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

It’s white working class boys. And it’s been the case for awhile.

Race is another factor.
Agree about accent. Especially at the doctors. Speak well and they take you more seriously.

being attractive and tall too are privilege.

Getting older ive noticed some privileges disappear.

I know you didn’t respond to me but in my experience, yes they absolutely do.

I currently weigh less than 6 stone, vomit daily, so tired I can barely make it through the day, have a multitude of aches and pains but the doctors tell me to put weight on and it’s all due to my low weight but I physically can’t, maybe due to a symptom I listed above but they don’t seem to hear that and I have tried several doctors now.

It’s awful for both ends of the scale. Neither is right.

Height yes.
As I’m very short. There’s a stark difference.

I’m a little over average height and slim-ish/fit. Is my body really considered a privilege, as I work hard to maintain it, eat well, gym 3 days a week plus sports, walking 10k steps minimum daily. Is that really a privilege?

I never liked the use of the word 'privilege'. People hear 'white privilege' or 'thin privilege' and then argue that they're not actually privileged because they're poor or disabled or whatever. People seem to take it as an absolute. "you are white so you are a privileged person".

But people of colour absolutely face issues in society that white people don't, as do the disabled, and the poor, and any other disadvantaged person. It's more helpful to talk about 'advantage' for that reason. A morbidly obese white person will struggle with many things that a thin black person will not for their weight, but not for their skin colour. It seems to be hard to explain this to people sometimes.

Only specific non citizens

I very often say to my kids that comparison is the thief of joy and encourage them to only focus on themselves- their hopes, dream, achievements etc. They both have health and development issues, are considerably shorter than peers, not blonde and not “sporty”. But what’s the point of the privilege conversation? It’s not going to help them or anyone else- got to work with what you’ve got and I have no doubt that they’ll make a success of their lives as they are resilient, capable and positive (hope to god they don’t get fat and start whining on about a lack of privilege because they can’t be bothered to exercise).

Friend noticed this too when she dyed her hair blonde from being brunette all her life.

If you had been obese at 5 you would be those things.

But these aspects are changeable, so we can change our weight, hair colour etc. we can’t change our skin colour or our background.

I guess to a care leaver a stable home is a privilege.

I think that many things can convey privilege. It’s up to individuals to not be swayed and treat people differently/ less or more favourably. Being aware of your own unconscious bias.
Everyone has this.

What an odd thread.

Women as a group are historically and presently disadvantaged. Why would you then start a thread to say ‘look at all the ways you’re priviledged’. And this is either your first post or you have name changed to do it. 🧐

As a result others may treat you better.
That’s not to take anything away from your efforts. You work hard at it so why not reap the privilege!

I think privilege is something you’re born with or given to you. I have a good job/income now but I’m from a poor upbringing. Is that also now called privilege?

If you really think a privilege wheel which equates slimness with race and class and completely excludes sex and also age is "great" then you need to do even more social sciences homework than PPs have suggested.

Its utter bollocks frankly.

• Being utterly shameless - those with no sense of shame or baggage for errors, omissions or gross-negligence, Paula Vennells, Dame Cressida Dick, George Osborn, Andrew Bailey, many members of most parliaments
• Being a recipient of 'positive' discrimination - shortlists for historically unrepresented groups.
• Lower expectations for an atypical hire - Dame Sharon White versus Katherine Birbalsingh
• Nepotism - catwalk models who genetically resemble their tycoon fathers rather than their mothers, clueless scions of multi-generational fortunes
• Being articulate and able to 'read the room' - Emma Thompson was aghast at pupils from her old school not having different public and social accents and vocabulary, 'Mockney' accents have been commercially useful for some, other regional accents (Scouse/Brum) less so.
• Health - difficult to enjoy the benefits without being able to make an appearance - FDR and JFK would be rumbled by modern media.
• Height - people often pay more attention to the tallest in the room, often listening to the lowest-paid would yield better results
• Age - most people spend the best years of their career being 'too old' or 'too young' for the best jobs

The focus is all negative anyway - instead of looking at different aspects of privilege within ones self and identity we should put the focus on how society can accommodate different needs so that we can equalise opportunity and create abundance where there is a shortfall within a community.

I think so. Imo.

I am educated and speak well. Having lost most of my scouse accent. I get treated differently as a result.

My race though can’t be changed and has been a lifelong thread of being discriminated against. Even on line dating meant I attracted the “exotic fetish “ seekers!

It's because you are genetically slim that you can't see that it's a privilege tbh.

Try being fat no matter what you try. Living that way on a constant diet but getting nowhere. Being judged as lazy or a glutton. People commenting just because you're eating something.

Genetically slim is a major privilege.

Then imo the vast majority of people (in the UK) have access to that same privilege. I’m not especially clever, had no parental support in adult education or my career, I wasn’t even slim when I entered my career path, I grew up in a low class area. It’s all entirely down to working towards a goal.

Also distinguishing between absolutes and relatives helps - so we are all privileged in the west compared to most people in poorer countries however relative poverty within the UK has been shown to adversely impact on outcomes when looked at on a large scale ( some people from poorer backgrounds do well but in terms of health and social mobility en masses that isn't the case).

I think we are confusing the absolutes/relatives here and micro focusing on things - no one had mentioned teeth as an indicator of poverty but realistically if someone came to your office with two frontvterth missing would that be a consideration or not in your interactions with them. Some of the things mentioned here ( height, size) are indicators of good health and we know that correlates with class ( and that I do think is because of higher costs in renting/less access to sources and cheap, poor alternatives aggressively targeting poor areas eg. Poundshops with aisles full if fizzy drinks and pot noodles)

Can't you colour your hair to be blonde. I'm not sure how many real blondes there are.

Exercise and eat healthily to be slim, I'm not sure that being slim is a privilege, you make it a priority to be healthy or not, surely? Perhaps being motivated is a privilege, surely more a mindset that you work at..?

Height ..genetic...

I think there’s a difference between a privilege and an advantage. Being blonde may, statistically, be an advantage to a woman in business but I wouldn’t say it’s a privilege. Anybody can achieve blonde hair with a box of dye, having it is not a privilege because it is not something others are excluded from. I’d also argue that a privilege would afford better treatment for a range of opportunities across the board, is there evidence to show that being a blonde woman is advantageous in any areas outside of business? For example are blonde women less likely to be victims of crime? Are they less likely to be arrested or convicted if accused of a crime? Are they more likely to be taken seriously about healthcare issues?

If you look at factors such as race or sex or disability you can see that the privileges obtained by being white/ male/ free of disability are seen across many different parts of every day life compared to not being one of those things. Being blonde/ slim etc would need to be beneficial across multiple areas of life to be a genuine privilege, rather than just a slight advantage in some situations.

Age. Which can be youth or maturity as both confer privilege in different situations. I also think height is definitely a privilege, within certain parameters. I'm not sure why some people don't understand that not all privileges work equally for everybody in every situation.

Race. White women are far more privileged than other women and indeed more so than many men of colour.