Privilege in the Media - Overview

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.

Diversity in Media, Privilege in the Media

Benefits of Privilege in Relation to Media

I can look at the media and see people from my group widely represented as heroes, role models, leaders, news anchors, television hosts, and experts.

Diversity in Media, Privilege in the Media, Stereotyping

The Medium is the Message

As a family, we’re watching a lot less advertising these days – at least, I thought we were. That’s because most of our family watching is on Netflix, which has no commercials, and the few shows we watch on regular TV are recorded in advance and ads are skipped over. I can easily go months without being aware of what new movies are coming up, which new developments have occurred in the world of toothpaste, and what new packaging strides Coke and Pepsi have made.

Television, Video Games, Video Sharing

Unpacking Privilege

Students are introduced to the idea of “privilege” in relation to diversity and how it applies to media. They then look at a checklist of media related privileges to help them understand the concept.

Indigenous People, Diversity in Media, Persons with Disabilities, Privilege in the Media, 2SLGBTQ+ Representation, Religion, Stereotyping, Visible Minorities

Bias in News Sources

In this lesson students consider the meaning of the words “bias” and “prejudice” and consider how bias may be found even at the level of individual words due to connotation.

Diversity in Media, Indigenous People, Journalism & News, Persons with Disabilities, Privilege in the Media, 2SLGBTQ+ Representation, Religion, Stereotyping, Visible Minorities

Who's Telling My Story?

In this lesson students learn about the history of blackface and other examples of majority-group actors playing minority-group characters such as White actors playing Asian and Aboriginal characters and non-disabled actors playing disabled characters.

Indigenous People, Diversity in Media, Movies, Persons with Disabilities, Privilege in the Media, 2SLGBTQ+ Representation, Religion, Stereotyping, Television, Visible Minorities

First Person

In this lesson students consider diversity representation in video games by identifying examples of diversity in the games they play, comparing their findings to statistics on diversity in the Canadian population.

Diversity in Media, Indigenous People, Persons with Disabilities, Privilege in the Media, 2SLGBTQ+ Representation, Religion, Stereotyping, Video Games, Visible Minorities

Forms of Privilege

Social justice activists and writers have built on Peggy McIntosh’s original essay on privilege in 1988, by adding to and modifing the original list to highlight how privilege is not merely about race or gender, but that it is a series of interrelated hierarchies and power dynamics that touch all facets of social life: race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, education, gender identity, age, physical ability, passing, etc. These categories will be further discussed below.

Diversity in Media, Privilege in the Media

What Can I do About Privilege?

First of all, you can’t choose to give up privilege – privilege is by definition an unearned advantage and you cannot choose to not have it. Guilt and shame are not, however, productive ways to deal with this.

Diversity in Media, Privilege in the Media, Stereotyping