Privilege
The first exercise I chose go do was Exercise 4.2. The title of this exercise is Privilege Watch. I paid close attention to the aspect that states, "If you have Christian roots, look for the ways in which Christianity is reinforced by the dominant culture." In everyday life, we take notice that people try to separate faith from life. But, we should take notice that we, as Christians, have privileges that other religions do not. We have the opportunity to have Christian based holidays off of work and school. This can be seen in Easter and Christmas. Sadly, other religions do not get this opportunity.
The second exercise I chose to do was Exercise 5.1. The title of this exercise is Your Social Map. During this activity, one had to make the decision of choosing 5 people to be the closest people that you could talk to about anything. After you composed that list, you had to go through each person and check off if they fit into the following categories: are they like me in regards to age, disability, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, indigenous heritage, national origin, and gender. After completing this activity, I realized that many of my confidantes are around my age and have the same or similar ethnicity than me.
Issues of privilege impact both my personal and professional self. Personally, it shows me that I need to be aware of the differences around me and not assume that everyone feels the same way. As a professional, I know that I will be dealing with many different people on a daily basis and should not make assumptions about others. Becoming aware of my privilege and not showing it off to others is very important due to other not feeling the same way.
The second exercise I chose to do was Exercise 5.1. The title of this exercise is Your Social Map. During this activity, one had to make the decision of choosing 5 people to be the closest people that you could talk to about anything. After you composed that list, you had to go through each person and check off if they fit into the following categories: are they like me in regards to age, disability, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, indigenous heritage, national origin, and gender. After completing this activity, I realized that many of my confidantes are around my age and have the same or similar ethnicity than me.
Issues of privilege impact both my personal and professional self. Personally, it shows me that I need to be aware of the differences around me and not assume that everyone feels the same way. As a professional, I know that I will be dealing with many different people on a daily basis and should not make assumptions about others. Becoming aware of my privilege and not showing it off to others is very important due to other not feeling the same way.
Often times as Christians we take advantage of many different things, including the right to practice our religion. It seems so normal to us to have certain holidays off, when in reality it is such a privilege. Many different religions do not get this wonderful thing. It is great that you are aware of our privilege in the world being a Christian.
ReplyDeleteExercise 5.1 was also one exercise that I did. This exercise made me aware that the people I often confide in also are around my age, but not all the time. But overall the five people that I confide in are very similar to myself. I think this is a safe statement to say in regards to most people.
Your take on privilege in both your personal life and professional life is so important. We are going to come across many different people with many different backgrounds and cultures and it is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages privilege plays in people’s lives.
Stefany, I also did the exercise involving who are confidante's are. It was unique for me to see this because I found that I was contemplating people that I have just met my freshman year of college over people that I have know my entire life and grown up with. My family was automatic but I found myself picking people that I have only known for 3-4 years now. I think the relationships we build in college are a lot more meaningful than the ones we make in high school or throughout the earlier parts of our life. I also liked that you touched on Christians taking for granted the freedom of religion and the ability to have days off for our religion. Like you said, not every religion gets this and often times we do (I know I don't) take for granted that we have Christian holidays that we can take off from school or work. This is something that I think could be looked into in the near future for other religions as well.
ReplyDeleteStefany,
ReplyDeleteI really like when you stated, "As a professional, I know that I will be dealing with many different people on a daily basis and should not make assumptions about others". It is important to address how ones privilege when it comes to professionally and our interactions with those around us in the work place. Especially in the helping field, we will encounter many different cultures on a daily basis, so being aware of those differences will help us learn from each other and effectively build rapport with our clients. Great response!
I too did the same excersizes. I found that the people I confided in are also the same age range and heritage background. I also felt that the privileges of being a christian were also interesting.
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