problem at izing privilege
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In this paper I will be reflecting upon the readings, conversations, and personal work I
engaged in throughout the semester toexplore the emotional and societal effects of class. Much
of my writing will be based around Madeline Levines (2008) work, The Price of Privilege,
but I will also be bringing in Oliver James (2007) book, Affluenza and bell hooks (2000) piece
entitled, Where We Stand.While I deeply agree with much of Levines writing, I also
attempted to explore it with a critical eye and open mind.I will write on the obscuring of class
and how that impacts the individual and perpetuates class inequality. Then, I will conclude with
observations made around the Prescott College community, reflections on conversations with
friends, and a bit about the personal work I have done in this course.
Madeline Levine has been a therapist for over twenty years, and in The Price of
Privilege, she writes extensively on the troubling rise of affluent youth appearing in her office
with severe and complicated issues and challenges. Often the youth are coming in with
substance abuse issues, eating disorders, severe depression, anxiety, self-injurious behavior,
suicidal tendencies, and feelings of emptiness and hopelessness, but these things are frequently
masked by academic perfection, athletic achievements, and the right crowd. What is baffling
to people across the psychology spectrum is that these are the kids that are supposed to have
everything. They are supposed to be okay because they are primarily white, have money,
education, a family, and a white picket fence. They have privilege. I would like to
problematize the use of the word privilege when used in place of the termclass, andwhen
referring to, higher classed bodies. The term privilege implies a solely positive advantage,
leaving no space to explore the detrimental effects produced by class position and class history.
It annihilates lived experience, invalidating emotions and perpetuating the vicious cycle of guilt
and shame for not being good enough or okay.Through the use of the term privilege, as
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opposed to the term class, the inequality inherent in the hierarchical structure of class is
reinforced by obscuring the nature of thisoppression as a class issue, presenting it instead as an
issue of privilege.
Levine sums up her perspective of the plight of these youth in writing, Not only are
many of these kids expected to perform at the highest levels, they are also expected to make it
look easy. Heavily dependent on their public success for a sense of self, many of these
youngsters have little in the way of authentic purpose in their lives, leaving a void where
conscience, generosity, and connection should be (Levine,2008,p.35). According to Levine,
what many of these youth are lacking is an internal structure. Without that structure, when one
fails to meet a perceived expectation or standard, there is nothing safe or solid for them to fall
back on. They are climbing a fragile ladder constructed outsideof themselves, its stability
dependent upon their success. The pressure to achieve begins early for many upper classed
youth, from Ivy League feeder schools to beauty pageants, dinner parties, ballet, volunteer work,
andFrench lessons. As I wrote in my Annotated Bibliography paper, When childhoods are
spent striving to meet others expectations, believing this is the way to gain love, approval, and
acceptance, how can belief in meritocracy be anything but expected? When our perceptions tell
us that we have to attain love, like it is something to be worked for, earned, and kept through
successful completion of tasks and a checklist, why would we be anything less than performance
oriented; competing to prove to others why we deserve their love and attention? If something as
basic as our need for love and support must be procured to be fulfilled, and love is equated to
achievements, why wouldnt we be drawn to tangible expressions of our status?
Obviously, this is deeplyenmeshed with capitalism and the American Dream. In
Affluenza, Oliver James (2007) utilizes Erich Fromms term Marketing Character to describe
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the state in which he finds much of humanity: experiencing themselves as a commodity, with
their value dependent on success, salability, the approval of others(James,2007,p.10).I will
argue that the problem Levine defines as the price of privilege transcends the bounds of class.
Imbedded in a belief in meritocracy, coupled with a society fixated on performance, we are
trapped in a system in which we have no choice but participate. Without awareness of this, we
are at the mercy of our class position and a capitalistically motivated culture.Inherent in this trap
is pecuniary emulation, the unending drive to make one equal to or greater than those they
perceive as better off. Pecuniary pertains to financial matters, but I think this idea of pecuniary
emulation goes beyond economic value, reaching far into the core of our culture of conspicuous
consumption. As bell hooks writes, Tragically, the well-off and the poor are united in a
capitalist culture by their shared obsession with consumption (hooks, 2000, p.46). Materialism
and conspicuous consumption are seductive forces. They perpetuate beliefs that we are our
achievements, our possessions, and our status. They sustain beliefs that other people are their
achievements, possessions, and status.They enforce class stratification, furthering inequality and
discrimination.They reiteratea negative perception of self and encourage greed and perception of
greed in society. They entice the poor with promises of equality with the rich if only they wear
this shirt, weigh this much, and work a little bit harder, all the while sending subtle reminders of
the poors worth-less status.
