MediaSmarts Tags - Privilege in the Media

In political ads that talk about protecting “our way of life”, “our culture”, “our values”, “our civilization”, I can generally assume that my group is included.At school, I can expect to be given materials that attest to the existence of my group.When talking about the best movies and television shows, I can expect to see my group widely represented in almost all levels of production (writing, producing, acting, directing).I can easily avoid shows that do not focus on telling the stories of individual

Level: Grades 9-12

Author: Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts

Overview

Level: Grade 9-12

Author: Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts

Duration: 2 to 2 ½ hours

Overview

One thing to keep in mind when looking at how privilege operates is that privilege, discrimination, and social groups all operate within interrelated hierarchies of power, dominance, and exclusion. Just because someone is privileged in one way doesn’t mean they may not be underprivileged in another (and vice-versa). It is therefore important to be aware of the various groups to which one belongs in order to be able to question our own participation in a system of discrimination and privilege.

Privilege manifests itself in a many ways. The fact that it is systemic rather than localized means that it is difficult to identify. Moreover, individual benefits of privilege may often seem small — but being outside of privilege can have staggering setbacks. This section helps identify how media and privilege intersect.

Privilege is the relative benefit that a group enjoys as a result of the discrimination or oppression of other groups. When we think about racism and discrimination, we often envision acts of deliberate meanness or quantifiable oppression of a disadvantaged group – hurtful words, tasteless jokes, deliberate exclusion from work or school, acts of violence, and so on – but it can just as easily take the form of privileges given to members of a more advantaged group.

Privilege maintains itself through silence and denial. So while you cannot get rid of your privilege, you can acknowledge it. When we force privilege into view and discuss it openly we engage in solidarity with those who do not share in certain privileges with us.