This may sound self-congratulatory... but it isn't meant that way. It came as quite a shock to me that some people don't understand their privilege. Even my own privilege. I suppose, growing up in an impoverished area with parents that would fit comfortably in the nouveau riche category, it was sort of inevitable that I would notice disparity early on in life. It seems very odd to me that anyone would reach adulthood thinking, despite being part of the Captain Planet generation, we were all equal. Yes, we were told we were equal but all it took was watching how people interacted to stir away that calm like muddying a still stream. So when I state how things have occurred in my life, I am always surprised when someone says, "Well.. that's not how it was for me." Of course that isn't how it was for you. Even identical twins don't make it through life having the same experiences, why would two different people from widely different backgrounds? Growing up as I did, in a household where I was the odd sheep, it never occurred to me to think that others would ever hear someones' story and try to block out that story with their own. It seemed the best way to get to the truth was to lay out all the stories and stitch them together, then step back and look at the whole to see the picture made.
My most recent run-in with this has been having gained weight. Compared to disparities such as race, gender, or class, this does seem a minor difference... but it has opened my eyes in a way I never imagined. I, like most people initially gifted with an over-active thyroid, assumed that weight was something people would inherently notice and take quick measures to dispel. However, one's weight is something that can fluctuate so widely and quickly as to not know from one day to the next what size one wears (unless you're my husband.. then you're the same size from middle school to middle age apparently). I used to have people hate me because it seemed nothing made me gain weight, but now that I am curvy (not fat, really.. somehow, I always manage a 10-inch+ difference between hips/bust and waist.. but curvy enough to cause problems) the issues facing those over our "accepted" weight seem nearly endless. One gets laughed at while exercising, gets shade if ordering something other than salad, finds it impossible to find clothing that is both modest and comfortable. Even with the "ideal" body type, any size over a 4 is considered quite obese. (Ideal here being the touted "hourglass", which as far as I can tell has not had clothing designed to fit it since the mid-1950's.) If the average woman is a size 8 or more (and sizes are completely random thanks to vanity sizing), then it's almost impossible to have any muscle and wear anything other than athletic clothes.
None of this is to say that size-ism is as terrible and over-looked in our country as racism or gender issues, education or poverty... but it is one of those privileges that one does not realize exists in truth until one experiences the opposite end of the spectrum. As for being aware of privilege, it isn't always a good thing because it can blind one to the understanding of a subjectivity in others. What seems apparent is not necessarily obvious to all... someone that has always been aware of their awkward standing on gender can have a very difficult time understanding the deeply-entrenched beliefs of someone that has never questioned their gender or the place of their gender in the world.
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