

When Mr. Porter was a student at Carnegie Mellon in the late 1980s and early '90s, he took a costume behavior and etiquette class. The course detailed how to work all of the stage garments from other eras, pieces like petticoats or bustles or trains or fans or parasols.

"For men, it was all about coats with tails and canes and top hats," he said. He paid a lot of attention to the women's clothes, he said, "because again, it was way more interesting."

Mr. Porter spied a slip-on pair of clear vinyl heels, also very high, but open toed. "These might be better. She can get a little pedicure too," he said, trying them on. Then he observed, "Putting on the dress, playing Lola, made me feel the most masculine and grounded that I've ever felt in my life because I was finally not apologizing for anything."

Mr. Guadarrama described his plans for the Tonys curtain gown, which involved thousands of hand-embroidered flower clusters, a corseted bodice and a skirt that expands horizontally like an upside-down bloom, opening to a pair of cigarette pants (also made from the curtain).

"This is exactly what I was looking for - pants but drama," Mr. Porter said. Mr. Guadarrama asked Mr. Porter if they could include an embroidered uterus, because the dress is inspired by "empowering women's reproductive rights." Mr. Porter nodded.

"I love the Tonys," he said. "It was the first award show that I really paid attention to. I saw Jennifer Holliday sing, 'And I'm Telling You' from 'Dreamgirls' and realized I could do this for a living. You know, it's like, 'Oh wait, there are black people that do this? And they sing like I'd sing in church? I want to do that.'"

There are those who only know Mr. Porter as Pray Tell from the FX series "Pose," which begins again on Tuesday, but he started his career as a singer in R&B 30 years ago. Then, Mr. Porter's music videos featured him swooning over and serenading a Whitney Houston look-alike.

"It just didn't have anything to do with me," he said. At one point, a record executive told Mr. Porter not to speak during an appearance on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" for fear that he would seem too gay, too black.

"I don't have to pretend anymore," Mr. Porter said. "When we walked into acting school, the first thing they'd say is, 'You have got to be honest. You have got to be true, you've got to be authentic.' And then they turned to the gay boys in the room and it's like, 'Except y'all, you faggots have to fix yourself.'"

Mr. Porter thought Broadway might prove different from the music industry. But the roles didn't quite fit. "I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania," he said. "August Wilson wrote about the neighborhoods I grew up in and there's not one person in his 10-play cycle that is a gay black male." Eventually, Mr. Porter saw "Angels in America" and finally connected to a character onstage.

"I was doing 'Grease' and thinking, 'Oh my God. no one will ever see me like that,'" Mr. Porter said. "I was wearing 14 inches of red rubber hair when I did 'Beauty School Dropout.'" The roles he was playing, he said, felt grotesque and exaggerated, and they were dehumanizing.

He moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in a screenwriting program at U.C.L.A. "But there were a few years when I was depressed all the time," he continued. "That was my inappropriate Abercrombie & Fitch phase. And my cargo pants phase." He put his stuff in storage; he couch-surfed; he wrote; he directed; he did what he could.

Then, in 2010, at the age of 41, he was cast as Belize in an Off Broadway revival of "Angels in America." After that, "Kinky Boots" came along, followed by "Pose." "Now I'm being hired for exactly who I am," Mr. Porter said. "I don't have to pretend anymore." At some point he decided he didn't want pretend on the red carpet either. He was tired of wearing what he calls a "literal straight jacket."

"I didn't even know I had a desire to wear things that were feminine," he said. "It was just about wearing something that was different." Mr. Porter also realized he was missing out on a huge revenue stream in the form of fashion advertising, endorsements and marketing moments. He was buying all his clothes, which cost "lots of money - enough money to where my business managers said, 'You have to stop spending money on clothes.'"

And so he decided to make himself a brand. He uses every article and accessory to articulate his mission. Last week at an event he carried a These Pink Lips bag painted in big block words, "Pay Me!," along with a profanity.

As his red velvet curtain dress was zipped into a hanging bag for safe transport back downtown to Celestino's showroom, Mr. Porter changed into his walking-around clothes: a long black blouse, Prada shoes and straw porkpie hat. His husband had been telling him that he had to start wearing baseball caps to avoid being recognized, but he doesn't have any.

"I won't wear a baseball cap," Mr. Porter said. "I still dress up to fly. My aunt Dorothy always says, 'Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.'"

And what job does he want?

"I want to run all of it," Mr. Porter said. "For now, this is the steppingstone to hosting the Tonys'."

Then he wants an empire. "I've sat around and waited for other people to tell me yes," he said. "I want to be the yes person."

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From the Academy Awards to the Met Gala to the Tonys, Billy Porter shakes up the ho-hum pre-show and wins the night - before the awards even begin. "I want to flip the question of what it means to be a man," Billy Porter said.

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The History of Cheerleading and How it Became Feminine

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The History of Cheerleading and How it Became Feminine

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Originally cheerleading was a all male sport since it was seen as loud, rowdy, and as a way to develop leadership skills. It wasn't until the 1920's and 30's (during and after World War 1) that cheerleading became "feminine". Today cheerleading is seen as a sport but still is very feminized through the expectations cheerleaders must meet. Read more about this in the article below on the history of cheerleading.

