Somebody missed their snuggle time while Mommy & Daddy were out of town...it was Me!
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Hey, E-zine Reader!
Welcome to the 7th Edition of Tarabytes, my e-zine/online diary. For me, the past month consisted of softball, fun home renovations, roof-top yoga, celebrating 8 years of marriage and a vacation! Craig and I traveled to Sarasota for a long weekend to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary on May 22. We stayed at the Ritz, got massages, ate delicious food and drank tropical drinks, and I got a sparkly pink mani/pedi! We also visited the Mote Marine Aquarium and the Ringling Museums, which are two of our favorite types of places to visit when we travel. I shared a few photos from the trip on insta (link below) but, I haven’t even looked at what Craig took on his camera yet! To be continued…
Now, on to the real topic for this month: PRIVILEGE.
You’re thinking: "Wait. Am I having deja vu? Or are you talking about privilege AGAIN?"
You are not, and yes, I am.
Last month I talked a little about the sense of duty I feel toward sharing the knowledge about privilege I’ve gained over the past few years.
“Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act”. - Albert Einstein
I’ve come to realize ("how", is another e-zine entirely!) that I want the common thread of all my work to be focused on gently leading privileged folks toward an understanding of that privilege. Being that this e-zine is like my online diary, I think that this is the perfect place for me to begin exploring that possibility! The concept of privilege will be showing up often here. You’ve been warned :)
So, privilege. Do you have it? In short, yes.
Ok, thanks for reading Tarabytes this month!…just kidding. But really though, all of us, even the very worst off among us, has some social identity that benefits by taking advantage of another group. We’re all privileged in some way or another.
Everyone’s a little bit privileged.
Privilege and oppression are really like two ends of a spectrum, with empowerment at one end and disempowerment at the other. Where you fall on the spectrum is determined by each of your different social identities, moving you between the two ends of the spectrum based on each privilege or oppression you experience. Privileges and oppressions do not negate each other. They mesh and morph, turning us into the complicated, nuanced people that we are.
Below is a link to a cool video that I think illustrates the concept of privilege really well!
We’re all somewhere on the spectrum of privilege and to me, realizing this was a bit of a relief. Like I talked about last month, learning about your own privilege is uncomfortable, and that was no exception for me. After dealing with my initial feelings of defensiveness, I felt really guilty about the myriad privileges I experience in my life. I understand now that this really makes no sense, considering I never asked for those privileges or really had anything to do with the fact that I have them, but none the less, I suddenly realized how much I benefit at others’ expense in a lot of ways, and that doesn’t feel very good.
When I realized that privilege and oppression are a spectrum, and that every single human being falls somewhere on it, I realized that we are all responsible, in some way or another, for changing that. For me, selfishly, that took a bit of pressure off! At least I wasn’t alone in being an oppressor! Yay? Little wins, people.
I’m not sure I believe it’s possible to ever eradicate privilege and reach complete equity, but we can absolutely work toward bringing the two ends of the spectrum closer together. The smaller the gap between the worst off among us and best off, the better off we ALL are as a society. Each time we take steps to create little equities, we help to lessen the space between those most disadvantaged and least. For ideas to start creating little equities in your daily life, please read Tarabytes E-Zine #5 (link below, it’s a good one, I promise!)
I think sometimes you need those "little wins" to keep you motivated, especially in the beginning stages of becoming aware of your privilege. It’s a life-long process. I’m more than fine with baby steps as long as I’m making progress. Every time I make a little progress for myself, I’m better equipped to help someone else.
Thank you so much for reading this month’s edition of Tarabytes, for real this time! 😃 It means the freaking world to me that you would take the time! I’d really love to hear from you, whether it be questions about privilege, thoughts about this edition of the e-zine, suggestions for what I should write about next or anything else you’d like to share with me. Just reply to this email!
Thank you again and happy June!
Tara A.
