I've got it. You've got it. To one degree or another, we've all got it. 

So what is it? Without googling, without trolling around the internet to find the words of people much more erudite than I could hope to be, I'll have a go: privilege just means that you have more means than some others. More opportunity. More rights. Maybe not more than everybody, but certainly more than some. 

It's not an opinion that the most privilege is afforded to heterosexual, white, male, able-bodied Americans. It's a fact.

OH MY GOSH, NO WAY. Well, yes way. But hang on a sec. Before you get defensive and start yelling at me about how unfair it is to point that out, about how your particular life hasn't been 100% fair, how you were denied something, or maybe a few somethings that you thought you had the right to - just for one second, multiply that feeling of denial/rejection by ten. Then by a hundred. That's kind of what other, more marginalized people live with every day.

Because that's the thing about privilege: you don't feel it when you have it. You just feel it when you don't.

It's really easy to get defensive over that, because after all, you've worked hard. You've fought for your place, you've struggled. You've been rejected. You haven't gotten everything you've wanted. I get that, and I respect it. It's easy to feel defensive over that. I know, because I sometimes have this reaction, too. My first reaction to SelDeLaTerre's Occupy?  was something like, "No way! Occupy Wall Street is necessary, this has to happen, don't knock it!" That lasted about a minute, until I read what she was saying there. Like for instance, I didn't know that people of color were being shouted down there. I didn't know that women were being told to find a "no rape zone." It's not what I wanted to hear, but there it is. The true things, the ugly things, are hard to accept. 

No movement is perfect, and I still do believe that Occupy needs to happen. It needs to continue. It just needs to continue with this in mind. So I say, let's talk about this. Let's talk about how women and people of color are still being marginalized. Let's talk about how this entire country is built on the backs of Native Americans (and not because I happen to be one--or part one, if a person can be considered to be "part" something.) Let's talk about how Occupy Wall Street has an aspect to it that objectifies women ("Hot Chicks Of Occupy", anyone?) 

Let's talk about privilege, because there it is, and you have it, and I have it, and we shouldn't ignore it.

Does acknowledging privilege make a person a racist or a sexist? See, what I've been lead to understand is that racism and sexism are about power. Sure, a person of color and/or a woman and/or different sexual orientation can have a bias, can be ignorant, can be hateful or whatever. Any human being can be that way. But not being in a position to oppress heterosexual white males, they/we can't really be considered racist or sexist. 

So, maybe a few people sitting there are thinking, "Yes, but I got passed over for something because I'm a white male. I don't get 'Indian Money/ free land/free education. I don't get special grants. I don't get a certain job. People of color, and women, homosexual or other 'othered' people are all of a sudden getting these rights and opportunities, ones that I don't have access to! And people judge me, too!" Is that terrifying? Does it seem unfair? Because, actually, that is just a very, very slight tipping of the scales in the other direction. It's a drop of privilege in an ocean of oppression. We definitely have come a long way as a society, but nowhere near as far as we need to come for total equality. Try to look at the massive lack of rights that those relatively little, relatively new privileges are making up for. 

If you feel like you're being lumped into one group unfairly, remind yourself that this is what's been done to people of color, to people of different sexual orientations, and to women, for ages, and considered "correct." If you get passed over for a raise or even a job, remind yourself that getting passed over is a way of life for some people. If you get told that you're in the wrong for saying something, remind yourself that when women speak up, they're often considered "too sensitive" or "too bitchy" and "will never get a man," and they are either censored, or shamed into silence. If you get lumped into a stereotype, turn on the TV and watch nearly any show with gay people in it, or with people of color in it.

Once your eyes open to this kind of thing, it's hard to close them again. 

Yes, I am sitting here on my privileged, employed, able-bodied ass, typing this on my Mac, with high-speed internet access. I have food. I have clean water. I have been allowed to get an education. I am privileged. Does that make me a bad person? No way! Heterosexual, white, able-bodied American men are the most privileged group of people on the entire planet. Does that make them bad people? Absolutely not! 

It's what you decide to make of your privilege--or lack of it--that defines who you are. 

So when someone comes up to you and reminds you of your privilege, and reminds you of their lack of it, how are you going to react? Defensively? Angrily? Or will you check your privilege, and just think about it for a second? I fall short all the time. Here I was, all "YEAH! YEAH! OCCUPY! THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!" To have the movement's flaws pointed out was jarring. But I want to hear about it. I need to know. Don't you also need to know? 

It is what you do with your privilege that matters the most. Will you use it to hear others out? To lift other people up? Will you use your society-given voice, and your ability to be heard, to try to make improvements? 

You have privilege. I have privilege. We've all got it, in varying degrees.

What are you gonna do with yours?

If you do something awesome with it, make sure you hit record.

Apologies for typos, this was totally rushed and not spell-checked or anything. Bad! ^_^