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Cheerleading | Definition, History, & Facts

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Cheerleading, team activity in which elements of dance and acrobatics are combined with shouted slogans in order to entertain spectators at sporting events and to encourage louder and more enthusiastic cheering. In recent years it has gained recognition as a sport in its own right.

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Much like a coin which has two sides to it there is a second side to privilege. The other side of privilege is oppression and vice versa. The center of the coin is the social institutions and practices one lives by in their society which reinforces privilege and oppression.

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Example of the intersection of privilege and oppression. 

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Example of the intersection of privilege and oppression. 

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The third section of this article labeled "At the intersection of privilege and oppression" gives a inside look at the various ways privilege and oppression is expernced and the posibillity of privilege and oppression intersecting.

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I hurried down the sidewalk, pretending not to hear the cop who was close on my tail. "Stop!" he called out, a note of frustration in his voice. I didn't care that he was frustrated because I was frustrated too.

I was tired of being harassed by the campus police, who seemed to be on high alert for me every time I left my dorm. As a shy freshman, it was hard enough for me to feel comfortable and at home at my new school, without having to worry about watching my back for the police, who seemed to be determined to single me out.

I was very aware of the eyes of the students all around me, who confusedly stared as I stubbornly continued down the sidewalk, trying to get away from the cop. He yelled at me to stop again, so I angrily turned to face him.

This is not the story that you think it is.

The police officer was not following me because of my skin color; he was profiling me, but not because of my race. As a white man, I do not have the experience of the disproportionately high number of people of color who are targeted by law enforcement. No, I was being profiled by the police because I am blind.

The police officer who followed me that day was assuming what many people assume-that I need help. On the surface, this is not a bad thing; it's encouraging that the world is full of people who are eager to help someone, and I appreciate that. However, I do sometimes wish that people could see past my blindness.

I wish that the police officer could have seen me as a competent student, confidently walking down the sidewalk I used nearly every day on my way to class, my computer bag on my shoulder. Instead, all he could see was the long white cane I use to get around, waving back and forth like a white flag of defeat and helplessness.

He had started by asking if I needed help as he pulled over in his car, jumping out onto the sidewalk. I was slightly startled by his sudden appearance, but I had simply replied, "No, thank you. I'm just on my way to class." I was running late, so I didn't bother stopping for him, and I didn't see any reason to say anything else. However, he didn't seem to trust my ability to assess my need for help.

"Wait," he called after me, "I'm just trying to help." "I understand that," I replied, "but I don't need your help, and I'm running late."

He hurried after me saying, "Where are you trying to get to?" That was when I truly became frustrated. I wasn't "trying" to get anywhere. I was just going to class, and I couldn't understand why he wouldn't listen to me. So when he yelled at me to wait again, I turned around and let out my frustration.

I snapped back at him, "Look, I'm on my way to the performing arts building. We are standing on Jaguar Drive between the two- and three-hundred blocks, I am walking north, and I have three more blocks to walk. I know where I am at, I know where I am going, and I don't need your help." With that I huffily turned my back on him and continued on my way.

Looking back at this encounter, I am ashamed that I allowed myself to get so frustrated at the police officer. It wasn't the last time the campus police would try and force their assistance on me, nor was it the last time I would lose my temper. If I had been more patient, perhaps we could have grown to understand each other, instead of continuously clashing.

I always assumed that these outbursts of frustration towards the police were due entirely to my experience as a blind person - small micro-aggressions building up inside me until I boiled over.

However, recently I came to the realization that my identity as a white male also plays a role in such confrontations.

The honesty and aggression that I sometimes use to voice my frustration at the police are manifestations of white privilege.

I get frustrated at the police as a blind man, but I freely express that frustration as a white man. Such experiences have caused me to realize that when it comes to oppression and privilege, each of us lives with multiple identities that shape our experience of the world and how we are perceived.

To better understand these multiple identities, let us consider the concept of intersectionality.

How multiple identities shape our experiences

Intersectionality is a theory that explores how individuals can face multiple categories of discrimination when they belong to more than one marginalized group. Everyone possesses multiple identities, and these identities work together to shape each person's societal and cultural experience.

For example, the experience of an African-American woman is not comparable to the experience of a white woman or an African-American man. The concept of intersectionality came out of the Feminist movement, as women of color critiqued the movement for not acknowledging that the oppression they experienced was different than the oppression experienced by white women. This is not to say that there are no similarities between the experiences of women of color and white women; instead, it is simply an attempt to point out that women of color experience greater and more complex levels of oppression.

Complexity is an important hallmark of intersectionality. Every individual is a woven tapestry of identities, including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, class, and religion.

Perhaps one of the first people to speak out about issues of intersectionality was a woman named Sojourner Truth. Sojourner was a prominent nineteenth-century abolitionist known for her frank and powerful speeches.

