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

You've a very cynical and unhealthy view of life and humanity if this is actually a serious question.

I'm not defensive. I'm also not blonde, as it happens, and never have been. I've noticed that more and more white women now have blonde hair and I find it baffling, but then spending a lot of money on hair, clothes etc has never been my thing. So dispiriting that women are still expected to do all this nonsense to prove they are worth hiring or promoting.

I'm reacting to the word 'privilege', I suppose. The way it's being used in this discussion it does sound very much as if we are all being asked to maintain a mental checklist of ways in which we have been fortunate and compare ourselves with everyone else. If this is solely so we are reminded we should try to give a leg up to people who don't have those advantages but who deserve a break, no problem, but if it's just for purposes of navel-gazing and beating ourselves up for not having experienced certain hardships, what on earth is the point?

Yes, this is definitely true

Well you can join weight watchers for under a tenner a month and live off tinned tuna and vegetables and you won't be overweight after however much of that you can bear.

Total rubbish. In prehistoric times in temperate climates young women who were blond were likely to have babies with stronger bones, and some men retain that instinctive sexual preference.

But men have a wide range of sexual preferences for a wide range of reasons, and in any case, any woman who wants to be blond knows where the hair dye aisle is in the supermarket

Personally I think health is the biggest privilege, as someone who is registered disabled. So I disagree with the poster who says a supportive family is the most important.

I'm lucky that I can depend on other people to support me, and I do have an amazing family, but as a woman there is peace of mind in being able to support yourself/not having to depend on a man and I don't have that privilege. If I really needed to leave I'd be dependent on the government instead.
Also it's just a privilege not to feel like crap most of the time!

One way I am privileged over others is my happy healthy son. I'm so grateful for him but that still comes under the umbrella of health. Your health is everything.

You aren't comparing like with like.

A poor, badly-educated, disabled MAN of colour would have privilege compared to a poor, badly-educated, disabled WOMMAN of colour.

A wealthy, white educated MAN without disability has privilege compared to a wealthy, white educated WOMAN without disability.

I'm not doing your social science homework for you OP! There are plenty of books and articles about this you can read. Stop getting women to di your work.

Just to say though, the blond hair thing is ridiculous. Hair dye exists so hair colour is not "a privilege".

I am regularly reminded of a lecture I went to at uni in the late 90s when they showed a graph of the birth rate of humans in Sweden (I think!) against the the population of swans in the same country, each year the population of the birds increased, the human birth rate increased the following year, and the same in reverse. The stats could show they were related.

its a lesson to be careful about drawing conclusions from statistical data that appears to show a correlation.

Most women who are CEOs are blonde- you are assuming that boards are more likely to appoint blondes. Does that follow for men? What percentage of middle aged professional White women dye their hair blonde? To be on track for CEO roles by 50, women would have to be promoted and building a name for themselves in their late 20s/early 30s, what hair colour did they have at the point they were getting people to take a chance on them/giving them the opportunity to be in the position to be CEO material 20/30 years later.

I'd say this is a black and white way of looking at eg education. It's not like school where if you are the correct age, your parents enrol you and you are allocated a school place. University usually has entry requirements, some people may not achieve those (education, family situation, mental and physical health, natural intelligence or talent, support from parents/teachers all have an affect)

Also what are you living on while you're at university? In England (unsure of system in scotland) the maintenance loan doesn't even cover rent in a very many places....so you'd get a job....but what if your course required 40 hours a week in a lab or placement and you couldn't get enough working hours around that?
It's really not as easy as uni is free therefore anyone can go.

Beauty

I think in that in Britain social class trumps race and sex and everything else.

why are you having a go at another poster like this? Their contribution is every bit as valuable as yours. Your wild assumptions about them indicate that you are not really a person who understands what stereotypical thinking means, and I am guessing that your whole premise about privilege is based on your own decisions and choices not leading you to the pot of gold under the rainbow, and trying to blame factors out of your control for places your life is not meeting expectations.

If you think being slim and blond and educated gives women such a big advantage in life, get slim and blond and educated.

Nothing is stopping you

No social science homework here! Or any homework for that matter.

You evidently have not read the articles or tried to gain an understanding of how privilege operates if you are willing to refute the objective fact that blonde hair is a privilege (in the majority of contexts)

so, any woman who chooses too can die their hair.

Actually this is a good point. For white women, when hair starts greying, it's much easier and more flattering to dye blonde than dark as regrowth is not so obvious. And grey still isn't really socially acceptable. So age/white privilege is probably more likely a reason than "blonde privilege".

This blond privilege idea is complete rubbish. I had blond hair all my life, until chemo, then I went bald, then it grew back black.

No difference what so ever in the way I am treated with black hair or blond hair.

Many differences in the way I was treated while bald! Lots of people are very nice to bald women, and make lots of allowances,

maybe you should be looking into bald woman privileges!

I was not having a go at them. I am also not the demographic you think that I am. I am white, I am blonde (dyed) and I am educated. I have other forms of privilege but will not list them all. I am also overweight. So we are where we are!

Being able bodied and non disabled is privileged.

Also being the parents of non disabled children or adult a child privileged. You have no need to fight for EHCP content, complete benefit forms and deal with benefit agencies, fight for transport, liaise with social services, run PA timetables, neg for time off from being a carer for your adult child.

yes of course, but that does not mean that it is not something that will then afford you privilege! There seems to be some misunderstanding amongst some posters about the meaning of the term privilege. Privilege is not necessarily something which is naturally acquired / something you are born with, it can be something you purchase or work for or are given. It is still a privilege.

This

Agree. I’ve had some female colleagues and clients be particularly unpleasant to me. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they’ve been overweight and I’m slim. And it’s almost always been men that have pointed it out to me.

I am blonde and a little above average height.

No longer slim however but to be honest I'm not sure i would truly count that, there's a decent extent to which i can influence my weight and a lot of why i don't is kind of laziness and choice on my part. I know a degree is genetic but im not sure many people really have genes making them morbidly obese - more just different builds etc, more tendency to gain weight from a poor diet.

My biggest "privilege" is probably academic ability. I found school/formal education easy. I have a good memory, I learn fast & grasp complex concepts easily, its a big part of my career success which has brought high earnings.

Speaking English as a first language is linked to being borne and brought up in some of the most advanced and wealthy countries in the world. And this comes with a privilege people In undeveloped countries can only dream of. It is also one of the most widely used and understood languages in the world. English speakers are notorious for their lack of language skills and expectation of translation and interpretation.

Not speaking a second language is a personal choice. Arguably being able to make that choice is a privilege. Some people have no choice over needing to learn English, French or other languages to get on in this world.

Societal privilege is not a linear scale with each person or group existing in a continuum. It is far more complex. One group may do 'worse' on one axis e.g. race, while being advantaged on another e.g. wealth. There are far too many intersections between all the different factors and each person/group will place greater or lesser importance on those factors depending on how they are impacted.

Too much nuance for a MN AIBU thread which is mostly about starting a fight.