to ask you about different types of privilege women can have? e.g slim, educated

[pepperandapples]

Just that really - what are the different types of privilege that women can have that make them more or less privileged than other women?

e.g able bodied, wealth, education, slim. What else is there?

is height one? how about hair colour and accent etc?

I am trying to understand

Oh bore off with all that privilege bollocks. It’s just nonsense.

As someone of much below average height, I'd say being an average height is an advantage for lots of things, although im not sure if it would count as a privilege. DH is average height and literally cannot see how this makes lots of things easier for him!

What if we redefine it as talking about characteristics of people/populations who are not routinely discriminated against?

I haven't read all the posts so apologies if this has been mentioned - but have you looked at The Wheel of Power? It illustrates the different kinds of privilege we may experience.

https://ydrf.org.uk/2021/09/19/privilege-wheel/

Do those CEOs have naturally blonde hair or dyed hair?

if you are a white woman, as you age and go naturally grey/white haired, dark hair dye near the face often looked fake and draining, blonde is more flattering and grey/white roots blend in better between appointments.

While men are “silver foxes” as they age, women are still under pressure to not go grey/to not fully look their age.

im in my late 40s, one by one my friends who dye their hair are going lighter. OP, are the female CEOs in the UK predominately middle aged white women who dye their hair? I’d be interested to get a comparison with what hair colour those women had in their 20s when they were first building their careers.

(or in other words, is “blonde privilege” another way to say “white privilege”)

Redefine it however you want. It’s still bollocks.

😂

@Finlesswonder but, at a population level, how many of the 'married well' are short, fat, black, working class women with a cockney or brummy accent? Privilege begets privilege I would say.

@goingdownfighting

Being a women is a bigger disadvantage than any of the differences we have between us.

Bloody marvellous 

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

No one is asking anyone to decide where to place the focus to fix this. Just a really fascinating discussion about the many and complex ways our genetic / environmental factors can grant us privilege

No, you misunderstand the point entirely. These majority women CEOs that have blonde hair do not have naturally blonde hair as naturally blonde hair is exceptionally rare in adult women. It is died. Therefore an acquired form of privilege. It is very telling that you think those women must publicly abase themselves or dye their hair -- you seem defensive.

An insightful and helpful contribution, thank you

There are so many overlapping circles to this, and it's all relative to your particular circumstances, but I was musing on this morning as I blithely walked the wrong way through the security gates in the supermarket to go back to get something I'd forgotten, knowing that I would definitely set off the alarm, but that the security guard either wouldn't question me at all, or would instantly accept my explanation of what I was doing.

Not something I'd happily assume if I was less white, middle class, middle aged and articulate. In particular my younger autistic offspring can never be confident that they can ask to harmlessly bend the rules.

Every time I set off a security alarm at a shop and nobody blinks an eye I think "that's what race/class privilege sounds like". I'm not in fact a shoplifter, but if I were I'd get away with it a hell of a lot. Mind you, nowadays the security guards are too busy wondering whether they should tackle the guy who's just openly nicked ten fillet steaks and three kilos of cheddar or whether he might be carrying a knife.

@LittleBooThang "I haven't seen or noticed a thing, so it must not exist"

This is great, thank you. I haven't ever see it before, and no it has not already been mentioned. I will take a look

As a short woman one very clear thing is that the world is designed for taller people. There are cars I cannot drive because my feet won't reach the pedals. Car air bags are dangerous for me because I have to have the seat so close to the steering wheel to be able to reach the pedals. Car seat belts cut across my neck. Mirrors on walls are too high for me to look in. I have to have a step stool in my kitchen so that I can reach the cupboards. People take you less seriously if you are short or see you as cute. When I went wedding dress shopping I was told in one shop they couldn't help me because I was too short.

I could go on...

Having been able to gain something through behaviour enables you to benefit from the privilege that it brings – vis-à-vis it’s a privilege. Not to mention that a huge proportion of slim people have not had to apply any particularly taxing daily work to achieve it. You either have a genetic predisposition to a high metabolism, enjoy sport and exercise, or have had the added privilege of growing up with nutritional and health awareness – something which is not afforded to all children.

Yes indeed - you make interesting points. Particularly the last part re pondering what colour hair these women had when they were in the earlier stages of their careers. I too would like to know that. I think it is also because to be blonde is to be seen as being a the pinnacle of white privilege / epitomising it, if you will.

I consider myself to have had a privileged life. Come from a good home. Loving parents. Close family. Successful marriage and two lovely adult sons.
Lots of people mistake wealth for privilege; that’s not always the case. I think an uncomplicated life is a privilege worth more than money

Privilege is the wrong word.

You mention 'blonde privilege' but blonde is a choice. Anyone can dye their hair blonde.

I think many forget that there is averageness in the middle. Most people are not priviledged or underprivileged but simply standard common middle overall.

What a strange thread.

Nowadays it seems everything is a privilege if someone thinks it is. That is personal opinion not a social more.

Almost as if you are all absolute solipsists.

No no, privilege is exactly the right word, because some privilege is acquired and some we have no control over / are born with.

Dying hair blonde and achieving the look of blonde hair affords a person privilege, as does losing weight, but a person cannot change their race, for example. Do you understand?

Do you genuinely belive that someone growing up in poverty has equal opportunities to take advantage of the free education and healthy food as someone wealthy?

Absolutely. I love being able to walk through town minding my own business and happily wending my merry way. Quite the contrast from my twenties when I was leered at and jeered at.

My current privilege is being female with the ability to act very stupidly. This means I never have to lift a single heavy item out of the boot of my car at the recycling tip. My poor husband is ignored or is told off and has to do all the donkey work himself.

but 999 people out of 1000 could be slim if they really wanted to be. That isn't a "privilege" it is a personal choice

Not everybody can be slim