There's been a lot of talk here lately about "privilege", so it may be useful to define it ...

[me b zola]

29. I certainly agree with this

I also agree with the posters up-thread that point out that just because someone acknowledges your plight doesn't mean you are any less privileged.

So far people in the thread have mentioned race and gender as points of privilege and the lack there of depending on your status. I will add mine:

Being an adoptee. Most non-adoptees take for granted that they can fill out their family medical history when they visits the doctor. This information is important for a physician when giving medical care: when should a woman begin mammograms, when medications should be avoided because of kidney disease in the family, and the list goes on.

Adult adoptees in most states are legally kept from their own original birth certificates. For some adoptees (mostly older) this means that they can not get state identification, which also means that for some of those they cannot vote. Being kept from your own identification means that we are forever treated as a child. I cannot tell you how degrading this is.

Many, if not most adoptees long to research their genealogy, follow their family tree to explore the long ago history of their ancestors.


So yes, I am well versed in those with privilege believing that these are not important issues. And for those who have taken the time to understand these issues, I ask that you demand better for us.