Where would you stand in this room?

Thanks for the heads up. I don’t quite know where I would be standing or perhaps I am not sure I want to know. Very interesting though.

Interesting quiz

You can find the questions here

I took:

20 steps forward
5 steps back

15 steps forward was my final place

Why? I’m a white, male, heterosexual, middle class

Thanks! Another jelly messaged me the link, but you were quicker than I getting it posted.

19 steps forward, 4 steps back – so, fifteen. The question about calling police without hesitation made an impression on me. I had never even though about not being able to do that.

@Here2_4 You’re welcome

There’s another interesting link on the page that lists tendencies of people in privileged and oppressed positions.

13 steps forward, 7 back.

Thanks for sharing that link, the video was pretty powerful.

(My understanding was that you were supposed to stay in place unless specifically told to move forward or backward, right? Like if a “move forward” question didn’t apply to me, I’d stay in place and not step back just because it didn’t apply?)

That’s how I understood it.

That’s how I did it too.

That is how I did it.

19 forward. 7 back. So 12 total.

Middle age white guy. here the product of two loving, stable parents. I would have been further along but my mother died when I was young so that put a bigger burden on my father.

According to this survey, single parenthood is a big disadvantage to “privilege”.

17 forward, 1 back.

It would have been 18 forward, but I had the “misfortune” of being born in Canada. ;-)

I too found some areas I felt were glitches. The concept is cool, and thought provoking, but some of it seems erroneous. Let’s add that to the thread. Anyone who would take issue with any point(s) whether they were correctly identified as advantage or disadvantage, please raise your hand.
No, signify by applause.
Oh, we are jellies. Speak up and make yourself heard.

Regardless of race, or income according to this survey it seems that anyone can give their child substantial “privilege” by being married or in a stable, long-term relationship before having the child.
For most of us that is something well within our control. Having a spouse suddenly die of breast cancer, or heart disease, or a car accident isn’t. Those factors are more luck of the draw.

Some of the questions made me feel like whatever causes us emotional pain is a disadvantage. Thing is, lots of people are quite resilient, and not one bit held back by certain painful things.

@Here2_4 That is what I felt too! My father having to work nights and weekends made me stronger not weaker. I realized he needed help and I took care of things that needed to be done. I did not use the “free time” to misbehave. I learned how to be responsible.

OMG! I just got the point of it!

The challenge with this question being posted on Fluther is that this seems to be a questionnaire for those currently living in the US. Anyone who doesn’t , even if they adjust some of the questions to their country’s name and language, it seems like the results would only be applicable if comparing them to other people from the same country.
—-
As someone from the US, the survey results netted nine steps forward. I expected more. Being a female dealing in a male dominated world was the biggest setback.

Where are all of the questions? I saw the video, that was cool. My gut feeling is I’m more forward than back, but not all the way up front.

@JLeslie

Here are the questions: http://www.buzzfeed.com/dayshavedewi/what-is-privilege#.sa446Dd0r

Thanks!

I got 16 forward and 5 back. One back I don’t even agree should be back. I worked in high school and college and I think it was positive. I think what they possibly failed to clarify is whether it was financially necessary or not.

@JLeslie, I felt the same way about that question. Thus, I didn’t count it. I worked for additional pocket money since the parents were willing and able to cover the basics only.

#19 I kind if identify with having been the only Jewish person many times in class and at work but I never felt afraid about it or negatively singled out.

11 forward, 4 back.

Question 12 and 24 don’t seem to be for me.

I can’t open the link.

I started to try this based on the list of questions, but gave up when it became clear how American-centric it is. In my (Canadian) province, coming from an English-speaking home would earn a step back, not a step forward. No one would step forward for being able to visit a doctor, because everyone has access to healthcare without having to pay.

There are other examples; our cultures are different in many respects.

I ended up +10 overall (18 steps forward, 8 steps back).

To address some of the criticisms:

(1) People complaining that the quiz is American-centric need to understand that the BuzzFeed video and website are using the American version of the privilege walk activity because it was Americans taking the quiz. The inventors created more than one version precisely because the relevant questions can vary from place to place. That said, privilege can also be relative to the world (rather than to one’s locality).

Being born in an English-speaking home is a privilege even outside of the US because English has become the default international language (and is the most commonly used language used on the internet, especially some of the most developed websites). Furthermore, having guaranteed healthcare is a privilege even if everyone in one’s immediate area has it as well because we live in a world where so many people lack access to even basic medicine.

(2) Saying that something constitutes a privilege is not the same as saying it is purely positive or advantageous. By the same token, saying that something does not constitute a privilege is not the same as saying it is purely negative or disadvantageous. So if you think taking a step back was not “really” bad, you are imposing a value judgment onto the quiz that does not belong there. Being privileged is not always good. Not being privileged is not always bad. But privilege is still privilege, and lack of privilege is still lack of privilege.

Indeed, privilege often manifests in terms of an absence. Privileged people do not have to work as hard at certain things, do not need to learn how to control certain aspects of their lives, and are rarely—if ever—required to justify their behavior or very existence. It should be obvious that this can be both advantageous (privileged people can get away with things more easily) and disadvantageous (privileged people often lack awareness of the world and self to varying degrees). But again, privilege is not purely a matter of advantage or disadvantage. It is a matter of privilege—and most often, the privilege not to worry about something.

Lest I be misunderstood, however, please note that I am not blaming anyone for misunderstanding. Not everyone is privileged enough to have been educated about privilege.

