White Privilege

In the eighteenth century a slight variation in skin tone, meant the difference between a few weeks in jail for a petty crime and being lynched for a similar offence (Dabydeen, 2011, p.1). Taking this into consideration, the transformation that has occurred in many countries over the last few centuries concerning race, has been significant. Nevertheless, this transformation has made visible, areas in societal patterns that still require attention. Peggy McIntosh's article White Privilege, takes a look at these areas along with the issue of gender inequality and how it has been differently, or in most cases, incorrectly perceived by individuals in society. McIntosh examines how white people are brought up with a certain perception of racism, how through this perception white privilege is developed and how through acknowledging it, its prevention is possible. By elaborating on the above, this paper will give a discussed summary on Peggy McIntosh's article White Privilege.

To begin, McIntosh gives a correlation between growing up as a white individual and growing up as a man. Through this relationship she identifies that white privilege, like male privilege is a way of life that an individual is to an extent indoctrinated with from birth; thus it can be difficult for white people or men to even recognise that this advantage exists (McIntosh, 1988, p.10). In my opinion McIntosh's finding concerning white privilege supports the view of post structural feminism, which is discussed in Mandell's book Feminist Issues (Mandell, 2011, p.44). Basically, in the same way that post structural feminists believe patriarchal dominance in western society exists because of "enlightenment thinking", McIntosh deliberates that white privilege and male privilege is passed down from generation to generation in a similar pattern. Through this McIntosh explains that a perception of racism is formed in which one associates racism with "individual acts of meanness", instead of a life a style which they consider the norm, similar to the hypothesis of post structural feminism (McIntosh, 1988, p.10).

In addition to her justification, McIntosh then gives everyday examples of societal patterns to strengthen her argument (McIntosh, 1988, p.11). In this article, I feel the author gives apt examples of differences in everyday life that occur simply because of one's skin tone. In our group discussion we looked at prostitution and the stigma around it. We considered numerous perspectives on the issue, in which we came to realise that when someone is called a prostitute, a conclusion is made concerning the person even before one identifies with the individual. In my opinion, McIntosh's article explains a similar sort of stigma associated with being white. Like the name prostitute, her skin tone, not her character, plays a pivotal role in the outcome of a situation.

To conclude the

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