In 1851 Sojourner stood up before a women's suffrage meeting and spoke out against the chauvinistic hypocrisy of her day with a speech titled, "Ain't I a Woman?" She rebuked the men who claimed that women were fragile, while simultaneously expecting African-American women to bear unspeakable physical hardships.

It was Sojourner's status as both an African-American and a woman that gave her the insight to make such a clear critique of the dual oppression that she bore.

Sojourner's question, "Ain't I a Woman?" is echoed by the modern activist Laverne Cox. As a transgender woman of color, Laverne has brought Sojourner's frankness into the twenty-first century. "I stand before you this evening a proud, African-American, transgender woman. I'm not just one thing," Laverne said, in a speech that was also titled, "Ain't I a Woman." Like Sojourner, Laverne has spent her life fighting racism and sexism, while also facing homophobia and transphobia.

She was born in Alabama, which, as she puts it, "has a rich history of racial oppression, but also a rich history of resistance." Laverne's determination to express her true self survived and was strengthened by a childhood of being misunderstood and bullied. Her parents blamed Laverne for the bullying, eventually forcing her to attend therapy. The first thing that her therapist ever asked Laverne was, "do you understand the difference between boys and girls?"

Laverne endured such oppression to grow up to be a confident and acclaimed actress, using her experience and fame to highlight issues of intersectionality. Laverne's echoing of Sojourner's question, "Ain't I a woman?" illustrates how people facing different levels of oppression can rally together to make a difference.

Here's another example: As a blind woman, Ever Lee Hairston was a leader in disability activism. She helped organize the New Jersey chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, one of the most powerful blindness organizations in the country, and became the chapter's vice-president.

She was an inspirational leader with her soaring rhetoric and determination to never give up. This determination was tried and tested as she faced discrimination in the job market because of her blindness. She overcame this discrimination and eventually became the supervisor of some of the people who had doubted her. She touched countless people's lives through her work as the administrator of the Alcohol, Drug, and Outpatient Program of Camden County Health and Human Services.

She gained that determination through growing up picking cotton as the daughter of African-American sharecroppers. Her first experience as an activist was in the civil rights movement of the sixties. She worked to overcome discrimination as an African-American, marching in the streets, singing "We Shall Overcome" as stones and garbage were thrown at her.

Ever Lee Hairston's identity as a blind person and her identity as an African-American woman are important, and they each shed light on her inspirational story, a story that can only be appreciated through the lens of her combined identities.

At the intersection of privilege and oppression

Intersectionality is normally applied to individuals who face multiple levels of oppression, such as Sojourner, Laverne, and Ever. However, my identity as a blind white man is a little different. In my case, it is oppression and privilege that intersect, not multiple levels of oppression. Such an intersection further muddies the already complex waters of intersectionality.

For example, I have had a lot of practice talking about my marginalized status as a blind person, and I am very comfortable doing so. However, talking about my privileged status as a white male is another matter. I did not grow up talking about race, and I can sometimes find talking about white privilege uncomfortable. In other words, my identity as a blind person does not erase my other identities.

This coexistence of identities can be confusing for me. When I react to certain situations I have to ask if it is due to my marginalized status as a blind person, or my privileged status as a white person? This is not always an easy question for me to answer.

I believe that the discomfort I feel with such questions is actually a positive thing, and a necessary first step towards growth. It is only through understanding and embracing the multiplicity of our identities that we can truly know and appreciate all aspects of ourselves.

I have seen firsthand the danger of failing to see complex intersecting identities. Growing up in the deep south I often encountered people who resented political correctness. In my experience, such resentment is most commonly felt by poor white people. Understandably, it can be hard to see privilege when they are struggling to make ends meet.

Perhaps such attitudes would be different if they realized that people can simultaneously possess multiple identities and experience both oppression and privilege. This combination of oppression and privilege is similar to what I experience, and it can only be understood through the lens of intersectionality.

I began this essay with a story, and I think that in the end, stories are the key to us understanding intersectionality. It is through stories that we can increase understanding and make a difference. By listening to each other's stories we can empathize with experiences that we will never have.

For example, I will never know what it's like to walk through a store while being suspiciously followed by employees; however, through sharing stories of receiving unwanted attention, both African-American men and people with disabilities can empathize with each other.

An able-bodied woman will never know what it's like to walk into a church and receive prayers from people who want God to heal your perceived physical imperfections; however, through sharing stories of being seen as inferior, both people with disabilities and able-bodied women can empathize with each other.

You may have never considered how oppression and privilege can converge as they do in my story with the police officer, but now that you have heard this story, you may better appreciate your own stories of convergence.

I always resented that police officer for focusing on one small part of my identity that day, and making assumptions about me through that narrow focus. I realize now that my focus was also narrow. I was looking at the situation from the idea of an oppressed blind person, without realizing that I also faced the situation as a privileged white person. If I want to holistically confront such situations of oppression I must start by delving into my own identity.

As Abraham Lincoln said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." He also said, in the same speech, "If we could first know where we are we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it." When we only focus on one aspect of our identity we are a divided house. It is only when we appreciate the full tapestry of all of our identities that we can holistically understand where we are, and through that understanding, hope to stand against oppression.

