As I was coming back from the Jackson, MI Project Homeless Connect committee meeting yesterday, I started driving with the radio off, which was a great way to quiet my thoughts. I have been feeling overwhelmed with media bombardments recently, and so I just started thinking, letting my mind wander.

On the Feministing community, a trans woman had decided that she was joining the trans person boycott of the website -- far too many people were derailing comments, asking to be educated or refusing to respect the posters and commenters. I was also thinking about the altmuslimah post on how to defend Muslim women. I had also, for a while, watched the deadbrowalking LJ community, interested in their discussion of race in scifi and fantasy, but being afraid to join in, for fear of using my status as a privileged white person.

I recognize that what I am about to do can also be seen as derailing -- it may be seen as a play in the Oppression Olympics, or possibly "But that happens to me, too!" Or even, "Look at how enlightened I am!" But I mean it as a sincere attempt at recognizing my privileged statuses.

I am:

White
Cisgendered
Heterosexual/Cissexual
Married
United States Citizen
Upper Middle Class
Christian (Catholic)
College Educated
Employed
Healthy / Fully Abled
Normal weight/BMI
Health Insured
Literate
Securely Housed
Right Handed

Which means:

To be white means a lot of things. I have read Peggy McIntosh's Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (which I have seen referred to as outdated, just for general information), but while that is informative, it does not fully unpack the experience of what being white means, especially in the context of all of my other privileges.

To be cisgendered, cissexual, and married are three separate privileges that need to be unpacked separately, especially considering transphobia, the right to equal marriage, the lack of action by the Obama administration on LGBTQ issues and the marginalization of the T in LGBTQ issues in the first place. But for now, I will say this: to be cisgendered, cissexual, and married means that I am held up as "natural," as how the world "should be" and my relationship is sanctioned by my family and by society as "normal" and "adult." That opens many more doors for me, even in the 21st century, than I ever thought possible. I was added to Tim's lease by merely walking into the leasing office with my driver's license, and declaring ourselves married, for example. Nothing else. Rarely are we asked to prove our legal status, or explain how our lives interrelate.

I feel like the privileges of being a US citizen are obvious to many, but not often recognized. Our passports are accepted in a great majority of the world, planes are held for us because we are perceived as more important than others, our companies and customs are recognized around the world in terms of cultural hegemony. But we often take this for granted, or excuse it away with the market, saying that we have earned it by dominating capitalism.

Upper Middle Class -- I have credit. I can take out loans. I can open a bank account. I have family and friends who can loan me money if I'm short on a pay check, as opposed to going to a payday lender. I know how to save, and have the luxury of saving. If I need a job, I can pick up and move across the country for one. I do not rely on my social network for financial support often. This is in many ways a mentality more than a function of earnings. Presently, I earn poverty-level wages, and still had the above priveleges. Now, as a function of being married, I am thrust up a tax bracket or two, see the above benefits, and have the privilege of disposable income to adorn myself, my home, and my belongings with the trappings of consumerism.

Christian (Catholic) -- being a Christian, especially in the United States, I do not have to explain or defend my basic beliefs, social mores, or morality. Being a Catholic tweaks this privilege a bit, but Catholicism is still more within the conversational language of our society than Judaism and Islam.

College Educated -- Not only do I have my bachelor's degree, I am (at least in terms of school) debt-free. While I did earn my high school diploma, and my college degree with my own smarts, they were smarts born of a supportive parental household free from economic stressors (i.e. an Upper Middle Class one), a public school supported by residential property taxes in suburban neighborhoods, and the financial capital my parents set aside for me to attend college. I have a college degree in the financial sense because I was entitled to it, in many ways.

Employed -- I am partially employed because of my social network (back to being middle class and college educated). I was able to get my current position because I went to the Career Advisor at my college, and she referred me to a classmate offering a position. I know people who know where jobs may be -- or would, at least, if the economy was better. They say often in the job market that it's not what you do, but who you know, and that is entirely true -- and a realm out of reach of many, as they simply do no know and do not know how to know people in those positions.

Healthy / Fully Abled
Normal weight/BMI
Health Insured

I'll take the above three together, again, despite them being separate things. I do not have a disability; I can run and jump and play like "normal." I am "naturally" healthy. Body Mass Index is a very contested concept, and rightly so -- but it does not change the fact that I am not obese, which privileges me in both obvious ways (I am not made to buy a second seat on airplanes) and inobvious ways (I am considered more trustworthy, etc.). And finally, I have health insurance. I can seek treatment to remain healthy, able bodied, and "normal" sized. All the quotes are because normal and natural are problematic concepts.

Securely Housed -- this needs to be recognized, especially in today's economic climate where people are still losing their homes. My husband and I spend less than 30% of our income on housing. We are both employed, which means we can continue to pay the housing. And because we are housed we can seek medical treatment, and continue to be employed. Housing is a human rights issue, a huge one that our country is struggling with.

Literate & Right Handed -- seem like silly little obvious ones, but can you imagine trying to receive your government benefits for your disability if you couldn't read? And right handedness is subtle and insidious -- Microwaves have the key pads on the right hand side for right handed people. Left handed people learn to use computer mice with their right hands. Scissors.

This is just a beginning, just a note to myself to keep thinking about it. I hope that other anti-racist allies, other opponents of the kyriarchy out there might want to jump in, as well.

Another good link, just because: Help! I've just been called a racist! by dear LJ friend cacophonesque, who I hope doesn't mind that I've linked her.