Without awareness, it is impossible to take the personal responsibility required to engage
in social change. We are kept distracted from inequality through things ranging from
prescription medication to war, clothing, movie stars,and trying to get ourselves and/or our kids
there. Who has time to fight class inequality when they are working two jobs so their kids can
eat, wear clothes, have a place to sleep at night, and maybe, just maybe, not have to worry quite
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so much for their own kids? Who wants to look at class inequality when its working for them?
Once again, power is concentrated in a way that keeps people where they are.
Prescott College is so interesting. Many of useat out of dumpsters, ride our self-built
bicycles, dress to tell the world we dont care about its silly materials, and look with disdain at
capitalism and the people we peg as major promoters of it. Yet, as we talked about in
Declassified, we put an incredible amount of value on cultural capital. Travel, knowledge,
language, theability to interact with deep theoretical work, and the ability to engage in social and
environmental justice are a few examples of ways in which ones worth is evaluated and status is
determined via cultural capital at PC. The obscuring of the reality of class stratification in our
culture keeps many people from recognizing experiences boosting cultural capital as benefits of
class position.At Prescott College, experiences that are directly related to benefits of class are
often normalized because many students share similar class positions. For students of a lower
class position,internalization of the structural inequality creating these gaps in cultural capital
can result in shame, guilt, and self-deprecation for not being good enough. As I have
frequently talked about throughout the semester, one of the most effective ways to keep
inequality and discrimination thriving is to keep people from experiencing diversity. It is much
easier to remain oblivious to inequality when the majority of people around a person hold
comparable amounts of power. I have been thinking a lot about the ways in which education
systems are set up to replicate class power hierarchies; how when someone of the wrong class
ends up in the wrong school, that person becomes alienated, once again, internalizing
structural discrepancies as intrinsic flaw.
One of the most blatant examples at Prescott College of class obscurity is orientation. If
a student comes to Prescott College during winter block, they are required to go on the three
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week wilderness orientation, unless they have an extenuating circumstance rendering them
unable. My specific circumstance was that I was unable to take three weeks off work, as I
couldnt be guaranteed job security and I would be losing about 115-120 hours of work. Also, I
had none of the gear required for three weeks in the wildness, didnt know anyone I could
borrow from, and couldnt afford to rent it. A couple different things happen when a student
doesnt do wilderness orientation: they are immediately alienated from a very large majority of
their fellow incoming students and from Prescott College in general (in the sense of school
tradition, unity, and pride), receiving a giant, You dont belong here! sticker the moment they
register for orientation. The other thing that happens is courses with any sort of field component
become much more difficult to access, as there are multiple hoops one must jump through. I
actually had to have Jack Herring sign off on my registration for the fall semester following
orientation because I was on restriction for having done community-based orientation, instead of
wildness. I am blocked from takingcourses with field components until I prove myself capable
in the wilderness. Obviously, this is not just a class issue. I am considering organizing around
this with other students oppressed, alienated, and discriminated against by our current orientation
structure, hopefully raising consciousness, creating change, and ripping a hole in the fluffy
blanket obscuring class at Prescott College.
As this past semester progressed, I was able to hear bits and pieces of several of my
peers class histories. Its so fascinating and frustrating to see and hear the ways in which class
position impacts view of self and society. We talk about our privilege a lot, but I have begun to
wonder if we can really know what that means if we arent in the position of the oppressed?
Whats infuriating is that I know I never would have begun moving beyond internalizing
structural inequality without access to the critical dialogue taking place at Prescott College. Why
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are there voiceless populations being represented by those who are knowingly and unknowingly
holding a share of power which is not theirs?I already know the answer; Im just angry I guess.
Its been so intriguing to analyze my own shifting relationship to the effects of class. Im pretty
fired up and pissed off, but also doing the personal work of accepting my class position, history,
and its effects. The drive to obscure class is such a powerful player in the formation of my
thoughts and beliefs, particularly about me, that I constantly question if Im just making things
up, that class isnt real, that I can get myself there. I am now typically able to recognize that as
structural inequality, but there are definitely still moments when I either cant see it as that, or I
just need to feel the pain of it for a bit, acknowledging that I am actually human and things
actually hurt sometimes.
I cannot say enough about how excited I am to organize and challenge class obscurity at
school. I am also super stoked to hold some sort of space for people to explore their personal
relationship to class. It was so obvious through every single conversation I had that people were
being deeply affected by their class position and history. I am scared to challenge the idea of
privilege at Prescott College, but I believe a deeper understanding of self is absolutely
essential for true and lasting social change. Its going to be beautiful.
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Resource List:
Levine, Madeline. The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are
Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids. Harper Paperbacks, 2008.
James, Oliver. Affluenza. Vermillion, 2007.
hooks, bell. Where we stand: class matters.Routledge, 2000.