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Photo credit: Flickr user David Noah

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Each of us lives with multiple identities that shape our experience of the world and how we are perceived. In my case, oppression and privilege intersect. It's not always easy to examine our privilege, but I have seen firsthand the danger of failing to see complex intersecting identities.

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Explaining the ways privilege and oppression are experienced. 

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Explaining the ways privilege and oppression are experienced. 

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This article gives a descriptive look into how privilege is experienced and the ways in which privilege is experienced without the knowledge of the person.

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"Privilege" is a word you'll hear often in social justice spaces, both offline and online.

Some people understand the concept easily. Others - and I was like this - find the concept confusing and need a little more help.
If you're willing to learn about privilege, but you don't know where to start, you've come to the right place!
Before we get started, I want to clarify that this article is not entirely comprehensive. That is to say, it's not going to explain everything there is to know about privilege. But it'll give you a good foundation on the basics.

Think of privilege not as a single lesson, but as a field of study. To truly understand privilege, we must keep reading, learning, and thinking critically.

Defining Privilege

The origins of the term "privilege" can be traced back to the 1930s, when WEB DuBois wrote about the "psychological wage" that allowed whites to feel superior to black people. In 1988, Peggy McIntosh fleshed out the idea of privilege in a paper called "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women's Studies."
We can define privilege as a set of unearned benefits given to people who fit into a specific social group.
Society grants privilege to people because of certain aspects of their identity. Aspects of a person's identity can include race, class, gender, sexual orientation, language, geographical location, ability, and religion, to name a few.

But big concepts like privilege are so much more than their basic definitions! For many, this definition on its own raises more questions than it answers. So here are a few things about privilege that everyone should know.

1. Privilege is the other side of oppression.

It's often easier to notice oppression than privilege.

It's definitely easier to notice the oppression you personally experience than the privileges you experience since being mistreated is likely to leave a bigger impression on you than being treated fairly.

So consider the ways in which you are oppressed: How are you disadvantaged because of the way society treats aspects of your identity? Are you a woman? Are you disabled? Does your sexuality fall under the queer umbrella? Are you poor? Do you have a mental illness or a learning disability? Are you a person of color? Are you gender non-conforming?

All of these things could make life difficult because society disenfranchises people who fit into those social groups. We call this oppression.

But what about the people society doesn't disenfranchise? What about the people society empowers at our expense? We call that privilege.
Privilege is simply the opposite of oppression.
2. We need to understand privilege in the context of power systems.

Society is affected by a number of different power systems: patriarchy, white supremacy, heterosexism, cissexism, and classism - to name a few. These systems interact together in one giant system called the kyriarchy.
Privileged groups have power over oppressed groups.
Privileged people are more likely to be in positions of power - for example, they're more likely to dominate politics, be economically well-off, have influence over the media, and hold executive positions in companies.

Privileged people can use their positions to benefit people like themselves - in other words, other privileged people.

In a patriarchal society, women do not have institutional power (at least, not based on their gender). In a white supremacist society, people of color don't have race-based institutional power. And so on.

It's important to bear this in mind because privilege doesn't go both ways. Female privilege does not exist because women don't have institutional power. Similarly, black privilege, trans privilege, and poor privilege don't exist because those groups do not have institutional power.

It's also important to remember because people often look at privilege individually rather than systemically. While individual experiences are important, we have to try to understand privilege in terms of systems and social patterns. We're looking at the rule, not the exception to the rule.

3. Privileges and oppressions affect each other, but they don't negate each other.

I experience my queerness in relation to my womanhood. I experience these aspects of my identity in relation to my experience as a mentally ill person, as someone who's white, as someone who is South African, as someone who is able-bodied, as someone who is cisgender.

All aspects of our identities - whether those aspects are oppressed or privileged by society - interact with one another. We experience the aspects of our identities collectively and simultaneously, not individually.

The interaction between different aspects of our identities is often referred to as an intersection. The term intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, who used it to describe the experiences of black women - who experience both sexism and racism.

While all women experience sexism, the sexism that black women experience is unique in that it is informed by racism.

To illustrate with another example, mental illness is often stigmatized. As a mentally-ill woman, I have been told that my post-traumatic stress disorder is "just PMS" and a result of me "being an over-sensitive woman." This is an intersection between ableism and misogyny.

The aspects of our identities that are privileged can also affect the aspects that are oppressed. Yes, privilege and oppression intersect - but they don't negate one another.

Often, people believe that they can't experience privilege because they also experience oppression. A common example is the idea that poor white people don't experience white privilege because they are poor. But this is not the case.

Being poor does not negate the fact that you, as a white person, are less likely to become the victim of police brutality in most countries around the world, for example.

Being poor is an oppression, yes, but this doesn't cancel out the fact that you can still benefit from white privilege.

As Phoenix Calida wrote:

"Privilege simply means that under the exact same set of circumstances you're in, life would be harder without your privilege.

