Divay Kathuria
Privilege is when someone thinks something is not a problem because it’s not a problem to him/her personally. People often think that their privilege is natural. With this belief, it therefore becomes very difficult for them to imagine a world where they are stripped of this privilege. If someone thinks something is naturally theirs or they are entitled to have it, it seems like a great injustice to them to be told that he/she don’t deserve those things, it’s privilege that gave them. Equality can feel like oppression to them but it’s not. What they are feeling is just the discomfort of losing a little bit of their privilege like the same discomfort that an only child feels when they go to preschool and discover that there are some other kids who want to play with the same toys as they do.
For example, people who fly first class get on the plane before 95% of the passengers; they have big comfortable seats; there’s plenty of leg room; there is always space in the overhead bin. The airline gives goodies and the flight attendants have lots of time for them. They come to accept this as norm. Then the airlines decides to switch to a single class of service. They are still in first class, but so is everyone else. No more getting on first. No more space in the overhead bins. No more special courtesy from flight attendants. Their status has been reduced by the elevation of everyone else. They feel like they are being oppressed but in reality everyone is being treated equally.
The privileged people rebel when oppressed ones get equality. They are used to being handed everything in life then one day they actually have to work for what they need and have to pay their own way through life, like the rest of people and it makes them feel oppressed. People need to understand each other and be empathetic to bridge this gap.