Sunday, September 20, 2015

White Privilege by McIntosh

Article: White Privilege

Author: Peggy McIntosh

Type of Article: Quotes 

          Quote Number One: "I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege." 
                   
                   This quote directly helps tie the whole article together. It also goes along with what we've been talking about. People who have been going through life with these privileges do not even know that they have them. I think the only way they would be aware of what they have is if it would be taken away from them. Women have been fighting for years to have the same rights as men, and they have come a long way. Men of course like to pretend or like I said before, maybe they do not even know, but they think that already women are seen the same as men. Just like we talked about in class, this is not true. A woman could have better resume, more experience, and could be all around better for a job and just because the other candidate is male, he could get the job solely on that.

             Quote Number Two: "Disapproving of the system won't be enough to change them... Individual acts can palliate, but cannot end these problems."
     
                This quote really helps open my eyes to the real world. It is sad to think that these problems are going to be really hard to change. In my life, I have always liked to think if I work hard enough, I can do it, I can succeed. But in all honestly, I might not. It is hard to think about, but it will be harder to find a job than it will be for a male. Even when I do eventually find a job, promotions will be harder to come by, co-workers and even future students may not have as much respect for me as they do my male counter parts. It is a big problem that we all need to address. Not just male privilege, but white privilege as well. 
              Quote Number Three: "It seems to me that obliviousness about male advantage is kept strongly inculturated in the United States so as to maintain the myth of meritocracy, the myth that democratic choice is equally available to all." 

                This quote is another one that really speaks to me. It just seems so unfair to me that this is the way the world is. Unfortunately, it makes sense; like I talked about earlier, men do not realize the natural privilege that they have. If it were to suddenly be taken away from them, they would have an outrage. It their eyes, it would probably be like the world is crumbling. So of course those in charge would try to make sure that in everyday life this is seen as how the world is supposed to be. The world is rigged so the ones in charge stay in charge. I found this awesome article online that shows some of the ways males have it easier

     
I found this picture of a quote online and I thought it just spoke very loudly and clearly about what having privilege is like.


In this article, I really liked how it really dug deep into privileges and about all the privileges that people have and they do not even realize it. In class, I plan to bring up my feelings on how much I hate to admit to being a feminist, but reading things like this just make me mad! I strongly feel that everyone should have the same chances and should be seen the same no matter the gender or the color of an individual. Seeing all of the better opportunities that males have just for simply being male just really angers me. They do not have to worry about things the way women do, their lives are just simply easier. It is going to take a very long time for changes to be made, but we have to stay strong and we have to keep talking about it and trying to dig down so we can fix these problems.

2 comments:

  1. i like the article you used as your hyperlink even though i disagree with some of the statements the say in the article.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is so hard to be in someone else shoes and see what they go through. Article was great!

    ReplyDelete