Being poor is hard. Being poor and disabled is harder.

Being a woman is hard. Being a trans woman is harder.

Being a white woman is hard, being a woman of color is harder.

Being a black man is hard, being a gay black man is harder."

Let's look at the example of people who are both poor and white. Being white means that you have access to resources which could help you survive. You're more likely to have a support network of relatively well-off people. You can use these networks to look for a job.

If you go to a job interview, you are more likely to be interviewed by a white person, as white people are more likely to be in executive positions. People in positions of power are usually the same race as you, so if they are racially prejudiced, it's likely that they would be prejudiced in your favor.

A poor black person, on the other hand, will not have access to those resources, is unlikely to be of the same race as people in power, and is more likely to be harmed by racial prejudice.

So once again: Being white and poor is hard, but being black and poor is harder.

4. Privilege describes what everyone should experience.

When we use the word "privilege" in the context of social justice, it means something slightly different to the way it's used by most people in their everyday environment.

Often we think of privilege as "special advantages." We frequently hear the phrase, "X is a privilege, not a right," conveying the idea that X is something special that shouldn't be expected.
Because of the way we use "privilege" in our day-to-day lives, people often get upset when others point out some of their privileges.
A male acquaintance of mine initially struggled to understand the concept of privilege. He once said to me, "Men don't often experience gender-based street harassment, but that's not a privilege. It's something everyone should expect."

Correct. Everyone should expect to be treated that way. Everyone has a right to be treated that way. The problem is that certain people aren't treated that way.

To illustrate: Nobody should be treated as if they are untrustworthy based on their race. But often, people of color - particularly black people - are mistrusted because of prejudice towards their race.

White people, however, don't experience this systemic, race-based prejudice. We call this "white privilege" because people who are white are free from racial oppression.
We don't use the term "privilege" because we don't think everyone deserves this treatment. We call privilege "privilege" because we acknowledge that not everyone experiences it.
5. Privilege doesn't mean you didn't work hard.

People often get defensive when someone points out that they have privilege. And I totally understand why - before I fully understood privilege, I acted the same way.

Many people think that having privilege means you have had an easy life. As such, they feel personally attacked when people point out their privilege. To them, it feels as if someone is saying that they haven't worked hard or endured any difficulties.
But this is not what privilege means.
You can be privileged and still have a difficult life. Privilege doesn't mean that your life is easy, but rather that it's easier than others.

I saw this brilliant analogy comparing white privilege and bike commuting in a car-friendly city, and it inspired me to broaden the analogy to privilege in general.

So let's say both you and your friend decide to go cycling. You decide to cycle for the same distance, but you take different routes. You take a route that is a bit bumpy. More often than not, you go down roads that are at a slight decline. It's very hot, but the wind is at usually at your back. You eventually get to your destination, but you're sunburnt, your legs are aching, you're out of breath, and you have a cramp.

When you eventually meet up with your friend, she says that the ride was awful for her. It was also bumpy. The road she took was at an incline the entire time. She was even more sunburnt than you because she had no sunscreen. At one point, a strong gust of wind blew her over and she hurt her foot. She ran out of water halfway through. When she hears about your route, she remarks that your experience seemed easier than hers.

Does that mean that you didn't cycle to the best of your ability? Does it mean that you didn't face obstacles? Does it mean that you didn't work hard? No. What it means is that you didn't face the obstacles she faced.

Privilege doesn't mean your life is easy or that you didn't work hard. It simply means that you don't have to face the obstacles others have to endure. It means that life is more difficult for those who don't have the systemic privilege you have.

So What Now?

Often, people think that feminists and social justice activists point out people's privilege to make them feel guilty. This isn't the case at all!
We don't want you to feel guilty. We want you to join us in challenging the systems that privilege some people and oppress others.
Guilt is an unhelpful feeling: It makes us feel ashamed, which prevents us from speaking out and bringing about change. As Jamie Utt notes, " If privilege guilt prevents me from acting against oppression, then it is simply another tool of oppression. "

You don't need to feel guilty for having privilege because having privilege is not your fault: It's not something you chose. But what you can choose is to push back against your privilege and to use it in a way that challenges oppressive systems instead of perpetuating them.
So what can you - as a person who experiences privilege - do?
Understanding privilege is a start, so you've already made the first move! Yay!

There's a great deal of information out there on the Internet, so I'd firstly recommend that you read more about the concepts of oppression and privilege in order to expand your understanding. The links in this article are a good place to start.
But merely understanding privilege is not enough. We need to take action.
Listen to people who experience oppression. Learn about how you can work in solidarity with oppressed groups. Join feminist and activist communities in order to support those you have privilege over. Focus on teaching other privileged people about their privilege.

Above all else, bear in mind that your privilege exists.

Sian Ferguson is a Contributing Writer at Everyday Feminism. She is a South African feminist currently studying toward a Bachelors of Social Science degree majoring in English Language and Literature and Gender Studies at the University of Cape Town. She has been featured as a guest writer on websites such as Women24 and Foxy Box, while also writing for her personal blog. In her spare time, she tweets excessively @sianfergs, reads about current affairs, and spends time with her gorgeous group of friends. Read her articles here.

