The Concept Of Privilege

The concept of privilege intersects with the treatment of persons with disabilities in many ways. In order to first understand how it intersects we must first define the word privilege. Privilege refers to the “rights, advantages and protection enjoyed by some at the expense of and beyond the rights, advantages, and protections available to others” (= , Ch 5). According to Peggy McIntosh, “We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth or luck” (White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, 2). Privilege intersects with the treatment of people with disabilities because “privilege is socially constructed to benefit the member of the dominant group” (=, ch 5). For example, an able-bodied person does
One of my favorite examples of privilege is the third eye story (= , Ch 5). This is a story about a person who live in a safe and loving community then goes to a new place where everyone looks at him weirdly and talks about him behind his back, eventually, he realizes that everyone has a third eye. He feels ashamed for not having a third eye and tries to hide his “disability” by buying sunglasses; however, when he goes to them, he is ridiculed and taken to when the two eyed glasses are. People offer to fix him by giving him a risky surgery. He goes to a play where he is giving a white can and the pamphlet only caters to people with a third eye. The play is about a community similar to the one the person lived in but this was depressing and sad. After the play ends, the two eyed person feels ashamed and ugly (= , Ch 5).This story shows the internal and attitudinal effects of privilege. Unfortunately, this at time may be how some able-bodied people affect disabled people. Many able- bodied people believe that they have the right to their position as a dominant group. Due to the fact that they work hard and are smart, therefore, they should