My privilege as a straight, white, cisgender, middle class thin male

[Esquilax]

I don't really get your point. Of course politeness is limited on my willingness to extend it to others. That is all that it really is. I'm not willing to be sensitive to people's made up gender identities, more of which magically crop up everyday. I find it to be stupid. If someone tells me they are bicisflogendered, I will probably just ignore it and make fun of them later. Luckily online you can just make fun of it right away, because it's dumb.

Of course your specific politeness is limited by you, but in general, what is and is not polite is not determined solely by you; just stating your unwillingness to participate in the acceptance of others doesn't absolve you from being labelled impolite or dickish over it. And, well, if you're making fun of people behind their backs over their labeling choices, that is kinda dickish.

In the end, regardless of how pretentious or manufactured you happen to think it is, all these sexual and gender orientations are are labels made to describe what a person is with more specificity, and I don't think it's too much to ask that they not be treated differently because of that. You may think it's dumb, but all you're really doing is making fun of something that has always existed, but only recently got a name.

As to being sensitive to them, what's actually being asked of you? Beyond "be a normal person to me," what great feat of social largesse are you being asked to commit?

[Bad Wolf]

In the end, regardless of how pretentious or manufactured you happen to think it is, all these sexual and gender orientations are are labels made to describe what a person is with more specificity, and I don't think it's too much to ask that they not be treated differently because of that. You may think it's dumb, but all you're really doing is making fun of something that has always existed, but only recently got a name.

You're assuming that the person has labelled themselves correctly. The fact is, it's much more likely that they've heard different labels and created an amalgamation of them which might not be correct at all. It's not like they know what they're doing. It's not like they know everything about themselves. I mean, some people identify with animals! Have you seen some of the stuff on tumblr? Squirrelkin and stuff like that. Tell me that isn't crazy! But regardless, you should be polite, unless of course they identify with animals, which we know they definately are not. If you think you are some kind of animal trapped in a human body, you need help.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Nor do I- ideally- think that discussions on privilege need be guilt trips; recognition does not necessarily confer guilt or blame. You're right: if you can't control something you shouldn't be guilty over it. But the fact that you can't control it also doesn't mean it ceases to exist.

Of course it doesn't. But that doesn't seem to be the OP's aim.

---

To wit:

White people can be victims of racism but they can't be oppressed

This is nonsense. I've twice been forced to retest for firefighting positions based on the fact that too many whites succeeded in the hiring process. The fact is that I couldn't get two jobs because I was white, even though I excelled in the physical and mental qualifications.

I'm not complaining -- the old boys' network in those fire departments needed to be broken -- but the fact is that I was denied employment opportunities based on the fact that I was white, and nothing else.

[CapnAwesome]

Of course your specific politeness is limited by you, but in general, what is and is not polite is not determined solely by you; just stating your unwillingness to participate in the acceptance of others doesn't absolve you from being labelled impolite or dickish over it. And, well, if you're making fun of people behind their backs over their labeling choices, that is kinda dickish.

In the end, regardless of how pretentious or manufactured you happen to think it is, all these sexual and gender orientations are are labels made to describe what a person is with more specificity, and I don't think it's too much to ask that they not be treated differently because of that. You may think it's dumb, but all you're really doing is making fun of something that has always existed, but only recently got a name.

As to being sensitive to them, what's actually being asked of you? Beyond "be a normal person to me," what great feat of social largesse are you being asked to commit?

I'm a normal person to everybody. If you are going to tell me you have some gender label that I've never even heard of before, I'm going to think it's stupid. That's part of being a normal person. People always say 'oh what's the big deal, not much is being asked of you and it makes so and so feel so much better about themselves.' Sure, that is true if it were only one group who is asking me to censor myself and my true inner feelings (they are attention whoring twits.) However it's not one person, it's quickly becoming a massive amount of people. When everybody is asking you to be sensitive to them and to censor yourself because of it, it becomes a massive task. Especially when they are asking you for some sexual identity that they basically made up off of something they read off the internet. I'm not adding any validity to anybody's sexual hypochondria by pretending they are normal.

Mind you this only applies to people who are pushy about it, whether online or offline. If they person doesn't bother to bring it up I don't care and I don't have any material to even mock them with.

[Whateverist]

Also barely on topic but does anybody else think that gender identity has gone too far?

In a way, yes. On the one hand I'm agnostic regarding how many gender identities there are or should be. I'm also completely accepting and tolerant of them all. But sometimes it seems odd when an introduction becomes an elaborate specification of a persons sexual proclivities and/or wardrobe preference.

[TaraJo]

I'm a trans woman, so I should be able to beat most of this forum at oppression olympics. Yet I think it's a stupid game. People who talk about privilege the most usually wind up using it to bully people. Me, I don't like using the term 'privilege' simply because its exact meaning always seems to get twisted around in such a way that you can condemn everyone for whatever privilege they have but leave yourself looking good.

Yeah, I'll be the first to admit, there are socia advantages to being white. There are sometimes social advantages to being black or hispanic, too. There are social advantages to being cis, but that doesn't mean I should be able to think less of someone for being cis.