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Privilege 101: A Quick and Dirty Guide - Everyday Feminism

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"Privilege" is a word you'll hear often in social justice spaces, both offline and online. Some people understand the concept easily. Others - and I was like this - find the concept confusing and need a little more help. If you're willing to learn about privilege, but you don't know where to start, you've come to the right place!

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Ways to challenge privilege and oppression. 

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Ways to challenge privilege and oppression. 

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Photo from https://ywcacentralcarolinas.org/defining-racial-justice-terms-white-privilege/

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This article described four dilemmas of progressive feminist movement. First, human rights progress is slow on a global scale. Second, the reality of rights and the hopes of feminist rights do not match. Third, feminist work is hard to do along side or within the state legislature and is an issue feminists are divided upon. Fourth, is the ever-changing definition of womanhood and who can claim a stake in womanhood.

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1 For a discussion of rights and development, see P Uvin, Human Rights and Development, Bloomfield, IA: Kumarian Press, 2004, which, despite good general discussion, has limited reference to women's rights.

3 This is not the place to rehearse the arguments for and against rights. There is an extensive literature on this general issue and on the particularities of women's rights and the implication of 'globalising' women's rights. For some examples, see R Cook (ed), Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004; DP Forsythe, Human Rights in International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000; M Molyneux & S Razavi (eds), Gender Justice, Development and Rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003; and J Peters & A Wolper (eds), Women's Rights, Human Rights: International Feminist Perspectives, London: Routledge, 1996.

4 A joint initiative of the Participation Group at the Institute of Development Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas, School for Advanced Studies of London University, this conference was funded by Sida, SDC, DFID and ISA.

5 The UK's DFID was one of the first to promote this idea, which emerged in the second half of the 1990s.

6 N Fraser, 'Redistribution, recognition, and participation: toward an integrated conception of justice', World Culture Report, 2, Paris: UNESCO, 2001.

7 C Taylor, K Anthony Appiah, A Gutmann, J Habermas, S Rockefeller, M Walzer & S Wolf, Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.

8 K Tomasevski, 'The World Bank and human rights', in M Nowak & T Swinehart (eds), Kehl am Rhein: Engel Yearbook on hr in dc s 1989, Kehl am Rhein: Engel, 1989, pp 113 - 114.

9 See, for example, J Kerr, E Sprenger & A Symington (eds), The Future of Women's Rights: Global Visions and Strategies, London: Zed Books, 2004. This enthusiasm contrasted with the critique of human rights from sections of the left and other quarters as a form of Western imperial intervention. See also, for discussion of this position, S Žižek, 'Against human rights', New Left Review, 34, 2005, pp 115 - 131. T Woodiwiss, Human Rights, New York: Routledge, 2005 provides a nuanced treatment of the issues.

10 N Fraser, 'Women, welfare and the politics of needs interpretation', in Fraser (ed), Unruly Practices, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989.

12 A Cornwall & C Nyamu-Musembi, 'Putting the "rights-based approach" to development into perspective', Third World Quarterly, 25 (8), pp 1415 - 1437, 2004; and Uvin, Human Rights and Development.

14 See Gready and Ensor's recent collection, which focuses on international ngo (ingo) experiences with 'rights-based approaches'. P Gready & J Ensor, Reinventing Development? Translating Rights-based Approaches from Theory into Practice, London: Zed Books, 2005.

16 M Robinson, 'What rights can add to good development practice?', in P Alston & M Robinson (eds), Human Rights and Development: Towards Mutual Reinforcement, New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, p 29.

17 Workshop proceedings. The source is anonymised to preserve confidentiality.

19 M Keck & K Sikkinck, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998.

20 See for example, on Latin America, M Htun, Sex and the State: Abortion, Divorce and the Family under Latin American Dictatorships and Democracies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003; and N Craske & M Molyneux (eds), Gender and the Politics of Rights and Democracy in Latin America, London: Palgrave, 2002. On South Africa, see S Hassim, 'Representation, participation and democratic effectiveness: feminist challenges to representative democracy in South Africa', in A-M Goetz & S Hassim (eds), No Shortcuts to Power: African Women in Politics and Policy Making, London: Zed Books, 2003; and A Gouws, (Un)thinking Citizenship: Feminist Debates in Contemporary South Africa, Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press, 2005.

21 A Ortiz-Ortega, 'Femicide and the politics of "justice" in Mexico', paper presented to the Feminist Perspectives on Rights-Based Development conference, Institute of Development Studies, 26 - 27 September 2005.

22 SE Alvarez, 'Advocating feminism: the Latin American feminist NGO "boom"', International Feminist Journal Of Politics, 1 (2), 1999, pp 181 - 209; and I Jad, 'The ngo-isation of Arab women's movements', ids Bulletin, 35 (4), 2004, pp 34 - 42.

23 The four-country study carried out by Molyneux and Lazar reached similar conclusions. M Molyneux & S Lazar, Doing the Rights Thing: Rights-Based Development and Latin American ngo s, London: ITDG Publishing, 2003.

