Thought I would make a post where people can share their experiences of not having privilege. So please share freely in the comments section. The saddest, most pathetic and depressing responses will win a trip* to a top notch psych ward where they can get the appropriate treatment for their pathetic life.
I'll start...
Because I have big feet I keep stubbing my toes on everything and then I need to buy more band-aids.
Because I am a woman I get a period and it makes me really cranky and tired, but I am still expected to function like a normal person by all of society.
Because I have boobs I am expected to wear bras, but the pretty name-brand ones are so expensive that I can only wear cheap ass knock-offs and that makes me feel like less of a woman.
Because I am not financially well-off I can't go drown my sorrows with a $7 Latte at Starbucks when I am depressed, and that makes me even more depressed.
Because my parents never bought me my first car I was forced to start working to pay for one, as well as all the gas, insurance, and license plate fees each year.
Because I m afraid of spiders I can't go into the back shed to get things, and that infringes on my rights to move about freely in society.
Because I have 4 kids I can't go out and party every night, and that makes me feel very oppressed and limited in my being able to make my own choices.
Because I am lactose intolerant I can't enjoy cheese at a wine and cheese party, and that makes me feel marginalized.
Because I don't have an i-phone I feel persecuted and targeted as a minority every time I hear or see an ad for them.
Because I have a husband who takes out the garbage every day without asking me if he can, I feel like less of an independent and capable human being, even if I don't really want to do it.
Because I wrote this list, I now feel even more depressed, oppressed, obsessed, and distressed.
*If you win the trip, please note that you'll have to pay for it all your self because all my money is going to pay for my own therapist now that I've written this depressing list.
Because I have a pacemaker I can't lean over the running engine of a car.
ReplyDeleteBecause I have boobs and a rather broad back I can't buy pretty, frilly bras from Victoria's Secret.
Nice satire.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've seen the source and I honestly don't know what to make of it, 'bizarre', seems apt but perhaps unkind to people that may have serious problems. But I don't how to view what essentially looks like a pissing contest in misery. Some posters aren't satisfied with their list so follow up other users lists with new lists of additional miseries. Some treat genuinely everyday, normal occurrences as though they're personal affronts or project their assumptions onto these allegedly privileged others. Some act as though their serious medical and psychological issues should never enter into the equation in any situation ever. The same ones that claim to behave inappropriately, have poor communication skills and have serious medical and psychological problems; they can't not have an effect in any interaction. It's like someone with a history of violence complaining that others are wary and distant when around them. Some have such long lists of issues including social dysfunctions, psychological issues and poor communication skills that one might suspect their perceived mistreatment to be as a result of their problems or even imagined, and not because everyone else is unfeeling or a bigot. But even they had a limit to what was considered appropriate, when one user professed to being a pedophile, that was beyond the pale and the response was a request to remove it.
Just struck me as an unhealthy exercise for a forum topic, the kind that those seeking / craving attention gravitate towards so they may tell all how terrible their lives are.
Honestly, as much as I think A+ and it's leaders should be mocked and made fun off, THIS specific thread I find rather sad. I would say this is mostly a list of things they should be talking with their therapist about.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that. I am conflicted. I strongly believe in Carlin's "everything is funny" mantra.
MMmhhhh
I approve.
ReplyDeleteBecause I speak Korean, I'll never be able to appreciate "Gangnam Style" without understanding the words like a "regular" American, and that makes me feel alienated from my national identity.
ReplyDeleteBecause I am cis male, I am thought of as Schrodinger's Rapist.
ReplyDeleteBecause I pass as white, I am thought of as Schrodinger's Racist.
Because I am het-cis-male, I try to avoid talking to women in elevators.
Because I'm monogamous, I cannot attend the really fun parties at Skepticon.
Because I'm atheist, I have trouble understanding how most people see the world.
Because I'm skeptical, I have trouble towing the line on some feminist orthodoxy.
Oh, wait, it was about *NOT* having privilege? My bad.
To be honest I don´t find that thread as sad as other commenters do.
ReplyDeleteWe all have issues and problems (I´ve suffered several depressive episodes in my life, even thought of suicide a few times), but that´s not an excuse to try to control and shift the blame on others. A lot of the items on that thread seem more like an attempt to blame others (men, patriarchy, family, society, even biology) for everything that happens in their life instead of taking responsibility for their own actions.
And now for my own experience:
Because I´m a man, I´m expected to harass at least 50 women every day, and that´s exhausting.
Because I am apparently ugly, I cannot complain about constantly being hit on.
ReplyDeleteBecause I have men in my life that I love and respect, I cannot consider all men horrors.
Because I have gone to great lengths to have my illnesses treated, I cannot blame them (or the medication) for the world's ills.
Because I have chosen not to reproduce, I will never be a heroic single mother.
Because I have a hard-fought high-level vocabulary, I will always be condemned for making other people feel bad about themselves.
Because I report on experiences free from tragedies, I lack empathy and basic humanity.
Because I prefer to keep private aspects of my life private, I don't have any of the same experiences as anyone else, and therefore have no valid opinions.
Because I evaluate people individually, I will never be "one of us."