And if you find yourself falling in with an ideology that decides harassing or belittling people for traits outside their control is a good thing, you need to find yourself a new ideology.

[Jackalope]

Me, I don't like using the term 'privilege' simply because its exact meaning always seems to get twisted around in such a way that you can condemn everyone for whatever privilege they have but leave yourself looking good.

This, and it seems more helpful to me to pull others up rather than drag them down. Speaking of "privilege" seems frequently used to try and exclude people from the conversation.

[Dystopia]

The only reason privilege are ever mentioned is to guilt trip people and make them feel bad and make the accuser seem like they know what they are talking about. You can't change your privlildges and bringing them up adds nothing to the conversation but to discredit you and imply that your opinion isn't as valid. You're a man, so you can't talk about abortion. You're white, so you can't talk about racism. You're straight, so you can't talk about homosexuality. You're cis so you can't talk about gender disphoria. You're rich so you can't talk about poverty.

Of course you can talk about all of those things, you can't however claim that you're being oppressed when your group possesses the majority of social power. Everyone's racist, I get that, blacks, latinos, asians, every ethnicity is racist to an extent, but the problem is that the only racism that results in marginalization and lower life quality is white racism towards other groups. Are you actually saying people can't change privilege? The first step to it is for people who actually have it to admit they are privileged - And that's something I can and will continue to do - I know the advantages I have on being a white straight cis male, and I look at other people and imagine how I would feel if I was them - The truth is I consider that I'm playing life on easy mode. This doesn't excuse crimes or violence against whites or males or straight people, of course, but it doesn't justify labelling an entire group as something they are not.

And it's bloody damaging too. Anyone remember that story about that guy that got mugged. He said he deserved it because of his white male privilege. And what's more than that, it creates a culture of victim hood. Just look at Ferguson. Because of the 'apparent' discrimination against Micheal Brown, he was shot and killed. And what does the black community of Ferguson do? They riot and loot their own damn city. They did it because of white priviledge and the disadvantages they think this causes for them. Sure, blacks are definately discriminated against but that just means they have to be extra careful to not break the law and give racist cops and excuse to go after them. And yet they continue to perpetuate black stereotypes and actually provide evidence for and encourage the discrimination that they are fighting against in the first place, by committing crimes such as the looting of Ferguson. And all this because they feel like the victims and so are entilted to act they way they do.

So you're actually saying people should conform to stereotypes society makes about them? I'll give you one example, most people think black people do more drugs but there's several studies that show whites do as many or sometimes more drugs than blacks. If a member of my community was mistreated or murdered, maybe I'd react violently too, I'm not a fan of peaceful revolutions and I think aggressive stands are more effective to help changing things. You are saying people should be extra careful to not break the law, when in fact the statistics show more black people are shot (unarmed) compared to armed whites who aren't shot.

[Bad Wolf]

Also like to add that there is no such thing as 'thin privilege'. Despite what some people believe, everyone can lose weight, it just depends on how much you want it. It is something that can be changed about you. In fact, the world is catering for obesity more than ever. Also, as a thin person myself, I find it quite difficult to find clothes that fit. The smallest size i've ever seen is XXS whereas the largest i have seen is XXXXXL but do I put it down to 'fat privilege'? No. If you are too fat to fit in the chairs, whether that be the cinema, airplane or rollercoaster, you should lose some weight.

[Dystopia]

Of course your specific politeness is limited by you, but in general, what is and is not polite is not determined solely by you; just stating your unwillingness to participate in the acceptance of others doesn't absolve you from being labelled impolite or dickish over it. And, well, if you're making fun of people behind their backs over their labeling choices, that is kinda dickish.

In the end, regardless of how pretentious or manufactured you happen to think it is, all these sexual and gender orientations are are labels made to describe what a person is with more specificity, and I don't think it's too much to ask that they not be treated differently because of that. You may think it's dumb, but all you're really doing is making fun of something that has always existed, but only recently got a name.

As to being sensitive to them, what's actually being asked of you? Beyond "be a normal person to me," what great feat of social largesse are you being asked to commit?

I'm a normal person to everybody. If you are going to tell me you have some gender label that I've never even heard of before, I'm going to think it's stupid. That's part of being a normal person. People always say 'oh what's the big deal, not much is being asked of you and it makes so and so feel so much better about themselves.' Sure, that is true if it were only one group who is asking me to censor myself and my true inner feelings (they are attention whoring twits.) However it's not one person, it's quickly becoming a massive amount of people. When everybody is asking you to be sensitive to them and to censor yourself because of it, it becomes a massive task. Especially when they are asking you for some sexual identity that they basically made up off of something they read off the internet. I'm not adding any validity to anybody's sexual hypochondria by pretending they are normal.

Mind you this only applies to people who are pushy about it, whether online or offline. If they person doesn't bother to bring it up I don't care and I don't have any material to even mock them with.

So you're basically saying people shouldn't identify as whatever they want to just because you think it has gone too far?