24 S Bracke, 'Different worlds are possible: feminist yearnings for shared futures', in Kerr et al, The Future of Women's Rights.

25 S Álvarez, 'Latin American feminisms "go global": trends of the 1990s and challenges for the new millennium', in S Álvarez, E Dagnino & A Escobar (eds) Cultures of Politics/Politics of Cultures: Revisioning Latin American Social Movements, Boulder, CO: Westview, 1998, p 315; and Molyneux & Lazar, Doing the Rights Thing.

26 See Women Living Under Muslim Laws website, at www.wluml.org.

27 A-M Goetz, 'Women's political effectiveness: a conceptual framework', in Goetz & Hassim, No Shortcuts to Power.

28 R Mohanty, 'Institutional dynamics and participatory spaces: the making and unmaking of participation in local forest management in India', ids Bulletin, 35 (2), pp 26 - 32; and A Cornwall & A-M Goetz, 'Democratizing democracy: feminist perspectives', Democratization, 12 (5), 2005, pp 783 - 800.

29 For discussions of commonalities and differences among women, see, for example, JR Jakobsen, Working Alliances and the Politics of Difference: Diversity and Feminist Ethics, Bloomington, IN: University of Indiana Press, 1998.

31 Goetz, 'Women's political effectiveness'.

32 C Nyamu-Musembi, 'Towards an actor-orientated perspective on human rights', ids Working Paper, 169, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies; and R Petchesky, Negotiating Reproductive Rights, London: Zed Books, 1998.

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The Politics of Rights-Dilemmas for Feminist Praxis: an introduction

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1 For a discussion of rights and development, see P Uvin, Human Rights and Development, Bloomfield, IA: Kumarian Press, 2004, which, despite good general discussion, has limited reference to women's rights. 3 This is not the place to rehearse the arguments for and against rights.

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Kimberle Crenshaw was the one to coin the term intersectionality. She began using the term intersectionality as a way to explain how multiple factors affect someone's life and experiences.

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What intersectionality means on an individual level. 

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What intersectionality means on an individual level. 

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Here at YW Boston, intersectionality is central to the work we do.

We know that everyone reading this has come to follow YW Boston's work from different entry points. Some of us hold women's empowerment close to heart, perhaps seeking a more equitable world for ourselves or our daughters. Some of us have experienced racial discrimination personally, perhaps through generations of our family. Some of us have little experience with social justice, but seek a better understanding of inequity in Greater Boston. All of us seek change in our community, no matter how we became involved.

Despite our shared vision, social equity work can oftentimes feel exclusionary to those who are not familiar with the lingo. Intersectionality, in particular, is a term that many people and organizations assert an importance for, but that others are unclear on. Understanding the terminology used in equity work is a useful tool for people expanding their knowledge on the issues they care about.

If you've ever scratched your head when a friend, colleague, or writer has spoken of intersectionality (or you'd like to deepen your understanding of the theory), this post is for you.

What is it and where does it come from?

Intersectionality, n.

The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage; a theoretical approach based on such a premise. (Oxford Dictionary)

Intersectionality is a framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages. It takes into account people's overlapping identities and experiences in order to understand the complexity of prejudices they face.

In other words, intersectional theory asserts that people are often disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression: their race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and other identity markers. Intersectionality recognizes that identity markers (e.g. "woman" and "black") do not exist independently of each other, and that each informs the others, often creating a complex convergence of oppression. For instance, a black man and a white woman make $0.74 and $0.78 to a white man's dollar, respectively. Black women, faced with multiple forms of oppression, only make $0.64. Understanding intersectionality is essential to combatting the interwoven prejudices people face in their daily lives.

Kimberlé Crenshaw, law professor and social theorist, first coined the term intersectionality in her 1989 paper "Demarginalizing The Intersection Of Race And Sex: A Black Feminist Critique Of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory And Antiracist Politics." The theory emerged two decades earlier, however, when black feminists began to speak out about the white, middle-class nature of the mainstream feminist movement. Many black women found it difficult to identify with the issues of the mainstream (white) feminist movement, issues such as the pressure to be a homemaker. Black women, who often had to work in order to keep their family afloat and therefore did not have the luxury of being homemakers, did not feel as though these issues pertained to their experiences. At the same time, many black women experienced sexism while participating in the Civil Rights movement and were often shut out of leadership positions. This intersectional experience of facing racism in the feminist movement and sexism in civil rights encouraged black women to call for a feminist practice that centralized their lived experiences.

The Combahee River Collective, a black feminist lesbian organization, released the Combahee River Collective Statement in 1978 to define and encourage black feminism. In the introduction these women state that "The synthesis of these oppressions creates the conditions of our lives. As Black women we see Black feminism as the logical political movement to combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face." They fought not only for representation in both the Civil Rights and feminist movements, but also for recognition as black women, rather than just black or just women.

