Do I experience privileges daily? Yes, I do. Even, and especially, white privilege. Is it something I actively seek out to take advantage of? No, of course not. But it’s there, nonetheless. I’m white. I was born white. I don’t have a say in the matter, and I never have. It’s been pretty well established that people who are white do not have the same lived experiences as people of color. We all know that. People who are white don’t have the same historical experiences as people of color in our country, they don’t experience the same systemic challenges or have the same day to day experiences. This is not new information. But, what else?
I am a white, middle-class, English-speaking woman, who is middle aged, and able bodied. There are a lot of nuances to those identifiers. Let’s pick that apart further.
Looking at socioeconomic status, I suppose technically my husband and I are middle-class. In Maine, you are part of the middle-class if your annual household income falls between $45,501 and $136,502. These figures are based on information from the 2022 US Census, that was then analyzed by GOBankingRates, a personal financial publication based in Los Angeles. Okay. Ok. O.K… O. Oooohhhh.
Speaking from personal experience – if your annual household income, even as a single person living in Maine, is $45, 501, you are poor. You are stuck in a place where you don’t make enough to live a comfortable life, and you don’t qualify for any help. That is a hard place to be. Really hard. But technically, you are in a place of privilege, compared to those who are living in poverty. Except that, those who are living in poverty can get assistance. I am far from an economist, and I won’t even pretend that I can grasp those slippery concepts even on my best day. The point is the middle class holds privilege over working and lower class. However, we are all oppressed by the wealthy, and I believe we are feeling this divide more than ever before. The extremely wealthy are not enigmas, they are now our public servants, except why doesn’t it feel that way? Oh right, that nasty oppression.
Gender. Oh, how we have SUCH a love/hate relationship with the word GENDER in our country. I honestly don’t want to tease all that out here. I am a woman. I use she/ her pronouns. My gender is the same as it was when I was born. We ALL know, not all people identify with that and have had different experiences – whether you like it, agree with it or believe it. I’m not going to debate that. It’s just a fact. In the U.S., women did not have the right to vote until 1920. Women were not allowed to have their own credit card, without their husband or father’s name on it, until 1974. Women were not allowed to run in the Boston Marathon until 1972. And although there were no laws preventing it, women were actively passed up for front line ground combat positions until 2015. Women experience oppression in every aspect of life and society, every single day. But women also experience privilege. The experiences of women who identify with the gender they were born, pale in comparison to women who do not. I say this from my own perspective and experiences; the fears women have of violence every single day are very real, and very pervasive. And yet, the fear of violence that our transgender friends experience every day could fill the Mariana Trench. It’s just wrong. It’s wrong to physically harm someone who only wants to be themselves, with no threat to you or your life whatsoever. It’s a privilege I don’t take lightly.
English speaking, that one seems obvious, right? In America, we speak English. I mean, in America, we speak, English? Some of us do, in fact 78% of us speak English as our first language. If you are quick with mental math, you probably realize that means about 245 million people. The advantages of being an English speaker are evident, particularly in Maine, where only 6% of the population speak another language in the home besides English. Move to Miami, Texas or Los Angeles – things may feel a little less balanced. Speaking English is essential, but being multilingual is a huge asset.
Now, we are starting to travel to the murky end of the pool. Things start to become more subjective from this point forward. Let’s dip a toe into that muck.
Middle aged. What the heck does that really mean? Does it truly mean, the midway point through the lifespan? The average life expectancy for a woman in the U.S. is 79.3 years, which would make middle aged 39.6 years. I have far exceeded that by almost 10 years. According to lifespan and development theories, middle adulthood ranges from age 40-60, and can vary based on culture and lots of other factors, like genetics, and other social determinants of health – like equitable access to healthcare, exposure to poverty, experiences with child abuse etc. So yeah, middle aged. Is this a privilege? I guess it depends on who you ask, and in what way it would benefit you. For me, I’m 48, I’m in grad school and taking out student loans that I might be able to make a dent in before I die, I haven’t even really started my career yet, I haven’t really started to save for retirement yet, I don’t own a home. Ugh, that sounds depressing. But my kids are in their 20’s and doing great, my parents are still living, most of my extended family are still living, and I have all this experience, which sometimes doesn’t seem like it’s worth more than a hill of beans. But it IS! I have the advantage of thoughtfulness. I have the advantage of experiencing life from multiple perspectives. I guess at the very least, I have the advantage of not needing to color my hair and not really having any wrinkles. Yet.
This transition of vanity is intentional, as it brings me to my final point. Body size. Is body size a privilege? You bet your fat ass it is. Despite the body positivity movement, despite inclusivity in sizing, despite the ever increasing “normal” sized characters on TV and social media influencers; Fat is whack. Still. And it always will be. There will always be advantages in the workplace, in sports, in the arts, when purchasing a vehicle, when being seated in a restaurant (ahem, table, not booth please) for people, particularly women, who are “average” or slender. It’s true, and I hate that it’s true. But those are the facts, sister. I mean, I could write a whole Magna Carta about why Americans are the fattest people on the planet, and who that benefits, but I won’t. I will say it’s not a coincidence that huge financial corporations, such as the Vanguard Group, have financial holdings in multiple pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Lilly) and in the parent company Yum Brands Inc., who own KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. And, The Roark Group, who owns Anytime Fitness and Orangetheory Fitness also owns The Cheesecake Factory, Arby’s, Dunkin’ and Sonic. Also, until recently, becoming “un-fat” was a “you” problem. Just eat better – leafy greens and protein and walk 30 minutes a day. What’s that, you say? Medications for other things are making you fat? Nope, that’s a “you” problem. Sorry, you have medical conditions that make it difficult to lose weight? Sorry, we don’t have a pill for that. Except, now we do, and its BIG business. (see above) Okie, off the soapbox, I come.
So, what is the point of it all, you may be asking. The point is, we all have experiences with both privilege and oppression every single day. What can we DO with this information? Well, maybe we can help each other. Looking at things through a social services lens, if I have an easier time accessing a resource than you, and I can help you make that connection, I will do that! Of course I will. Because the world needs more of that, don’t you think?
Mindfully Maine 
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