the privilege discourse...

[jawnbc]

...often says "your are dominating me" when in fact the message is "I feel no obligation to listen to you or your experiences, nor have you any need to be heard, so fuck off." 

And it's usually asserted by those more focussed on the discourse around social justice than its substantive material practice.

Discuss.

Comments

[jawnbc]

Generally it's when a person from a social group perceived to have a lot of power/clout is expected to defer to someone from a social group perceived to have less power/clout. And often it's people of European descent who are seen as privileged.

Dunno if I explained that very well...hi!

[jeneration.livejournal.com]

Whew, that makes it clearer for me as well. I'm not sure that, given that I have a position of privilege, that I can make comment that would be fair as I haven't had the experiences of those who've been oppressed/disadvantaged.

However, I think that it can be possible for those speaking from a position of relative privilege to start to try and own a fight that they shouldn't be trying to own, even if they and everyone else should be supporting it, and in that situation (and others) there may be a situation where such statements are more than valid. Not sure if I expressed that very well.

But yes, I also agree that 'you're dominating me' can be a way that some individuals try to manipulate proceedings to prevent the views of others being discussed. And yes, in my experience it tends to happen more in theoretical discussion than in actual activist practice, particularly in student political groups (in my personal experience).

I have a niggling distaste for what I've started to call the 'hierarchy of oppression'... the "I'm more oppressed than you are because I'm a (insert various descriptors) and you're only a (insert lesser number of descriptors) so you've benefited more from the patriarchy/dominant social paradigm/whatever than I have!" I never know quite how to respond to that, other than to acknowledge that the other person has indeed experienced the systematic oppression they describe, and then to try and steer the conversation back to what we can all do together to try and improve our joint situation with respect to patriarchal/queerphobic/xenophobic/racially-motivated oppressive behaviour of the dominant paradigm.

What do you do in the situation you have raised for discussion?

[jeneration.livejournal.com]

Someone who put my second-paragraph in better words than I could said:

"I think there’s distinction between being involved in the fight because it’s your life, or being involved in the fight because you believe in justice and care about individuals being treated justly. If it’s not your life you need to try and understand the sensibilities of the people whose life it is. You will never be able to feel exactly what they feel, and their lived experience and their needs shouldn’t be overshadowed by yours. I learned this when I was a carer for my late partner. I could get all riled up about ableism, access issues etc, but it was she who embodied the difficulties of the disability and it wasn’t a good idea for me to forget that."

[zhenzhi.livejournal.com]

hi gorgeous. and hello to your gorgeous husband as well. xxoo :-)

well it seems to pertain to a situation i am going through at the moment. dealing with a community committee of elderly people, and also with my local council. the assumed power that some people TAKE is really off. but despite that, i still see that i can learn from them, and they have a valuable contribution to make.

i find it very difficult to communicate with them peacefully sometimes.