Crenshaw expanded on the Collective's theory, stating that in order to understand the oppression of black women, it is necessary to look at the intersection of blackness and womanhood. While many who championed intersectionality early on were African American women, the theory has proven necessary to understanding a wide range of difference, including individuals' sexual orientation, age, class, disability, and more.

Nowadays, intersectionality is considered crucial to social equity work. Activists and community organizations are calling for and participating in more dynamic conversations about the differences in experience among people with different overlapping identities. Without an intersectional lens, events and movements that aim to address injustice towards one group may end up perpetuating systems of inequities towards other groups. Intersectionality fully informs YW Boston's work, by encouraging nuanced conversations around inequity in Boston. It enlightens us to health disparities among women of color, provides pathways for our youth leaders to understand identity, and is crucial to the advocacy work we support.

What can I do?

Intersectionality may seem theoretical, but it is meant to be utilized. No matter how or when you have become involved with equity work, it is always possible to more fully integrate intersectionality into your view of these issues.

Is your work toward social equity intersectional? Check out these tips and reflect:

Recognize difference.

Oftentimes, it is easier to believe and to explain to others that "all women feel" a certain way or that "LGBTQ+ people believe" some common understanding, but this does not reflect reality. We must recognize that all unique experiences of identity, and particularly ones that involve multiple overlapping oppressions, are valid.

Do not shy away from recognizing that people experience the world differently based on their overlapping identity markers. Because of the way we have been socialized to continue feeding systems of oppression, we often feel it is rude to formally recognize others' difference. We see this in how people are uncomfortable naming another person's perceived race or asking for someone's preferred pronouns. However, we must recognize these identities as a way to step beyond our assumptions that our experience is common. One way of doing so is when you attend rallies, take a look at the signs that others hold - how do they assert their identity and how does this inform the issues they care most about?

Avoid oversimplified language.

Once we recognize this difference, we can move away from language that seeks to define people by a singular identity. You may have heard after the Women's March that many trans folks and allies felt uncomfortable with the vagina-centric themes of the march. Assuming that all women have vaginas or are defined by their bodies is an oversimplification that erases the experiences of those who exist beyond the gender binary. By avoiding language that assumes our own experiences are baseline, we can open ourselves up to listening to others' points of view.

Analyze the space you occupy.

Becoming comfortable recognizing difference also involves recognizing when that difference is not represented in the spaces you occupy. Diversity of all kinds matter in your workplace, your activism, your community spaces, and more. If you are meeting with a local LGBTQ+ organization, is there representation of LGBTQ+ people of color? You may feel that your workplace is racially and ethnically diverse, but is it accessible to people with disabilities? Take note of the welcoming or distancing practices of the spaces you frequent.

Seek other points of view.

Explore the narratives of those with different interlocking identities than you. This includes surrounding yourself with others with differing interwoven identities, but keep in mind that oftentimes, even when you have a diverse group of people in an activist space, it falls on people to educate others about the oppressions they face. When these people share their experiences, take the opportunity to listen. However, do not expect people with identity markers other than your own to be there or to want to educate others. In your own time, seek out existing intersectional narratives, from your podcasts to your television. If you are unsure about a concept or want to learn more about a specific intersection of identity, Google it! This will help you be better prepared to enter into conversations with others and progress together.

Show up.

Do not expect people who face different systems of oppression than you to rally for causes you care about if you do not rally for theirs. As you hear about issues others face, learn about the work that is currently being done around these topics. Listen and defer to those who live with these intersectional identities each day. As you do, you will likely deepen your understanding of your own identity and the subjects you care about most.

Additional Resources:

Check out this TED talk by Kimberlé Crenshaw (who coined the term "intersectionality").

On your quest for more intersectional viewpoints, check out this list of podcasts.

Listen to women share their thoughts on intersectionality here and here.

To learn more about YW Boston's intersectional work, please sign up for our newsletter:

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What is intersectionality, and what does it have to do with me?

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Here at YW Boston, intersectionality is central to the work we do. We know that everyone reading this has come to follow YW Boston's work from different entry points. Some of us hold women's empowerment close to heart, perhaps seeking a more equitable world for ourselves or our daughters.

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The most common examples talked about intersectional points of identity. 

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The most common examples talked about intersectional points of identity. 

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The ways in which understanding intersectionality betters society. 

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The ways in which understanding intersectionality betters society. 

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Photo from
https://medium.com/@Beloved_US/black-history-month-what-is-intersectionality-12763c435ffa

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Audre Lorde on the fight against intersectional issues. 

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Audre Lorde on the fight against intersectional issues. 

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Photo from
https://thinkingraceblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/24/were-all-just-different-how-intersectionality-is-being-colonized-by-white-people/

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In this UN speech, Emma Watson addresses the many things that need to be changed. Watson goes on to address the need for not only feminism but gender equality globally to put feminist action into practice.

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The years of activism and the fight for further change. 

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The years of activism and the fight for further change. 

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The chance to change history and move forward globally as feminists can only be done through further activism. This video depicts the history and current events of feminist activism.

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How Equality Happens: The Power of Women’s Movements