Maybe we need a DU "white persons' group".

[Flatulo]

182. Of course white privilege exists, in the aggregate. And of course male privilege exists, in the

Last edited Sun May 18, 2014, 06:07 PM - Edit history (1)

aggregate. But one aspect of privilege that I haven't seen discussed is physical beauty and health. Maybe this has been covered, but I missed it.

I was born scrawny and homely, with a spine and chest deformity that left me hunched over my entire life. I was teased, bullied and beaten quite regularly as a kid for being small, bent and odd.

I was defecated on by a bunch of kids when I was about 10 years old. Think about that. A bunch of guys held me down while one big old white fat ass took a fucking shit right in my face, and then rubbed it in so that it went into my eyes and mouth.

Just think about that.

Teenage years weren't much better. Girls pitied me, at least those who even noticed me. I couldn't play any sports, even though I tried. I was too slow, weak and small. I was clever, smart and funny, but no one knew or cared.

Dad was a raging alcoholic who hated me for how I looked and compared to other kids. He beat the shit out of me regularly, too.

It wasn't all bad - because I was pretty smart, I was able to get into a top notch engineering school and had an excellent career and made a fuck-ton of money, and no doubt being a white male didn't hurt. But in the workplace, my managers were always 6' tall, handsome white guys, except for one 6' tall handsome black guy. (You can research this yourself - leadership positions almost always go to tall, attractive folk.). I knew I'd never leave the dark cubicle for an office with a window.

So yeah, white/male privilege exists, but you know what? I don't give one single solitary iota of a fuck, because at the end of the day, life really is a beauty contest, no matter what color or gender or orientation you are.

And just like white, male or any other kind of innate privilege, it is absolutely impossible for the beneficiaries to recognize it, because it's all they've known their entire lives.

I'm retired now, disabled because of my spine deformity, and I can barely walk, and finally I've reached equality with my peers. But the first 20 or so years of my life were pure hell.