SAFS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Blog

July 16, 2021

Power and Privilege

This is the second part of a series exploring social identity and social location.

Everyone holds a myriad of social identities related to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, nationality, etc. As discussed previously, our social identities convey status to us, as members of a group or as outsiders. Since the status (or lack thereof) we are given is highly contextually dependent, we will look at how dominant social identities are privileged in mainstream US society.

Within each of the social categories mentioned above, there are a range of dominant and non-dominant identities. Whether an identity group is considered “dominant” or not is a reflection of how much power they hold in society. The amount of power a group holds does not directly indicate whether they are the majority group or a minority group.

Gender is a prime example of this. Within the US, and across much of the globe, men hold the dominant identity, with more power to affect their lives and the lives of others. However, in the US, men and women make up roughly equal proportions of the total population. Equal numbers of men and women, and even spaces with more women than men, don’t directly translate to more social power for women. We can see this play out in institutions, social groups, and families. Men are more likely than women to hold tenure or even be in tenure-track positions, and this plays out at UW and, more starkly, within SAFS.

No aspect of social identity is binary, however, so we should also take into account transgender men and women, nonbinary folks, and intersex folks. Cisgender women are non-dominant relative to cisgender men but are dominant in relation to transgender people. All of these groups have less power than women, and in fact, they are so marginalized, they often aren’t acknowledged by more dominant groups (cisgender men and women) and data about them is rarely collected.

Race is particularly salient within the US. It is often discussed in terms of white people and Black people, with “white” being the dominant identity and “Black” being the non-dominant identity. But these are not the only two races present in the US between Black and white in terms of power are all other people of color: Native Americans, Latinx folks, Asian folks, Pacific Islanders, multiracial or mixed-race folks, etc. While members of all of these groups do not face anti-Blackness, they still experience racism and do not have white privilege.

It is possible to have a dominant social identity along one axis and a non-dominant social identity along another axis. Someone who is white and gay benefits from white privilege but not straight privilege. They experience homophobia and heterosexism but not racism. This person may have struggled with a family that was unaccepting of their identity, lost jobs or been denied housing because of their sexual orientation, and experienced very real trauma due to the oppression they faced for being gay. At the same time, none of those struggles were because they were white, and being white may have mitigated these negative experiences in ways they may never know. Their white privilege may have resulted in them finding more success on dating apps, receiving better treatment from their doctor, and being able to walk down the street without being harassed. Having a hard life or holding one marginalized identity does not negate the privilege we have due to holding a dominant identity.

Privilege can be thought of as unearned advantages that benefit people who hold dominant social identities. Privilege is power that is granted to some groups over others. Privilege is an “invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks” (McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”). Privilege, when you have it,  means not having to think about a lot of things. Is it safe for me to walk home alone? Can I afford the transportation to school each day? Will there be a bathroom I can use? When I unlock the door to my home, will someone think I am breaking in and call the police? And will the police humiliate, hurt, or kill me when they arrive?

Belonging to a dominant group allows people to move through the world more easily—to access resources, to meet their goals, to acquire more power. This, in turn, perpetuates group dominance. For example, when an individual is born into a wealthy family (dominant group), their family already has a broad social network of other wealthy people. These people are then more likely to hire the individual, or to invest in their start-up, because of that pre-existing connection. If they make a mistake or fail, they are more likely to be given a second (or third, or fourth) chance. The individual advances more quickly through their career, making more money, accessing more power, connecting with more powerful individuals. And the cycle continues.

People from less dominant groups are just as skilled, intelligent, and hardworking as those from dominant groups, but the lack of privilege makes it harder for them to succeed. People from non-dominant groups are given fewer initial opportunities, fewer second chances, less leeway to make mistakes, less agency, and less trust. And when people belong to multiple marginalized groups, they face inequality based on the intersections of those identities, which is compounded in a way that has an enhanced negative impact (Crenshaw, “Mapping the Margins”).

Belonging to a dominant group and holding privilege carries a responsibility to learn about the history and present experiences of other social groups, to trust the lived experiences of people who hold marginalized identities, to uplift the voices of non-dominant groups, and to take risks that less privileged folks simply can’t take.

Take some time to reflect on your social identities and where you hold privilege. Which of your social identities are dominant and which aren’t (you can use this framework as a guide)? How do your social identities provide you with privilege or deny you privilege? Some identities can change over time, denying or providing us new privilege. What has changed for you since losing or gaining privilege? Do you feel like you have access to privilege because you appear or “pass” as a member of a different social identity group? Do you hide any of the privilege you have, or any that you don’t have? Why do you think that is? What is an action you can take to leverage your privilege for positive change?

This is a woefully incomplete introduction to privilege and intersectionality. Consider reading further:

The third part of this series will explore social location.