Reading Response - B Phillips

In this week's reading, I enjoyed the article White Privilege and Male Privilege by Peggy McIntosh. It was an easier article to connect with because, of course, it brought up race along with feminism. It is easy to really push a topic that you’re passionate about or that you have the most “experiences” in. However, upon reading, I discovered that I too have privileges that I carry as a black woman. I never stopped to think about how my skin color or sex have given me advantages that others may not have. It made me stop and evaluate all the places that I take my "invisible knapsack" with me and I began to wonder what other places or ways do I take advantage of due to my invisible privileges. I also, think she brought up a good point of making parallels where you don't necessarily see the issue in your life. So if it’s hard for me to see oppression in others because I am a black, heterosexual, Christian feminist, that I should compare myself to someone who is not like me or someone whose perspective is different from mine. I was really able to understand this way of thinking when she stated, “I began to count the ways in which I enjoy unearned skin privilege and have been conditioned into oblivion about its existence, unable to see that it put me ‘ahead’ in any way…over rewarding us and yet also paradoxically damaging us” (Shaw and Lee, p. 76). In her list of privileges, she acknowledges everything that she does daily that she can get away with because of her skin color, and it was great to see how she was able to recognize them. Even things I consider “normal,” like flesh toned clothing and nude lip colors and makeups. Most flesh toned things or nude colors cater to those with lighter complexions, but even with these factors I can began to think of ways where the opposite might occur and those with darker skin tones can have an advantage. So reading this article I was able to gain the skill of viewing things not only through my struggle, but through everyone’s struggle.