Eloquent and clever. Thanks be to you for the clarification! I found the whole exercise interesting, yet a bit confusing. You have made things much clearer for me now. I am glad someone was on hand who is already familiar with this activity.
I am glad I brought the video to Fluther. I am learning some cool stuff about it.

@SavoirFaire “Being born in an English-speaking home is a privilege even outside of the US because English has become the default international language (and is the most commonly used language used on the internet, especially some of the most developed websites). Furthermore, having guaranteed healthcare is a privilege even if everyone in one’s immediate area has it as well because we live in a world where so many people lack access to even basic medicine.”

I don’t want to belabour the argument, but I don’t agree with you on either point, which is a rare enough thing that I feel the need to mention it. The language politics in Quebec are complex; it is not just about the number of available opportunities and where one can take one’s skills. It is about how one interacts with others on a daily basis over a lifetime; it is about whether one feels welcome in one’s own society.

As to the healthcare point, you have already acknowledged that the quiz is targeting Americans – so I’m not sure why healthcare access should be compared to that in other countries. Surely, the point of the quiz is to compare one’s privilege to that of the people around them, people we might be in a room or on a bus with – not to that of people living in a developing country, for example.

@dappled_leaves , I read the entire response from @SavoirFaire . He stated that other versions were written to fit persons in other countries. The video was taken in the U.S., so that is which test they used.
Also, it was said that English is an advantage outside the U.S., but that does not mean it is the only advantage. Knowing other languages, especially whatever language is used in a particular area would also be an advantage.

@Here2_4 I agree with you, but your answer is a bit of a non sequitur. My initial post was to say that those two questions (among others) were not appropriate for my locale. @SavoirFaire was saying that the questions should still be appropriate given my locale.

Now you are saying that the questions are appropriate for locales other than mine. No one has argued with that.

Anyway, this is getting fearfully off-topic, so perhaps someone can now wrestle it back to the original question.

Two steps forward & two steps back
We come together coz opposites attract
And you know, it ain’t fiction
Just a natural fact
We come togeth…

So, that seems sorta off topic, though cute, except….
I noticed in the video participants were holding hands. I thought that must have added to the impact, everyone starting off holding hands, side by side, and eventually stepping in opposite directions, their hold slipping away. It would feel sad to me.

@Here2_4 If I had to start out holding hands of those next to me and then have to break contact due to moving forward more than they did, it would be extremely emotional.

@dappled_leaves While I may not be a native, I do have a better than average understanding of the language politics in Quebec (for an American, at least). About one quarter of my family is Québécois, which is why (and how) I started learning French at a young age. I have also been to Quebec several times and have discussed both the language politics and the independence issue with residents (particularly in Vieux-Québec). With that out of the way, let us return to the claim of yours at issue, which was that “In my (Canadian) province, coming from an English-speaking home would earn a step back, not a step forward” (the implication of which is that speaking English on par with a native speaker does not constitute privilege, or that lacking that ability does not constitute a lack of privilege).

First it seems to me that you are conflating “born in an English-speaking home” with “born in an English-only home.” A Quebecer could learn both languages from birth, thus acquiring both local and international privilege. You also seem to be under the impression that “being born in an English-speaking home confers privilege” is somehow incompatible with “being born in a French-speaking home confers privilege.” But this is false—and indeed, Quebec presents a great example of how both could confer privilege along different dimensions.

The point about dimensions of privilege is important because one can be privileged in some ways while not being privileged in others. This is one reason why it does not, in fact, make sense to limit discussions of privilege to a locality. How one compares to those around them may be particularly salient for certain types of interaction, but the larger project of those who have done research on and brought attention to issues of privilege is generally global in scale. (Note that this actually comes up briefly at 0:37 of the video. I also think this point means that @Here2_4‘s response—particularly the second part—isn’t actually a non sequitur).

@Here2_4 @Pied_Pfeffer Yeah, the holding hands part of the exercise is great for precisely that reason. It’s a nice physical reminder of what we often allow privilege (and ignorance about it) to do to us socially.

@SavoirFaire Well, I predict that you will again garner much lurve for contradicting me, even though your experience with these cultures is admittedly very limited compared to mine. As I said previously, I’m not going to continue the gainsaying. Enjoy.

It seems that the “privilege” questions are are about factors outside of our control. They highlight how we happen to be at the right or wrong place at the time.

Imagine if the questions included more items: natural disaster, bad weather, house fires, etc. That would be even more realistic.

Now imagine a set of questions where we actually do have control. For example: Have you ever drunk yourself into unconsciousness? Step back. Do you eat healthy? Step forward. Do you abuse drugs? Did you ever break into someone’s home to steal for drugs? Did you study and do your homework in school? Step forward. Did you get pregnant or impregnate someone when you were still in high school? Do you exercise? Do you treat others with respect?
I am not sure of the point of this exercise. It just shows we are not all created equal. Some people will be tall some will be short. We already know this. We can’t change how we are born. However, we can change how we behave and accept the consequences or rewards for our own actions. That’s what should be taught.

@LuckyGuy Great points. I want to add to your first comment about right place at the wrong time, that a black person or gay person might answer the same person differently depending where they lived, even withinnthe boundaries of the USA.

Some people above talked about health care and I didn’t even think of that question regarding health care in other countries, I just thought about myself and if I have access. I had to answer I do, but it was innthe back of my mind how frustrated I can be regarding health care and how the system sometimes makes it difficult, but I can always go outside of the system, because I am able to pay (considering I have never had to pay many thousands of dollars to do it, although I have easily paid around $10k on my own that was not towards deductables or copays, just straight to doctors and labs, over the years even though I always had insurance). Although, I have had to cross states to get the care I needed.